Ben's Birth Story (Part 1)

On Saturday, December 10, I woke up at about 7:00. I had contractions all morning long, but they were anywhere between 8 and 12 minutes apart. I spent my morning cleaning the house. You see, on Thursday night I'd had the same contractions, went to bed, and they went away. I was determined not to let these ones go away! I asked Kevin to download the Contraction Master app on his iPhone so I didn't have to write times down or track them on the Contraction Master website on my laptop. I carried the iPhone around with me as I cleaned.

At 12:00, Colin laid down for his nap and I sat on the couch watching TV with Kevin timing and breathing through the contractions. Colin woke up at 2:00 and after a quick post-nap snuggle, the Contraction Master app's hospital alert sprung up. My contractions had gone from an average of 8 minutes apart and medium-strong to an average of 4 minutes apart and strong in a matter of minutes.

I called the hospital and said that I was in labor and thought it was time for me to come in. The nurse asked me how dilated I was at my last appointment. I told her I was 2 cm the day before, then I told her to call my midwife and start filling the tub with water (Midwife told me to tell them this when I called in). The nurse had the nerve to ask, "She wants me to fill the tub even though you were only a 2 yesterday?" I replied, "Yes. That's what Midwife told me to tell you. I went fast last time."

Next we called our neighbor who had volunteered to watch Colin at the drop of a hat. I had called her that morning to give her a heads up that she might be needed. She hustled over while Kevin and I got ready to leave. We left the house at about 2:30.

We arrived at the hospital at 3:00. The nurse I suspect was the same that answered the phone started talking about getting the penicillin (for GBS) ready. I told her that I thought I should get checked before anyone considered hooking me up to an IV. I didn't think I had enough time to get a dose of the antibiotics. I changed into my hospital gown and got hooked up to the monitors. The nice nurse (Amy) checked me. I was 7-8 cm. I do believe I said, "That's what I'm talking about!" and from then on, the snotty nurse left me alone. She checked with Midwife about skipping the penicillin and Midwife said it was okay.

Midwife arrived at about 3:15. She said she was so glad to see me and I told her the same :) The tub was finishing getting filled, and Midwife asked me if I was ready to get into the tub. I told her I was, so I got in. With Colin's labor, the water was so hot I had to have ice water washcloths put on my forehead. This time the water was much more comfortable. I labored through some contractions, drank some apple juice, and chatted with Midwife. She said if my water hadn't broken by 4:00 we'd get me out of the tub so I could use the bathroom, and talk about breaking my water.

Luckily I never had to tell her I didn't want her to break my water.

To be continued...