Claire's Birth Story - Natural & Fast

GrinAndBarrett · January 2012

It was a Saturday night. We'd gone out earlier for dinner and were now sitting in our living room watching TV. Around 7:30pm I had the sudden urge to work on Claire's baby book. I was working on it feverishly for about an hour and then settled down on the sofa around 8:30.

About 9:30pm my back started to ache. The pain was low in my back and not very intense. The pain turned constant and I was no longer comfortable on the sofa. Something in my head told me we should probably pack for the hospital. I told DH I didn't know what was going on but thought we might want to think about packing our bags. I also asked that we move upstairs so I could try and get more comfortable on the bed.

Once upstairs, I had to pee. I got up to go to the bathroom and realized that when I thought I stopped peeing, there was still something coming out. "Wow", I thought, "I can't hold my bladder any better than that?"

Around 10:30pm, DH finished up the packing and I asked if we could just go sleep. I was tired and my back hurt. After being in bed for about a 1/2 hour I just couldn't fall asleep. I got up to walk around and then realized I needed to run to bathroom. Things started coming out every which way they could. I was peeing (or so I thought), pooping and throwing up. This continued and my back started to hurt more and more. The pain was still low and constant.

After about 2 hours, around 12:30am, I asked DH to call the doctor. I was for sure this was the start of labor. Of course the doctor said to take some ibprofuen and try to get some rest. Yeah right! By this point I was still in out of the bathroom. When I wasn't on the toilet, I was on the floor in the bedroom rocking back and forth on my hands and knees. It was the only way I was semi-comfortable. The pain in my back was pretty bad and still constant. DH attempted to time contractions, but that was useless. All my pain was in my back. I didn't feel anything up front.

About 2am I told DH to call the doctor back and lie if had to so I could go to the hospital to get checked out. We were in the car by 2:30am and headed to the hospital. By this point, we realized I was not in early labor, but in full blown labor. About half way there, I started to shake. DH knew I was in transition and started to drive faster!

We arrived at the hospital. I refused a wheel chair becuase I didn't think I could sit. As we were walking to room, I started to feel lots of pressure and the urge to push. I had to stop walking, lean on the walls and cross my legs in the hallways a few times before we made it to the room.

Once there, the nurse checked me and said I was complete and ready to push! I started pushing about 3am and Claire was born at 3:18am with a head full of hair!

I had a small episiotomy and no drugs. Claire had to go the nursery for a little bit to bring up her body temp. but she was perfect otherwise.

Overall, I loved my birth experience. I wanted a natural birth and couldn't have asked for a better scenario. Looking back, I couldn't believe I didn't realize I was in labor! Hindsight is 20/20! I'm so proud of myself and absolutely in love with my daughter.

Goodluck to everyone! My best advice is to be flexible when it comes to your birth experience!