It's a Boy!

Since both wee ones are sleeping I can finally post about what happened!

Friday morning I started having contractions around 6 or so in the morning. I was able to sleep between them until about 7:30 or so. I took a shower and around 9 we headed to Target to buy a crib mattress. I had meant to do this the day before, but ran out of time. I figured it would be a good distraction as well as the opportunity to walk around. The contraction were about every 2-5 minutes at the store. We got home around 10, and I showered to help with the back pain so everybody else could eat some lunch.

Around 10:30 I suggested we make get stuff together to drop off our toddler, so we could be ready to head to the hospital when we needed. The contractions were starting to get intense where all I could to was squat to relieve the pressure, and had to have my back pushed on to help with the pain. We left the house around 11 or so, when the contractions had gotten so intense I could manage them on my own, and was crying out in discomfort. We dropped off my son, and headed for the hospital. I am lucky to have a friend who could watch him, and lives only 2 minutes from the hospital. (Thanks, Sarah!)

I was having regular contractions, right on top of each other the ride to the hospital, and had one in the parking lot, and once inside I had a contraction in the elevator that caused me to fall to my knees and cry out in pain. (The nurses later told me they thought a woman was going to walk out with a baby after they heard that cry) I got put straight into a labor room, and had another contraction,then was hooked up onto the monitor belts. It was was 11:29 when the monitors got turned on. I had my first exam, and was 100% effaced, 0 station, 7 cm. I had another contraction and they did another exam and I was 8 cm. I started to feel a lot of pressure, and told the nurses I felt the urge to push. The nurse told me my bag of waters was bulging, and was helping the baby to come down but I couldn't push until my water broke. I think I only had 2 more contractions before I demanded that the doctor get upstairs and break my waters. The urge to push was overwhelming, and the nurse told be to try to just grunt though the contractions. The next contraction I started grunting, and slightly bearing down without pushing, and their was a pop, and a burst of water soaked my legs and the bed. The doctor showed up just after that, and I was told I had a small lip covering my cervix and the nurse was going to try to move it out of the way.

I had to lie down, (which is about the most incorrect position and most uncomfortable way to push a baby out) but the nurse was trying to move that little bit of my cervix out of the way. All I wanted to do was push, and the nurse was instructing me to listen to her, not push and to just breathe. That was one of the most overwhelming things, to try to tune into something else while you are listening to what your body needs to do. With the next contraction I started to push, and was pushing so hard i felt I couldn't even breathe, but just had to keep pushing. Once the baby's head started to come out, there was a terrible burning and the baby was finally placed on my chest at 12:06. (37 minutes after we got there). The nurses were so great, waiting to do any tests or anything and just let me wipe off my baby and start breastfeeding right away. I am so amazed and proud of myself for finding the inner strength to have a natural birth like I wanted, and and so happy for how everything turned out.

I will post some pictures soon, as baby has of course woken up.