When I had my first three children, labor and delivery went about the same each time. My doctor broke my water because I was dilated to 7 or 8 cm, although I didn't feel like I was in labor. Then my baby was born about an hour later.
This time the birth was completely different.
I had been having contractions for a few weeks, but they were not at all painful and didn't stay regular for very long. My mom arrived Saturday morning. Late Saturday afternoon, I started having contractions that were a bit more painful. Then they stopped. As I was getting ready for bed, they started again, but they were far apart and irregular, and I thought they would probably stop, too, so Justin and I went to bed.
I tried to sleep through the contractions, but they were getting too painful. Justin told me later he knew I was in labor when instead of saying "feel how hard by belly is" I said "don't touch me" during a contraction. He got up and packed the bag and found food to eat at the hospital while he was waiting.
I was starting to have to breathe through the contractions, which were about 8 minutes apart. We decided to wait half an hour and if they didn't go away, we would go to the hospital. At my last exam, I was only dilated to 1.5 cm, so I thought I still had plenty of time.
At about midnight, a little bit before the half hour was up, I said we should leave for the hospital. Luckily it was the middle of the night, and traffic was light. The drive to the hospital can take more than half an hour in traffic, but we made it in 10 minutes. It took us some time to figure out where to park, then Justin and I walked up to labor and delivery, stopping frequently. I was feeling the contractions in my belly and partially down the front of my legs, and I wanted to sit down and bend over during them.
I got into my room and got my gown on and from then on it's kind of a blur. It felt chaotic. The nurses kept asking me to do things that I didn't want to do. They were trying to monitor the baby, but I didn't want to lie back because it made it harder to deal with the contractions. They had me sign a bunch of papers. I have no idea what I signed. They checked my cervix, and I was 9 cm. During the next contraction, I said, "I feel like pushing" The nurses said "Don't push!" and I said "I can't!"
They tried to get me back on the bed and get the midwife into the room. I didn't want to deliver on my back. I wanted to be on my side or on my hands and knees, but Anne's head came out before I was into any purposeful position. I think the midwife came into the room after the head was out and just before the body came out. The nurses immediately took my baby away and were doing who-knows-what across the room. I started saying, "I want my baby." Finally they gave Anne to me and I breastfed her, while I got a couple of shots in my legs to help my uterus contract because I was bleeding a lot. The midwife also cleaned my uterus out with her hand, which was very uncomfortable, but brief.
Although I preferred the calmness and control I felt during my first three labors, I'm grateful I didn't have a baby in the car or during the walk up to labor and delivery, and that Anne and I are both doing well. We think she's pretty cute.
