Fast, Med-Free Birth Story

katcarls · April 2012

DD arrived last week, on her due date, after just 2 hours of labor and almost no pushing.

I had a few random contractions during the day but they were short and very far apart. All of a sudden, around 4pm, regular contractions started and they were only 5 minutes apart lasting over a minute. I didn't want to go to the hospital too soon, so I took a shower and finished packing my bag while working through the contractions.

Around 5:15pm I had two contractions that were 2 minutes apart and I knew it was probably time to head to the hospital. DH called to tell them we were on our way but he could tell they were a little skeptical since I hadn't been in labor very long. The contractions spaced out in the car which was great since they were worse in that position. DH wheeled me up to the birth center at 5:40pm where they took us straight to our room and started going through the intake questions while monitoring the baby and working on my IV. I was only 3cm and 90% when they checked me but I warned them that I had dilated really fast with my first.

They finally got the IV in after 3 tries and I immediately asked to go to the bathroom. Dealing with contractions while laying in that bed was tough and I couldn't wait to get up. During my second contraction on the toilet I could feel my body pushing so I yelled out to DH and he and a nurse came quickly. She checked me and ran for the emergency button to call for more help when she found I was complete. My water broke when they got me back to the bed and the two nurses had me blowing through the contractions hoping the midwife would get there. I never actually pushed, I just kept "blowing out the candles" and my body did all the work on it's own. She was out in about 5 minutes, no tearing, and the "ring of fire" wasn't bad at all. The midwife on call finally made it to deliver the placenta and said that it was the first baby she had missed in 5 years.

I felt fine, BF was going well, and we were ready to go home, so we checked out the next day. It was a great experience and I wouldn't change a thing.

Here are some pics for making it through my long story:

6 lbs. 13 oz, 19 1/2" 4/10/12 6:11pm

With Grandma at 4 days old

Bonidiebabe · April 2012

Hey lucky mama, congrats on you beautiful girl. I can only wish and hope to have a fast, med-free birth like you had. Enjoy that lovely little lady : )