Birth of Christopher

My little attention getter has come into this world with a whole lot of commotion.

My husband had to work on Valentine's and came home late and tired. I had been having uncomfortable contractions all day, but passed them off as the usual Braxton-Hicks. After all, I was barely 37 weeks, and my last little guy hadn't make his appearance until 8 days past his due date. As we went to bed, I joked that maybe I should be timing contractions and Jim joked back that I couldn't go into labor that night, he was too tired.

As I got into bed, I noticed that my hip and lower back was achy. I chalked it up to a little too much nesting and tried to get some sleep. In the middle of the night, Sean wandered in and climbed into our bed. After a bit, I woke him up and brought him into his own bed. I usually don't mind his nighttime visits, but I still couldn't get comfortable and I was worried I would keep him awake tossing and turning. By 2:30 am I was groaning through contractions. After about an hour, I figured I would get up, since sleep was obviously not going to come my way. It still hadn't occurred to me at that point that I was in labor.

By 4:30 I was pacing and holding the edge of the table or the arm of the couch with each contraction. I finally came to terms with the fact that, despite not being packed, nor having the car seat installed, I was indeed in labor. I went in and woke up Jim. He hopped out of bed, told me to stop worrying about getting everything ready to go, ran me a tub, packed up some clothes, and woke up the boys. I called my midwife. She said she didn't think I was in active labor since I was joking with her on the phone. When I told her I was on all fours shaking, and hadn't been timing contractions because it was too hard to pay attention to the clock, she told me to come right in and not to stop to drop off the kids.

I called my aunt/mom/doula ;-) and told her to get ready because I would be heading out soon. She told me to call when I left, which I forgot to do, and sadly she didn't quite make it for the birth. Jim called his mom and asked her to meet us at the hospital so she could take James and Sean, and I hopped in the tub, figuring the hot water might slow things down. Jim helped me wash up and then I told him we had to go, NOW. Things were moving way too fast and the hospital was an hour away.

We piled into the car and headed out. The ride was a little hellish for me, there is no getting comfortable in the front seat of a mini van. Sean managed to sleep most of the ride and I heard James mutter something about being glad he wasn't a girl.

When we got there, I sat in the car for one last contraction, they were coming like clockwork every three minutes, and then we rushed in. It was now 7 am and the hospital seemed deserted. I had to stop a few times on the way to maternity and grab a hold of the railing that lines the corridor walls. When we finally got up there, Jim had to stop and fill out paperwork, since I hadn't quite gotten around to mailing in my pre-registration papers.

A nurse asked me if I wanted a johnnie and I said no. I was surprised when they had no issue with me leaving on my own clothes. I heard someone ask about pain meds and my midwife firmly said that I didn't want any; a moment later someone asked if they should break my water and she said no to that as well. I was relieved that they had read and were actually following my birth plan.

I was checked and found to be already 8 cm dilated. That gave me the strength I needed to keep going. I had practiced hypnosis for the last months of pregnancy and I wasn't finding it to be of any use. My midwife told me to blow out the pain and to let it go between contractions and that was exactly what I did. I won't lie and say it didn't hurt, or that I didn't say at one point(or maybe a few times) that I wanted to quit, but I managed to stay focused and was able to carry conversation between contractions. Unlike my previous labor, I was able to recoup a little between each one. Jim applied counter pressure to my back. I wouldn't let him take his hands away. I don't know why my back hurts so much in labor, but the pressure makes a huge difference.

When I was checked again, I was fully dilated. I wasn't feeling a strong urge to push, but pushing felt better than not. I was told I had to push him past my pelvis and that was a little discouraging because I thought I still had a long way to go.

At that point, my midwife brought over the birthing stool. As soon as I sat down, I felt him descend deep and I was able to push him out in just a couple more contractions. It hurt like crazy, but it was also the most amazing thing I have ever felt. An hour after arriving at the hospital, Christopher was born and placed right into my arms. Absolutely precious.