So Friday I was just having a great day- lots of energy, no stress. Just felt great, better than I had in ages. (You experienced moms are laughing, because you know where this leads, don't you???) Yes, yes I've discounted it before but now I know what they meant- that burst of energy that gets you ready for labor, means labor is coming. We turned on our brand new copy of 'Beauty and The Beast' Friday night for family movie night. Towards the end I got up to get out some Creamies for a treat, and felt a funny little leaking. But I hadn't coughed or sneezed or anything. Uh-oh. I'll ignore it for now- certainly nothing to worry about. Irene arrived, we tucked kids in. I finally conceded. (I had tried to convince myself I was imagining it, because I had plans for the day, didn't I??) I felt like I was in my period with cramps and occasional little gushes of fluid. Time to pack my bag. Part of me just wanted to stay home in bed and rest until I couldn't take it- but I didn't want to disturb people in the middle of the night if I didn't need to. So off we went. When we got to the hospital they prepared me for the possibility of it not being broken water, but it was and I was up to a 2 1/2. They called the doctor and he gave the go-ahead to leave me alone until 7 in the morning, then they would consider pitocin if necessary. So we tried to sleep in the hospital.
Yeah, right. Part of me wanted to get the rest I knew I would need for later and the other part wanted to get up and get things moving as much I could. I'd hear a baby cry and just desperately wanted to meet my Sarah. Finally I started paying attention to my contractions at 2 o'clock. At 3 Jeff noticed I was dealing with something, at 4 we called the nurse to report active labor.
Labor. The fun stuff. Yes, it's true, I'm a crazy and had this little girl with no medication. Of any sort. I'd like to say that it was great. I'd be lying. It would have been better(easier?) if I hadn't already been SO tired. I could deal with the contractions and back labor, but I knew it was going to get a lot worse, and I was already giving it all I had. Yeah, back labor. Sarah was posterior until delivery, but counter-pressure helped a lot. So anyhow I was feeling pretty chicken, but the nurse was very encouraging. Walked around, labored in the bath for a bit. Started feeling some increasing pressure and decided it was time to get out. That would be when we hit transition, when the contractions gave me 10 second breaks in between and I thought I was going to die. I remember begging, just begging for a break. (They did eventually let up a bit.) It didn't help that they checked me and I was not quite a 5. Being checked and hearing you've progressed further than you thought is great. Unless you haven't, then it's depressing. This was just after the shift change so 6:20-ish. So they put me on my side in bed, because I was too worn out to be up any more, the plan was to have me turn over every half hour. But I decided that it wasn't working and got on my hands and knees to turn the baby over. Oh, the relief when she flipped. I was pretty sure I must be ready to push so I collapsed on my side and had the nurse check. SEVEN centimeters. (7:05 am) I suggested she call the doctor anyways, because I was pretty sure the baby would be here very soon. She had to be, because I was officially DONE. One (maybe 2) more contraction and I could feel her descending. The nurse is on the phone with Dr. Gray. The poor man has already delivered 3 babies the day before, and is not quite coherent. He heard '7' and thought he could go back to sleep for a minute, she said no he couldn't- come now. So he got up and went to go pee. Meanwhile I am in bed, the baby is on her way out, and my coping strategy at the moment is born of the need to yell, and wondering where the heck my doctor is- I'm yelling " Doctor GRAAAAAY' at the top of my lungs. (Yes I'm totally embarrassed and laughing at myself right now) The nurses are yelling at him to hurry up too. They thought it was all great- they knew I was a VBAC, I was going natural, they could hear the end, they were super excited about the success, and had a great time teasing the Dr about how they don't pee for a full 12 hours, what was he thinking?? He barely had time to wash his hands and catch her because she just came flying out. 5 minutes. I went from 7cm to baby in 5 minutes. And for those of you wondering- that was my favorite part. Pushing is WAY better than passively letting contractions take over your body.
Sarah Phyllis was here. The very pink little bundle with the pretty dark hair on her head from my dreams was officially here. (She looks remarkably like the grandmother I named her for.) And we are all in love.
