2nd Child - fast delivery!

I was hoping my 2nd daughter would come a little early so we could celebrate Halloween with her, and she did!

At 38 weeks and 1 day, I woke up at 4:30 a.m. with fairly mild contractions.  I thought they could be BH since I'd had so many of those, but after an hour of regular contractions, I knew it was the real thing.  When my husband woke up at 5:30 a.m, I told him "today's the day."  I wasn't sure what to do about work, since with DD#1, i was in labor for 24 hours, and I wasn't prepared to leave work yet (needed to transition stuff).

So, I decided to go in to work; worse, I sent my husband to work (he's about 35 minutes away).  We left DD#1 at daycare.

When I got to work, I told my boss that I was in labor and probably had about 2 hours before I needed to leave.  I was exactly right.  The contractions got stronger as the morning progressed, and more painful very quickly.  I had several meetings and finished as much work as I could.

One of my coworkers insisted on coming with me to the hospital, since I was taking a cab and since my husband was still not there.  I'm so glad that she did.  My water broke as I got out of the cab.  Labor progessed very quickly and was very painful. i couldn't talk through the contractions, which made it very annoying to be admitted and go through triage since you have to answer so many darn questions! 

By the time I got to L&D, i was beyond crazy with pain.  I actually started screaming.  My OB checked me, and I was close to 10 cm.  My husband finally came, and I anxiously awaited my epi. I was being ridiculous, but when you are in that much pain, you can't think straight.  Plus, I'm a wuss when it comes to pain.  I was terrified of the crowning because it was so painful with my first daughter. 

As they were doing the epi, I could feel the baby descending through the canal.  I kept telling my OB that I needed to push and that I could feel the baby coming out.  Once my epi was done, I started pushing right away.  My OB was AWESOME and gave me a combo of a spinal block and used numbing cream on the perineal (sp?) area.  I didn't feel crowning AT ALL - just felt some pressure.  I pushed for about 5 minutes, and Bridget Rose was born.

Although I didn't have a 100% natural delivery, my labor was completed with no meds.  Everyone has a different tolerance for pain, and each delivery is different.  I only wish I had studied pain relief strategies since I didn't get my epi until the very end.  I hope to have a third child someday, and plan to study hypno-birthing.  Although I will plan for another epi, I never want to be unprepared for labor if I am unable to get meds right away.  Lesson learned for other moms-to-be:  even if you plan for an epidural, please pay attention to and practice breathing and other methods of pain relief in case you don't get your epi right away!

Now I am the proud mommy of two beautiful little girls (two under two!).  I am already dreading having to go through childbirth one more time, but am trying to focus on how one day of pain is so worth a lifetime of love and happiness!