Wednesday, April 30th wasn't an ordinary day from the beginning...it was Brittney's birthday! I spent the morning with Brittney and her roommate Sarah at Lula Cafe for a birthday breakfast. We planned to continue the celebration, with dinner and some live music at the Green Mill later that evening, but at about 5:30 pm I started having contractions. I didn't know what to do because I didn't want to ditch Brittney on her birthday(!), especially since the days leading up to her birthday she had been asking me "are you gonna have your baby on my birthday, should I plan to hang out with someone else?" I kept telling her that chances are high I won't have him on her birthday since my due date is more than a week after that. And here I was, contracting on her birthday. At first, the contractions were pretty far apart and felt like menstrual cramps - totally bearable. I even questioned a few times whether they were true labor contractions. At 10:30 pm they subsided and I went to bed thinking it's probably just Braxton hicks contractions.
At about 2 in the morning I woke up to a strong contraction. They were getting stronger and closer together. I tried going back to bed but I'd wake up at the start of every contraction so it was impossible to sleep that night. I labored by myself for a couple hours as Juan was sick and I didn't want to wake him. Around 4 am I started having back labor. It was like someone was operating a jackhammer on my lower back every few minutes. I woke Juan up to help me through the pain by putting pressure on my lower back. I also started feeling nauseous again and throwing up. Around 6 am Juan finally said "I think it's time we go." I was so happy to hear him say that; I was relying on him to help me labor at home as long as possible.
On the way to the hospital I started feeling better. I told Juan we should turn around because I didn't want to get sent home for coming in too early. But he said we should keep going to beat rush hour traffic. We arrived at the hospital a little before 7 am. We checked in at the maternity ward, signed some paper work and then got set up in triage. The nurse checked to see how far along I was, I guessed 6 or 7 cm since contractions weren't so bad. I was so pleased to hear I was 9 centimeters! I couldn't believe it. Juan and I high-fived each other and I thought to myself I can totally do this again.
I waddled into the Alternative Birthing Center (ABC) room. I insisted on getting into the tub immediately, though the warm water only fleetingly blunted the pain. Labor was still pretty moderate for the next hour. I didn't really have the "urge to push". Every 15 minutes or so my midwife Kelly would listen to Blaze's heartbeat through a stethoscope and assure me everything was OK. She said it's going slow because my bag of waters didn't break yet. So we decided to have her break it to just get on with it. That's when the intensity began in full force!
The contractions were unbearable. I grunted through the pain and pressure and Kelly reassured me I was doing exactly what I was supposed to do. Juan was wonderfully supportive and let me know what a great job I was doing. Thanks Babe! I couldn't do it without you. I pushed for about 30 minutes total. Blaze was born at 10:29 am. Kelly put him on my chest right away. It felt euphoric. Juan and I were so amazed to see this beautiful baby boy God had given us. After Juan cut the umbilical cord the nurse took him and said "Wow, that's a big boy!" He weighed in at 8 pounds 7 ounces and was 20 inches long. Whoever said that babies get bigger each time was definitely right in my case. Sadie was only 7 pounds 9 ounces and 18 inches long.
We are so blessed. He is perfect!
At about 2 in the morning I woke up to a strong contraction. They were getting stronger and closer together. I tried going back to bed but I'd wake up at the start of every contraction so it was impossible to sleep that night. I labored by myself for a couple hours as Juan was sick and I didn't want to wake him. Around 4 am I started having back labor. It was like someone was operating a jackhammer on my lower back every few minutes. I woke Juan up to help me through the pain by putting pressure on my lower back. I also started feeling nauseous again and throwing up. Around 6 am Juan finally said "I think it's time we go." I was so happy to hear him say that; I was relying on him to help me labor at home as long as possible.
On the way to the hospital I started feeling better. I told Juan we should turn around because I didn't want to get sent home for coming in too early. But he said we should keep going to beat rush hour traffic. We arrived at the hospital a little before 7 am. We checked in at the maternity ward, signed some paper work and then got set up in triage. The nurse checked to see how far along I was, I guessed 6 or 7 cm since contractions weren't so bad. I was so pleased to hear I was 9 centimeters! I couldn't believe it. Juan and I high-fived each other and I thought to myself I can totally do this again.
I waddled into the Alternative Birthing Center (ABC) room. I insisted on getting into the tub immediately, though the warm water only fleetingly blunted the pain. Labor was still pretty moderate for the next hour. I didn't really have the "urge to push". Every 15 minutes or so my midwife Kelly would listen to Blaze's heartbeat through a stethoscope and assure me everything was OK. She said it's going slow because my bag of waters didn't break yet. So we decided to have her break it to just get on with it. That's when the intensity began in full force!
The contractions were unbearable. I grunted through the pain and pressure and Kelly reassured me I was doing exactly what I was supposed to do. Juan was wonderfully supportive and let me know what a great job I was doing. Thanks Babe! I couldn't do it without you. I pushed for about 30 minutes total. Blaze was born at 10:29 am. Kelly put him on my chest right away. It felt euphoric. Juan and I were so amazed to see this beautiful baby boy God had given us. After Juan cut the umbilical cord the nurse took him and said "Wow, that's a big boy!" He weighed in at 8 pounds 7 ounces and was 20 inches long. Whoever said that babies get bigger each time was definitely right in my case. Sadie was only 7 pounds 9 ounces and 18 inches long.
We are so blessed. He is perfect!
What a beautiful family! You're truly blessed. Thank you for sharing.
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