Emma was born in November, so most people that read my blog will have already heard this story. But I wanted to post it because I'm pretty darn proud of how things went down.
Thursday, November 17th, I woke up at 4:45am with the feeling I was about to go into labor. There wasn't anything particular about anything, I just had that feeling. By 5, I was having pretty bad cramps. Not contractions so much as cramps. I thought maybe if I'd go to the bathroom, I'd feel better. But nothing was happening. About 5:15-5:30, I woke David and said he might want to get some clothes for the kids. Then I went and got some clothes for me. And I noticed he hadn't moved much. I said explained that maybe he should dress them now, and not just get their clothes ready. And he realized I was in more of a hurry than I sounded.
So I hopped in the shower and contractions started quickly. I never bothered to time them, they were plenty close. And by the time I was almost finished putting on make-up, I was having to breathe through them. They still weren't really bad, I mean it hurt but I wasn't panicked, and I didn't want to make a big deal about it because the kids were awake and I didn't want to scare them. By 6 we were all dressed and the kids were getting shoes on. And I knew I was about to be in a lot of trouble. I had a feeling we weren't going to make it to the hospital. So Grace asked me why I was breathing funny. And I explained Baby Emma was coming and it hurt a lot. And she asked me to help her with her shoes. (I didn't even have my shoes tied.) I told her she'd have to talk to Dad. When she walked away, I went into the kids' bathroom. A tiny closet sized bathroom right off the main hallway. And pulled my pants down and sat on the pot. I remember my logic at the time was more about how you just don't sit on the potty with your pants on and less, if the baby comes it'd be easier without pants, even though I knew, we weren't going to the hospital at this point. I was shaking and sweating like it was 100 degrees. I knew that was in transition and it was minutes until I was going to have to push. My only fear was how did I know I was dilated all the way and if I might hurt myself. Because obviously Emma was going to do what she was going to do and there was little sense in worrying about her.
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| One Day Old |
David during this had the kids go get in the car. He'd turned it on with the DVD and they were buckling up. He came to get me and said he could have me at the hospital in 10 minutes. Which is a lie, it'd take at least 15 if not 20. I said it wasn't going to happen. I don't know if this was before or after I'd moved to the floor on all fours. (With my pants around my ankles and my shoes still on.)
I told him I have to push. And he asked if he should call 911. I said, "Yes, call them." And it was basically over. He got on the line with the dispatcher and had the phone on speaker in just enough time to catch her. Apparently I never bothered to tell him I was pushing. But he hurried to get into catching position. 2 pushes, well, really one with an inhale and extra to get her body out too and she was out. My water broke during the pushing. (I actually think it broke when I woke that morning, but didn't gush. Because I felt a pop that I can't explain if it wasn't my water breaking.) 1 1/2 hours from when I woke up and we had a baby!
After we figured out how to hand me Emma (wrapped in a towel) and get my pants off, David went and got the kids out of the car. They'd maybe been in there 5 minutes. He hooked them up with some juice and cartoons in the living room. The First Responders showed up and took me and the baby to the hospital (in my shirt and socks. Thank goodness for blankets.) where I delivered the placenta and was stitched up. I never had an IV and I had only had Motrin. The nurse in the delivery room didn't really know what to do with me. I also had a student nurse that was probably bored to tears. She kept asking me if there was anything at all she could do for me. And eventually spent her time refilling my water.
I was hoping for a natural birth, but that's not exactly what I meant. It worked out awesome though. And it's a little funny because while I was putting on my make-up (just powder and mascara nothing fancy) , I told David that I'd rethought the epidural and totally wanted one. HA! I knew I really wanted to deliver Emma on my hands and knees, instead of on my back because I've had a lot of pelvic pain during her pregnancy and I remembered someone saying once how much easier it was that way. But I didn't know if they'd 'let' me at the hospital. So I got to do it my way. And it was so much easier to push that way!
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| Going Home |
I would like to point out again that all this went down in an hour and half. I didn't even get out of bed for the first 20 minutes or so because I was just uncomfortable. And it wasn't until I was out of the shower that I started to think I should maybe hurry. And even then I wasn't convinced. I mean it takes hours for babies to be born, right?! And I'd just started contracting. By the time I told David he needed to get the kids dressed and we were going to the hospital, we had less than 45 minutes. And it was a 20 minute drive to the hospital. So at that rate I don't think we could have made it to the hospital if we'd tried.
I'm thankful for a few things, first of all that God was watching over us. Secondly, that I wasn't a first time mom and I knew what was going on. I think it gave me and David both the ability to do what needed to be done, rather than panic. Third, that I had the baby at home and not in the car. It was a nasty cold rainy day. And we'd had the kids with us. Then, of course, there's the whole God watching over us part.
