Ben is here!

alliejoe · May 2011

So- the other day when I wasn't sure whether I peed myself or my water broke? Well it was definitely my water. It was sorta green, which was the only thing that made me realized it was my water. It didn't really gush/break until much later.

Short Version:

My water broke around 7 we were at the hospital by 8 and the MW met us around 9. Contractions started on their own at 9:30 and Benjamin was born at 2:57am.

7lbs, 9oz and 21inches long.

I really wanted a natural birth and I am proud to say I hung in there and did it

(Really) Long Version:

I called my midwife around 7pm and she told me to take my time and get my stuff together since I wasn't having any contractions yet. She said she'd meet me at L&D around 9pm and we'd probably just monitor me and see if things started by morning.

We got to L&D around 8 and started the registration process, I had a couple of very mild cramps, but nothing worth mentioning. While I was standing at registration one of those cramps encouraged my water to gush and I ended up leaving DH to register and I went back with the L&D nurse. (I was lucky enough to have an AMAZING nurse who had gone over my crazy IV fear with me the week before, so that was a nice stroke of luck).

From 8-9ish they did EFM tape on the baby and some contraction were registering but no big deal. My MW go there, she thought everything looked good and we talked for a little bit about how I thought I wanted to labor. Around 9:30 contractions started to feel like a little more than cramps. My MW went to go lay down since we didn't think much was happening and I got my IV for GBS. I was really worried about this, but honestly- It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Around 10:30 contractions started getting a little uncomfortable and the nurse suggested I labor in the shower for a little bit. Around 11, while laboring in the shower they finally started me on my antibiotics (apparently my chart was in another part of the hospital for my NST the next morning and they had to retrieve lab results for the correct antibiotic b/c I'm allergic to several).

Things get blurry here- the nurse talked me into laboring on the birth ball in the shower b/c I had been standing so long. It was probably an amusing sight- there was a huge natural birth labor room and we're holed up in a tiny shower stall in the bathroom. I labored for about 3 hours in there then things started to be more uncomfortable and I started getting sick. They gave me Zofran, but it wasn't really helping- the L&D nurse got the MW and they suggested I try laboring in the tub. It was pretty much awful- I thought I would love it but 3 or 4 pukey contractions later we were on our way back to the room.

At this point, the MW checked me and I was 8cm. I really needed to pee and sorta felt like I needed to use the bathroom so they let me go to the restroom. I had 3 really intense contractions on the toilet and while I was in there the MW apparently told my husband that they thought I was vomiting b/c the pressure/vagel reflex and that it was almost time for me to push. I still thought I had a while to go. I tried to get on the bed, had one contraction there and knew it wasn't happening. They had set the birthing stool up. I never thought I would even think about using it, but low and behold- that's where I ended up.

I started pushing at this point- not really to push the baby out, but more b/c it felt better than the contraction... I still thought I had a way to go. The MW checked me again at this point to see if I was dilated and I remember her saying "oh, well there's the baby's head- you're dilated". She never told me when to push or how, but just let me go with what felt right which was amazing. I pushed 2 times after that and she asked if I wanted to feel the head- I was holding on the the bed and something else for balance and was so afraid to let go that I didn't feel- I totally wish I had. I pushed two more times and DH and my MW caught the baby.

So- here he is:

A family picture before we headed up to recovery:

The Next Day: