Labor!

Warning: I'm pretty graphic, if you care.  Also, you can see my boob in one of these photos.  Sorry, brothers.

Early Labor

Ernesto makes me frozen padsicles for postpartum
 while I'm in early labor. What a guy! I intended
 to do this myself, but was a bit overpowered
 by the contractions.

As I said before, it started with irregular contractions at 2am.  I tried not to pay attention and get some sleep, but that was largely unsuccessful.  I started timing them around 6am, and they were 5 minutes apart lasting 40 seconds.  When I stood up, their frequency increased to about every three minutes, lasting from 40 seconds to a minute.  I kind of doubted that it was really labor, though, and considered not asking Ernesto to stay home.  It's not like the contractions weren't hurting, they were.  It's just after so much time waiting for this to happen, even when the evidence is staring you in the face it's hard to believe.  Around noon, Ernesto started getting antsy and wanted to go to the hospital.  Meanwhile, my goal was to labor at home for as long as possible, and our doula hadn't even come yet, since she was having a hard time finding a babysitter.  She arrived finally at about 2pm with her shadow doula, and confirmed that I was still only in early labor.

Total early labor time: 14 hours

Active Labor

After making me do lunges up and down stairs, I finally moved in to active labor around 4pm.  I got this fantastic inflatable pool to use to labor in.  I love water, so it made sense to me I might really benefit from the pool.  So we get it filled with water when it starts leaking.  I got in anyways, while everyone else was trying to find the leak.  I only spent two contractions in there before I hopped out.  I was shaking and trembling uncontrollably, which made my doula worry about me being in transition.  A hot shower, however, did help.  Around 6:30, I said I didn't think I could take it anymore, and I would like to go to the hospital (and possibly ask for an epidural).

Total active labor: 3 hoursish?

The disappointing labor pool.

Before getting in.  This is one of the few pictures of us with my belly!
  This robe reminds me of what The Dude might wear.
Also, by a miracle, I didn't have any stretch marks!!  Thank you, good genes.

Transition...? and Delivery

Who knows when transition actually occurred.  We left the house at 7.  My water broke in the back of my car (thank you, doula, for putting an absorbent chuck beneath me), and we arrived at the hospital at 7:30.

As they were wheeling me up to labor and delivery, I started feeling the urge to push.  So imagine my surprise when they check me and tell me I'm only 5cm!  I was sooooo sad, and immediately asked for an epidural.  If I was only halfway, I didn't think I could take it.  They told me that sometimes people at 5cm want to push, but that I would tear my cervix.  So I felt terrible when I couldn't stop pushing.  With the epidural I had asked for, the fetal monitors on my belly, and the IV line to fluids I was hooked up to, I saw everything I had hoped for about this birth slipping away.  I wouldn't have minded an epidural, but I had really wanted to try without it.  But I'm worried I'm further hurting my labor because I still can't stop pushing.

My unbeLIEVable doulas, Malory and Krystal.
I don't know how anyone goes natural without a doula.

Anyways.  I've been in the hospital itself for about 5 minutes.  The nurse is lackadaisically charting my intake while I'm on all fours still pushing (trying not to!).  Obviously, I'm very inexperienced with the sensations of labor and giving birth, but I swear I felt the baby moving down, but thought I must be wrong, since I was only 5cm 5 minutes ago.  Finally, during a contraction, I put my hand down to check myself, and felt the baby's head RIGHT THERE.  I told my doula, I think I can feel the baby with my hand.  She, awesomely, asked me if I wanted to ask the nurse to check me again.  I said yes, the nurse checked me, and flew out of the room to call my OB (he lived five minutes away, luckily), since the baby could already be felt.  People quickly flooded in (I didn't know that surgical techs attended births). Needless to say, I didn't get the epidural, nor did I want one at that point.  It looked like my OB wasn't going to make it, especially when he apparently couldn't swipe in to the after-hours door, but he made it up with about 10 minutes to spare.  I honestly didn't care at all at this point, though it was nice to see him.  He let me push at my own pace, in whatever position I wanted (which ended up being on my side with my legs supported), and just sat at the end of the bed letting things unfold.

I didn't push voluntarily at all.  I vomited the baby out my butt.  It just came.  Twenty to thirty minutes after arriving at the hospital, Amelia finished sliding out. (Five centimeters my ass!)  All the sensations involved in this are so crazy that I feel like they'll be burned into my memory forever.  I never want to have a baby again, but that was amazing.

Just being in the hospital was weird, too.  Food=awesome.  But being so wired from birth that I couldn't sleep combined with super frequent vitals sucks.  Also, other than tearing, no one ever talks about what your whole crotch feels like afterwards (I had a minor tear on the inside of my vagina. Dr. Ma said it was practically first degree, but he stitched it anyways just to be on the safe side, he said).  Everyone says, oh, natural birth is so wonderful, I was able to get up and go to the kitchen and have dinner with my family.  What?!  A bloody dinner that you can barely waddle to, yes.  Oh, also, I have identified the smells of childbirth, and they are blood and witch hazel.

My whole team.  Elated it's over (and just beginning)

Coming up next: How we've been doing at home, what Amelia's like.