Natural Birth - no drugs, VERY fast labor

I was 40 weeks and 5 days pregnant on February 17^th. I was so ready to meet our baby, yet my body was giving no signs of going into labor anytime soon.  Early that day, I was given two ?old wives tales? to stimulate labor.  Although I don?t believe in these things, I knew I had nothing to lose, so I decided to try them out!  My Aunt told me to drink a cup of hot tea with lots of cinnamon in it.  Our dog walker told me to take a long, hot bath.  I did what any overdue mama would do ? I combined the two!  I took a long, hot bath while sipping on a cup of hot tea with lots of cinnamon.  

By about 8 PM that evening, DH and I left to drop Charlie off at the dog sitter in anticipation of a possible induction scheduled for 8 AM the next morning.  I was so disappointed at the thought of being induced,because I was hoping my body would go into labor on its own.  On our way home from dropping Charlie off, I started feeling some pressure down there.  It was painless, but it was coming and going in waves, and by the time we got home, it seemed a bit stronger than when it started.  DH began timing it, and soon enough, we realized it was coming every 8 minutes.  At this point, I was wrapping up some work items and responding to emails.  I was in denial that this could be full-on labor.  We finished packing our hospital bags and got ready for bed.  Even if it was labor, we thought we?d still be able to get in a bit of sleep before heading to the hospital. 

At 10:30 PM, the moment I got into bed, the frequency of the contractions increased.  They were now 4 minutes apart, and were starting to hurt.  DH called the Doctor at about 11:00 PM, who advised us that we could head to the hospital if we wanted to, or we could labor from home for a bit before coming in.  Our original birth plan was to labor from home for as long as possible, but with the contractions coming so close together, I told DH we needed to get to the hospital.  At this point, I could barely talk through the contractions.  They were coming so fast, and each one felt stronger and stronger.  By this time, I knew I was in labor.  DH loaded up the car, brewed a cup of fresh coffee in anticipation of a long night, and we headed to the hospital.

We arrived to the hospital at 12:15 AM.  DH parked in front of the hospital, I opened my door, and jetted to the hospital lobby.  He called out to me to ask if I wanted him to bring the bags up.  I turned and glared, then turned back around and walked to the lobby.  I guess he took my glare as a ?yes? because he grabbed every bagin the car, and managed to grab his big cup of freshly brewed coffee.  At this point in my labor, there was nothing that poor DH could do to make me feel better.  I was a woman on a mission, and everyone and everything else was in my way.   By this time, I felt like the contractions were right on top of one another.  I knew I wouldn?t be able to last long on my feet.

As soon as I stepped into the lobby, another contraction hit.  An employee asked if I wanted a wheelchair, but I said no, and kept marching forward.  We got to the elevators, and as soon as we got up to the 3^rd floor, another one hit.  We made it to the nurse?s station to check in, and another hit.  It was unbearable at this point.  The nurses put me in a wheelchair and got me to a triage room.  As soon as I stood up from the wheelchair to get into the bed, my water broke.  It wasn?t just a trickle ? it was a HUGE gush that happened right on a contraction.  The amniotic fluid was all over the hospital floor (good thing it didn?t happen in our new car!)

While I was asking repeatedly for a doctor, the nurses were scurrying to get me into a hospital gown so that they could check my dilation.  I got into the gown and up on the bed, and they checked me ? Iwas 9 ? centimeters dilated!  This baby would be here soon!  DH was by my side the entire time (with his big cup of coffee, of course!), doing everything he could to make me feel better.  They wheeled me a few doors down to a delivery room..  As soon as I was in the bed and in the stirrups, DH saw the baby?s head crowning.  This was happening faster than the hospital staff could handle ? they barely got their gloves on. By this time, a Resident Physician was in the room.  As soon as the Resident was down there to catch the baby, I immediately started pushing.  The Resident told me to stop pushing and to wait until the Attending Physician got there.  I told her no, and kept pushing!  DH watched everything.  After 2 pushes, I delivered my baby.  DH was the one who exclaimed, ?It?s a girl!?

Juliet Verena was born at 12:52 AM.  She weighed 6 pounds, and was 19.5 inches long.  We fell in love the moment we saw her.  Had we waited 30 more minutes to go to the hospital, my baby would have been born at home.