how it went down

well i need to get the story typed out before i lose too many details

1am: wake up to pee. too tired to notice anything is different

130am: get out of bed because contractions hurt and won't let me sleep go to bathroom

130 - 300 am: labor in the bathroom. might sound gross but it was necessary. during this time i also called my mom and she said i should call midwives because it sounded like the real deal. so i call midwife and she says it sounds like i am in early labor and to call back when i hit the next level. my conversation with her was 5 min 40 seconds in which i had 2 contractions and ended the conversation while starting a 3rd, that i think was the first contraction of the next level. midwife also suggests bath and sleep/rest.

330 - 515 am: try to take a bath but i am too big for the tub. we've run out of hot water, and the tub is draining. that didn't help. tried resting, but the contractions hurt more when i was laying down. oh and the contractions were way painful like super bad menstrual cramps with a super bad back ache to go with. they are lasting 45 seconds to a min and coming every 3 to 7 minutes.

520 am: wake up michael and call back midwife, she gives me the go ahead to come in. i hope this is the real deal and that i have made some good progress but am thinking things will take a while once we get there.

6 am: mike and i leave for birth center. i have contractions in car and am quietly breathing through them. i was whining and whimpering through them earlier but by now i just count my breaths and get through them. it helps.

645 am: arrive at birth center. niki is the midwife on duty and the one that i hoped would deliver me. she checks me and i am dilated to 7 cm. hale-freakin-lujah!!! she asks what i want to do, i ask her to get the tub ready. i planned on laboring in the tub and perhaps birthing there too.

7 - 8 am: bath is ready. i labor in tub and breath through contractions. mike is there quietly supporting me and applying pressure to my back when the contractions come. i am still quietly laboring. oh and i threw up. gross i know but i did.

805 am: get out of bath because i think i have to use the toilet. what a first timer i was. i sit down by myself and start to push, and then the screaming starts. mike said he wasn't coming in because he didn't know what to do. niki comes into the bathroom and asks what i want to do. i have gone from calm and peaceful to screaming hysterics. i told her i wanted to go back to tub.

810 am: this is when i started seriously pushing through contractions. it hurt like a mother. i said more profanities in this time then i have probably said in at least the last 6 months, if not more. i yelled, and screamed, and swore, and after all that i would apologize to everyone in the room, but i would do it again the next contraction. mike was a major support during the pushing. i ended up being on all fours and after a while i couldn't hold myself up with my arms, so i put them out over the tub and held his hands.

839 am: baby is born in one push. not one push for head and another for body, one final push and she was out. they help loosen the cord and give her to me. she is "cheesy" but not bloody and she is gray blue, but her color starts coming in quick. i looked at her and then at michael and i said "she is beautiful." the water was disgusting and so they drain it and i delivered the placenta 7 min later, which was a piece of cake, comparatively.

the midwife and the nurse kept saying how big she was. she looked tiny to me. she was 9 lbs. 11 oz. yup that is big. no wonder i was so loud. we got out of the tub and went and laid on the bed and i was able to bond with her and try to nurse, and rest, for about 3 hours. it was wonderful. mike made sure i stayed hydrated and kept bringing me food to eat so i could regain my strength. we left the birth center after probably 2pm.

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people have asked if i would do it natural again. i kept saying i didn't know. it hurt really bad and i can see why so many women choose an epidural. but mike reminded me recently of all the positives to how we did it. yeah, i went through weeks of contractions and it hurt to push her out, but i was able to bond with her right away. they never took her away from me. i wasn't hooked up to a lot of machines and was able to move freely. i was able to leave when i wanted. for all of those benefits i think i would do it again. and the tub definitely made pushing through the contractions easier, and it hurt a bit less than when i was out of the water.