Sophie's story

I always enjoyed reading these while pregnant so thought I would share my birth story.....

Sophie was due on September 20th. That day came and went. I was scheduled for induction on September 27th, but Sophie had other plans.

On September 22nd, a Saturday, my husband and I went for a walk in the rain, came home and cleaned the apartment (nesting, in hindsight). Around 9pm, I laid down in bed to read and felt what I can best describe as a rubber band snapping, followed by a small gush of fluid. I called the doctor, who suggested I head to the hospital to confirm that my water broke. At that time, my contractions began (about 20 seconds long and around 6-7 minutes apart). 

Once at the hospital, they checked me and said it didn't look like my water had broken and that I wasn't dilated so I should head home and come back when the contractions got stronger, longer and closer together.

We got home around 11:30pm, after stopping for a McDonald's cheeseburger (don't judge). I sat up and worked through the contractions until they were about 45 seconds long and 3-4 minutes apart. The nurse had told me not to come back until they were closer to a minute in length, but something told me to go anyways.

At the hospital, they checked me again and said I was only 2-3cm dilated and I should walk the hallway for an hour or so to get things going. So at 3am we started our walk.

20 minutes later, I could barely make it through my contractions but figured I was likely no more than 5cm so I could tough it out. The next contraction came and I told my husband that I needed to go to the bathroom. As I said that, I had a flashback to my prenatal class and learning that pushing was similar to going to the bathroom. We needed to get back to labour & delivery.

By the time we got back there, I was spontaneously pushing (despite my best efforts not to). The nurse checked me and sure enough I was fully dilated - less than an hour after only being 2-3cm. She joked "how far did you walk?".

Once the doctor arrived, 6 long minutes later, it was go time. Half an hour of pushing, a small episiotomy and no drugs (except laughing gas), Sophie was born at 4:22am on September 23rd, weighing 7lb 6oz.

It was a crazy ride, but I wouldn't have had it any other way.