Birth Story

It was about 8:45am on 9/11 (Saturday) when I woke up with contractions. I had been having contractions for 2 weeks prior but they were always very irregular so that morning, I thought nothing of it. I was due the following Tuesday and never expected Benjamin to come before then, though I had thought about it. I joked to my parents a week before that it would be fun for me to go into labor on the day they arrived from Phoenix which was 9/11. Little did we know that was about to be true (insert story 2 here)! Randy was still sleeping and I was getting more uncomfortable so I got up to try and lay down on the couch. I had some breakfast and checked e-mail. I also facebooked with my mom but did not tell her about my contractions. They were still painful and were getting stronger, though I did not notice this at the time. Feeling more and more uncomfortable, I went to the bathroom and filled up the tub with warm water. Around this time, Randy woke up and came into the bathroom- found me standing in the shower, swaying my hips back and forth. He could tell it was different this time and I began to realize this wasn't like any other contractions I had before. Randy stayed in the bathroom with me and we timed my contractions for an hour. They were 2-4 minutes apart! In the meantime, I changed positions every once in a while in the tub and then switched to the bedroom, where I did some yoga that helped for a short while. We decided to go to the hospital after an hour and a half and did some quick cleaning and gathered our stuff. The hospital drive wasn't too bad- we're right next door :)

The nurse checked me before I got admitted- I was 4cm dilated and 100% effaced. An hour and a half later, I was at 5cm. At this point, my ob broke my water. The contractions got wayyyy stronger after this and after a certain point, I requested an epidural. I came into the hospital with an open mind to labor and the whole process but I knew that if I was getting an epidural, I wanted to be at least 5cm which I was so that was great! I was so grateful for it- it was a weird but neat experience. I was still able to feel the pressure of the contractions which I liked. After the epidural, things started calming down. But I didn't have enough time to sleep or relax because soon after that, I was at 9cm!! My ob was so awesome! She massaged the perineum tissues with each contractions to try to lessen the chances of me needing an episiotomy or tearing. She did this for 45 minutes, went to check on a patient, came back, and did it for another 30 minutes! I shortly got to a 10 and it was time to push. Now, I pushed for 2 hours. It was tough. Benjamin had a hard time getting over the lip so I needed an episiotomy. We tried different positions and everything but it didn't work- I was okay getting an episiotomy. My ob cut very little- she knew I wanted to avoid one. The nurses were great with me- you could truly tell they enjoyed their job. After 2 hours, Benjamin finally came out! They immediately put him on my chest and we did skin to skin then they took him away to be cleaned. It was an amazing experience. I remember feeling all different types of emotions but they just wouldn't come out. It was a wonderful experience for both Randy and I together. I thought the whole birthing process was beautiful. I know that may sound gross to describe labor as "beautiful." It all happened so fast but it all went great. Even though I had the epidural, I was still able to know when to push and felt Benjamin come out. The neat part was the mirror. I requested a mirror so I could see everything! Totally cool. I didn't think I would do that. I also didn't think Randy would be so active in the labor process with me. He was truly amazing through it all, stayed strong with me, and let me know about the progress I was making. I loved it all.

I labored at home for 2 hours, went to the hospital at 11:15am, and delivered our handsome baby boy at 5:42pm! Doesn't always happen for first-timers.