Natural Delivery in Hospital with a 9+lb baby

I am so thrilled that I am able to share this story with you all because prior to delivery, I wasn't sure how I (at 5'2/short torso/23cm amnio fluid) was going to manage an uncomplicated, med-free hospital delivery - BUT I DID!

In short: My son was born 4/5/13 @ 5:13pm @ 9lbs 6oz, 22in, with a 13in head.  14 hours of labor with day prior to labor being 0cm dilated, 0% effaced.  

The story:

For the past week, I had a few nights of menstrual cramps that went away with lots of water and switching positions.  Went to OB on Thursday with no progress other than a soft cervix.  I woke up at 3:30 Friday morning with intense gas pains and thought nothing of it, felt relief after a few toots.  An hour later poopie pains commenced as did going A LOT.  My body emptied itself out real well before my DD was born so this process made me take the cramping a little more seriously.  By 5am I had more mild cramping and poopying despite having gone already so I decided to start timing my contractions: 20-30 minutes apart/30 sec long.  Called my mom to give her a heads up but decided to let DH sleep a little more.  I showered and started gathering what was left on my check lists while I was calm, cool, and collected.  

By 6am contractions were roughly 6 minutes apart so I woke DH up.  Being that this was with my 2nd child, I thought that my labor would happen a lot faster and decided to get a move on with packing, straightening up, etc.  All of this hustle and bustle and being on my feet for a few hours (3 or 4 hours) really slowwwweddddd down my contractions.  They were back to 30 minutes apart.  I was really bummed b/c I had already text close friends and family thinking this was it and now I'd have to tell them nevermind??  Boo.  

Well my doula and one of my friends suggested sitting and rocking on my birthing ball or taking a bath.  I did both and it worked!  Contractions were anywhere from 2-7 minutes apart and 30-45 seconds long for a hour.  DH was so cute and wanted to go to the hospital (in fear of things picking up even faster), but I reassured him that I would *know* when to go in and contractions weren't long enough at this point.  

By 1:45pm my contractions consistently began to take my breath away and were 3-4 min apart and 60-75 secs long.  Called my mom, doula, and back up OB (my OB is on vacation until today!) to let them know we were heading to the hospital.  When I got to triage at 2:30pm, I was 6cm!  Just like my previous delivery, standing/walking brought utter pain instantly so I remained sitting, calmly breathing through my contractions while listening to my Hypnobirthing Relaxation CD for 45 minutes.  I was 7-8cm and things were getting a little more uncomfortable.  I needed silence to endure the contractions.  Very quickly I got to 9.5cm and I was really getting the urge to push.  Once I hit a point where my body started pushing on its own (I literally felt my uterus pushing the baby out without me doing much of anything) the dr. came in and we pushed for real.  After about 35-40 minutes of pushing, my DS was born!  It was very intense once I got to 9.5cm but knowing that the end was VERY near was what got me through it.  I only pushed for so long bc I was so timid about pushing at first.  After 15-20 minutes, I realized that I just needed to suck it up and do it.  He came quickly then.  He was born at 5:13pm!

Because I had an u/s at 38 weeks indicating that he was already 9+lbs and at risk for shoulder dystocia, I had planned to deliver while squatting or on all fours.  Well, I could not move out of the normal sitting position at all.  I had a side stitch (just like when you're exercising) that made moving and breathing a lot more challenging.  My doula used pressure and a heating pad to relieve that.  By the time I had to push, the stitch was gone, and thankfully, pushing while on my back caused no problems.  He came right out!  I did experience the ring of fire and have a 2nd degree tear, but honestly, after it all I just didn't care about it.  I just was so happy to deliver a beautiful, healthy baby boy!  

I immediately did skin-to-skin and nursed him.  I really think that b/c of letting him sit on my chest for a while immediately that he was able to latch so well.  He's nursing like a champion!  Such a sweet baby.  Mommy and Daddy couldn't be more in love!  DD just adores him already and is smothering him with hugs and kisses!