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Natural Birth
ninasc
member
Birth story--baby born in car (long)
ninasc
member
I was a lurker/infrequent poster but thought I'd post my birth story 
I woke up on April 6th feeling a bit ?off? and started feeling contractions around 8am. They were definitely more painful than the BH I had been having since 24 weeks but they weren?t bad so my husband went to work with the promise to come home on the earlier side. I spent the morning playing with my 2 year old as contractions got more intense. They were still fairly inconsistent in length but hurt quite a bit so I decided to drive to Whole Foods, thinking it would be easier to entertain my toddler if we were out of the house. I called my Dr?s office to tell them I was in early labor and discussed coming in to get checked in the afternoon. They knew I wanted a med-free childbirth and didn?t want to head to the hospital too early but they reminded me that 2nd babies tend to come quicker and not to stay home for too long.
While my son and I were grocery shopping, contractions picked up in intensity. I called my husband and asked him to come home from work. Contractions were still 10 minutes apart but quite painful so I drove home, put my son to bed and got in the bathtub around 1pm. I managed to wash my hair and shave while contractions started coming on stronger and quicker, every 3-6 minutes. I could tell I was in active labor but still didn?t have my bloody show and I hadn?t lost my mucous plug so I figured I had a while to go.
I got out of the tub around 2 and was in a lot of pain. I decided we should head out to my Dr?s office soon and my husband packed up the car. I had a hard time getting ready and dressed because contractions were so intense. Our babysitter came and I slowly put on my clothes. I had my husband call my Dr?s office and tell them we were going straight to the hospital, I did not not want to spend more time in the car than necessary. We finally left our house around 3:15 and started our 45 minute drive.
I laid down in the back seat with contractions coming on top of one another. I felt as if my body was starting to push but my water hadn?t broken and I figured we still had a lot of time. I remember thinking ?I don?t know if I can do this for hours, I may need an epidural (I had one with my son)?. All of a sudden, my body bore down and my water broke. I kept yelling at my husband to drive faster and drive on the shoulder but it was a holiday weekend and there was a ton of traffic. I couldn?t stop myself from pushing and two contractions later, I felt the head and screamed to my husband to pull over. Luckily we were right at an exit off the highway and he pulled over into a school parking lot. By the time he stopped the car and came to open the back door, the baby?s head was out. He was just in time to deliver the body and yell to a bystander to call 911.
My OB was on the phone (my DH had been keeping him updated) and told J to tie the cord with a shoelace and cover us with blankets. Paramedics came about 10 minutes after Lana Catherine was born and transferred us to the closest hospital. She scored a 10 on her Apgar and was 7lb 10oz and 20 1/2 inches long. She is doing amazing and I feel good too. I had quite a bit of tearing because she came so quickly but recovery has been much much easier than when I had my son two years ago.
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Re: Birth story--baby born in car (long)
Little Rose is 2 1/2.
Ditto! Congrats, mom! What an awesome story. Thanks for sharing!
Wow! I got chills reading your story, especially when I got to the part about there being a lot of traffic. I can't imagine.
Congratulations and job well done mama (and dad!). That is one amazing birth story.