When everyone said, "You'll know when it's time" I had a hard time believing them. How would I know it was time? As it turned out - I really did know, but much later than I probably should have.
I woke up at 3 am Tuesday, September 23rd for one of the many nighttime restroom visits. I had what I should have recognized as a contraction, but thought instead that I just had really bad gas. I had a few other small Braxton Hicks type contractions and still thought I'd be at work the next day. I finally decided to take a shower after a couple more painful moments. I tried sitting in the bathtub with the shower going and quickly realized that sitting was not my friend. The contractions were much worse when I sat. It finally occurred to me that this really could be it and hopped (well, let's say waddled) out of the shower.
At 4:15 am I woke Pete up and told him I thought it was time to get to the hospital. He asked me how close my contractions were and if I'd been timing them. I told him they were about 2 minutes apart, but not very painful, but that I thought we should go anyway. He wandered downstairs to email his professor and let him know he was going to miss his test. He yelled upstairs to me, "Are we sure this is it? What should I tell my professor?" I told him I wasn't sure what was it, but to just tell his teacher he wouldn't be there.
Pete grabbed a few more things for my bag: Ipod (I had prepared my labor playlists), Palm Pilot (for playing solitaire if I got bored), cell phone chargers, etc. By the time those things had been rounded up, I was definitely in labor. I had to utilize the breathing techniques through each contraction. At one point Pete yelled up the stairs and asked if I was timing the contractions. I was on all fours trying my best to breath through the current one and I yelled to Pete, "No. We have to go NOW!" I don't think he realized how bad it was because he kept telling me to hurry and get in the car and I kept telling him that I couldn't even walk!
We finally got to the truck and as soon as I sat down I knew the 10 minute drive was going to be a rough one. I had a firm grip on the ceiling handle and did all the breathing tricks that Pete coached me on as we went. For about 4:30 in the morning, we hit more red lights then I've ever seen! Half way there I told Pete that I felt like I needed to push. His response - "No, no, no. Don't do that. Don't do that! Just hold on!" By the time I could see the hospital I was making Pete run red lights. I didn't think I was going to last much longer.
We pulled up and Pete ran in to get a wheelchair. As I wasn't about to sit again, the nurse let me push the empty wheelchair down the hall, stopping every minute or so to work through a contraction. By about 5 am I was in the bed being checked. I had no cervix left. All they could feel was the water bag and the nurse let me know that she didn't think my midwife was going to make it. It's a good thing I was that close because I would have begged for drugs had they told me I would be laboring for much longer! I hung in there for a few more minutes and Lindsey (my midwife) walked in and decided to break my water. There was meconium in my fluid and I was told that if the baby didn't immediately cry, they'd have to pass him off the the NICU team and make sure his lungs were ok.
It was a blur after that. I didn't really see who was helping me because when I wasn't staring at the ceiling, trying to focus, I had my eyes closed and was screaming. At one point I asked Lindsey, "is his head going to fit?" I was so worried that he was so big it was going to be impossible to push him out. Pete said he had to hold back a laugh when I asked that. It took me a few rounds to figure out how to push most effectively and it seemed like, just when I had it down, it hurt so bad I was ready to give up. I just kept sobbing, "It hurts. It hurts. It hurts." Finally, when I started to really lose it, a nurse muscled Pete out of the way and got right in my face. She spoke right in my ear and told me that they knew it hurt, but I need to focus and push. I reluctantly gave it one more shot and pushed until I couldn't breath. That was all it took and after just over an hour of being in the hospital little Jack came rushing out at 6:09 am - all 8 lbs 11 oz and 21 inches of him. He cried immediately and was put on my chest. He wasted no time initiating his mommy into the joys of motherhood. He wasn't on my belly more than 5 minutes when he pooped all over me.
It was such an amazing experience. I don't know if I could have gone med-free if it hadn't happened so quickly, but I'm so glad I was able to have the birth experience I wanted. Pete was amazing. He did a wonderful job coaching and even took a peek at the birth (after my midwife practically dragged him over) :).
Jack is almost a week old and doing great! He's eating and sleeping well and has such a sweet attitude and so far looks just like his dad.
Thanks to everyone for your support over the last nine months! We love you all!
