birth day

to simplify things, i'm going to tell you our birth story in timeline form. otherwise, i might never get this thing typed!!

6/3/10
4:30 PM - started the usual nightly contractions, about 5 min apart, lasting one min long for several hours. the birth center's orders were to call when they were 4 min apart, lasting one min long, for at least one hour.
bedtime - still having contractions, getting more intense but not consistently close enough to call the birth center.

6/4/10
9 AM - rough night. slept between contractions, but not through them. no progress, very tired. called the birth center, decided to go in early for our 40 wk appt that day.
11 AM - birth center appt. finally got my cervix checked, VERY frustrated to learn that although i was 100% effaced, i was still only 1 cm dilated. sent home with a prescription for ambien to get some rest before active labor, was told i would probably have my baby in the next day or two.
2:30 PM - ambien helped me to sleep for maybe an hour or two, but still felt every contraction and they were still getting worse. feeling EXHAUSTED.
3 PM - called friend rose to find a recommendation for a free doula.
4 PM - doula identified, on her way. i got in the bath, it didn't help.
4:30 PM - introduced myself to our doula, a complete stranger prior to this experience, entirely in the nude. didn't care; contractions HURT!
4:30-7ish PM - tried various comfort measures and deep breathing...got through them okay. no longer feeling as frustrated about all the previous false alarms but ready for this to be pronounced as REAL.
7 PM - called the birth center, was told to wait another hour till they were under 4 min apart.
7:30 PM - i pronounced that it was TIME TO LEAVE. the birth center responded by saying "okay". used my hypnobirthing tape in the car for the 40 min ride and it helped.
8:10 PM - arrived at birth center. cervix check: 5 cm. midwife made a guess that we would have our baby first thing the next morning, when the birds started chirping outside. i insisted it would be sooner than that.
8:10 - midnight - active labor. lots of fanning me off, cold washcloths, trying comfortable positions, deep breathing. got in the jacuzzi for a bit, but didn't like the jets turned on. the water felt great, but couldn't find a comfortable position to sit for very long. also had to get an IV because i wasn't staying hydrated enough. disappointed, but took it like a champ.

6/5/10
12:30ish - cervix check. 7 cm. IS THAT ALL??? ugh.
12:30 - 2:30 AM - more active labor. let the moaning begin. i had no idea i would be so...primal...during labor. i was just like all of those women you see in the birth videos groaning through every contraction and i totally didn't care. tyler later compared the sounds to "being in a haunted house".
2:30 AM - another cervix check. STILL 7 cm. almost started to cry, i was so frustrated. OMG. midwife gave us two options. 1) transfer to the hospital to get pitocin. 2) break my water and take some stadol to help me get through transition. reassess in 2 hours, once the stadol wears off. we opted for option #2. broke the water, found some bits of meconium. momentary scare, thought we'd still have to go to the hospital. but they decided it was only a few small clumps and not enough to warrant a transfer. if he came out and wasn't active and fussy, they'd have to take immediate measures.
3:30 AM - contractions were 30 sec apart. the stadol made me just trippy enough that i remember starting out having some random short dream and then through each contraction i just kept thinking to myself "just let me get through this one so i can get back to that dream!" continue lots of scary moaning and out of body levels of intensity. cervix check: 10 cm. holy crap, i just dilated 3 cm in ONE HOUR!!!
3:50 AM - i started feeling the urge to push. midwife told me to listen to my body but that she wouldn't start coaching me through pushing until 4:30, once the stadol wore off. i remember feeling frustrated that i couldn't get down on the floor to squat it out like i'd hoped i would. because of the stadol, they made me stay in the bed. i was on my side, with one leg up on a birth ball. i started pushing anyway, because how the heck are you supposed to stop something like that?? i later compared this feeling to "needing to throw up, but at the other end". there's just no stopping it.
4:20ish - midwife started coaching me through pushing. i was so focused at this point, i couldn't open my eyes and i really wasn't aware of anything outside of my own body. whenever anyone started talking too much, i could only say "shhhh!" i didn't have time to think about the "ring of fire", because i was so focused on just getting this whole thing over with. at various points, things got so intense that i swear i didn't even care if my baby was born JUST GET HIM OUT OF ME!!! of course, this feeling immediately wore off once the midwife told me to feel down at my crotch to feel his head crowning. wow, there's a real person coming out of me!!! utter excitement and new motivation to keep going.
5:03 AM - wow, so that's what a head feels like coming out of you. the rest of the body easily slipped out. theo was placed on my chest and i was in love. tyler cut the cord, i got 3 stitches. nothing else mattered besides this new little man in my life (7 lbs 15 oz, 20.5 inches long). begin: parenthood.