We are ecstatic! It started Monday night. We woke up to twinges of pain that got us excited. Of course it was really early, according to our due date, to be anticipating real contractions. These twinges of pain continued to get closer together and we had to call the midwife to make sure. We were told to take it easy, rest, and see if things die down.The twinges of pain indeed died down by morning and we were a little disappointed. Luckily we had an appointment the next day and were looking forward to finding out the next steps to take. Hours before our appointment the twinges of pains were now understood to be real contractions due to the fact they had not stopped coming even though they were irregular. I was checked at my appointment and I actually had progressed to 90% and 1-2 cm. dilated. We
were elated. We returned home to get as much rest as possible before it was time. We went to bed early and started to watch the movie Puss n Boots that lulled us to sleep. Shortly after, I began to experience more intense contractions as the night began to turn from Tuesday to Wednesday. By midnight my contractions had grown more severe and closer together. David and I knew it was time. We called our moms, got into the car, and drove to the birthing center where our midwife was waiting for us. We entered the room where I would eventually birth my baby and it was being warmed up by a heater, the bed was soft and inviting, and the tub was yet to be filled. I never had the chance to truly envision how I wanted the birth to go, but I was open to anything. I first tried the tub. It started off great. The water was warm and comforting to my body and the pain...for a while. Despite the heater, I eventually started to get cold and could not have the bath any hotter for fear of harming baby. I soon had to abandon the tub and retreat to walking around. I paced the room and nearby rooms as contractions continued to progress. David's mom, JoAnne, got to the birth center first and immediately started to encourage me. I then had to move to the bed. I was tired and my midwife encouraged me to take rests in between contractions. The small chunks of sleep were constantly followed by contractions that woke me and got me on all fours. David was constantly by my side for every contraction rubbing my back despite his exhaustion. He definitely had less sleep than I did due to excitement and I was so appreciative of him being there the whole time ready for anything that I asked. In due time my mother finally made it to the birthing center, but by then I had to really concentrate on the contractions and I couldn't even say hello. Not too long after I felt done with just enduring contractions. I wanted to know if it was time to push. The midwife checked me and told me that I had not quite made it. I was only 9 cm dilated. I felt a little frustrated. It seemed like it already had been forever going through contractions and I still was not ready to push. I started to cry. It was a little more than I expected, but I was constantly being encouraged to keep going and that I was doing a great job. Finally, it came time for me to start pushing. Of course I never did this before and didn't know what I was doing. I kept pushing as much as I could and my water finally broke. David was standing behind me and got some of the spillage too. From there I started to feel the contractions becoming more intense while had to push. It was very difficult to push through each contraction and even more difficult to push the proper way. My mom constantly was correcting my method and giving me a nice cold cloth to my forehead. At one point during the pushing a lost consciousness for a second and had to be put on oxygen. After that mishap I began to be fearful of what was going on. I kept pushing but felt no progress of the baby coming down which in turn made me feel like time was passing by with no progress. I then voiced how I felt defeated and couldn't go on anymore. Despite my plea to stop, everyone kept on encouraging me to press on and not give up. I took to heart what they said. I was already so far into this, I had to keep going. The sun was rising and I kept pushing. I eventually made it to the point where the midwife encouraged me to touch the vaginal area, to feel the baby's head. I couldn't believe I had finally got this far. I was almost there and I had to keep going for this to be over. So I pushed. I pushed so hard and as much as I could that as soon as the head came out it was hard to stop and the whole body came immediately after.
They quickly placed the baby on my chest and a few seconds later announced that it was a boy! A boy! Not only was I wonderfully surprised by the sex, but also by the color. My baby was lighter than I expected him to be. What was even more a surprise was the color of his eyes. They ended up being a gray color which means its going to change later...another surprise. By the way we love surprises! David and I were so happy to have him out and with us. We love that he is here!
