Part 2

So we went to bed with contractions 7 to 10 minutes apart expecting to wake up at any time to things really moving. I woke up to every contraction throughout the night, 7 to 10 minutes apart. They got to the point where the only thing I could do to work through them was to get up and pace the floor. We kept waiting for them to get to the four minute mark and they weren’t getting there.

Colleen (the midwife) called around 6 checking in. At that point they were consistently 6 to 7 minutes apart. She said she’d come over in the morning. My mom came by around 7:30. She had driven by our house at midnight, two, and four to see what was going on and my step dad made her wait until 7:30. Our friends who planned to be at the birth (and had come by to hang out with us the night before for a bit) checked in and we planned to touch base after seeing Colleen. She got here and I was 5 cm dilated. She said she could leave or stay and we chose stay. She suggested that maybe baby was not moving along as we’d hope because they either had a hand up by their head or were slightly cockeyed. To fix this she suggestion I sit on the birthing ball through a few contractions, get on my hands and knees through a few contractions, and sit on the toilet through a few contractions. She also suggested I try “curbing” which is taking a walk and walking with one foot on the curb and one on the ground. We grabbed the dog and started there while Colleen made some phone calls. If you ever want to watch your neighbors panic go for a walk while in labor.

Between 10 and 11 I tried all these things to get labor moving faster. It started working and contractions were getting closer and more intense. Around 1 pm we checked my cervix again and I was 7 cm dilated and 100% effaced.

Things started to get bad around 2-2:30. Before that I was talking and laughing between contractions. At this point contractions were never ending. I repeatedly asked what was next and when it would be over. Colleen and he assistant could not give me an answer.

I was standing up for contractions and from how I was bearing down during contractions they suggested I could try out pushing. For some reason it still did not click with me they meant pushing the baby. My water had not broken and so I figured it was related to that. After a few more contractions and pushes they asked if I would be more comfortable on my hands and knees. I was VERY open to suggestions so got on my knees and leaned into the birthing ball.

At that point Colleen told me there was more blood than they were comfortable with and I needed to get the head out. (Our friend who was there said this seemed more serious than I understood.) I still had not realized I was pushing out the baby!

His head was right there behind the water sac which I guess exploded at some point. It took 2-3 pushes of intense pain and screaming to get it out, then the shoulders in a push. He was here.

Tomorrow you’ll get to hear what happened afterwards and get more cute pictures. 🙂