my birth story

Well, as you will see from the last entry on August 17th, I had started to have a slight bloody show early in the day and had been having irregular cramps. The cramp-like feeling progressed in the evening and after dinner I told Eddie that I thought it could be happening - tonight could be a long, sleepless one. I took a shower and lost my mucous plug which really looked more like bloody chunks of skin...watching it wash away down the drain was bittersweet, because I knew it marked the beginning of your arrival. My contractions, which I would still describe as intense menstrual cramps as they were contained in my lower abdomen region, started to get regular around 10 p.m. and were quickly only about 8 minutes apart. At about 1 a.m. they got to be about 5 minutes apart so we called our doula, Peyton. Peyton came to our house and we all tried to sleep, knowing that it could still be days before your arrival, but it was evident that I wasn't going to be able to sleep. We labored at home, using effective breathing techniques, all morning. At about 8 a.m. we decided to take a walk outside and go over to the house of a neighboring midwife, Leslie. Leslie checked my cervix around 9 a.m. and announced that I was 5 cm. dilated and completely effaced. She then swept my membranes to successfully make labor progress. We decided to go to the hospital at 11 a.m. and when I arrived the staff was shocked that I was already at 7 cm. We got to our room and I quickly progressed into transition, or so I think because after 1 set of contractions, I threw up - vomiting is often a sign of transition, the final stage of labor. My position of choice during contractions was bent over onto a ledge (at home, my kitchen counter) and all I wanted was something cold on my neck, lower back and abdomen, but at this point I decided to try out the tub that we had requested be installed in the room. It was a large whirlpool like tub with water of approximately 100 degrees. The water felt great - even better was when Peyton would pour water over me during contractions. Then, they asked if I felt the urge to push and I said I thought I could. Dr. Chen assessed that I was ready and I got into the hospital bed and started to push, which was much more difficult than I thought it would be. But I had a hugely supportive team of my husband, Peyton, Dr. Chen, a studying midwife and the nurse Jaye who were all telling me how good I was doing and how baby was almost here. I also had created a pump-up mix - I had created several mixes to listen to throughout labor, a soothing one, one for active labor, for transition and for pushing. The "push" mix included songs like "Paradise" by the Bodeans, "I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor" by Artic Monkeys and "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash. After only 25 minutes - felt more like 45 to me - you came out to "No East Way Out" from the Rocky IV soundtrack...only fitting as Dr. Chen announced that you were a boy and we knew we had Eddie IV! You were brought directly to my chest and we initiated breastfeeding - I was overwhelmed and kept saying, "it feels so surreal." Daddy Eddie felt an unbelievable surge of emotion...he watched the entire process and saw his son enter the world. We both felt this tremendous sense of gratitude to those who had helped us in this process, especially Peyton, and to the hospital staff for respecting our wishes to have a natural birth with no interventions. It was truly amazing that everything went as we had planned and desired - no IV, no drugs, only intermittent fetal heart monitoring which meant I was never hooked up to a machine and was free to roam, and ultimately that Eddie IV arrived healthy. We still feel so blissful, fortunate and grateful for the entire experience...one that we will undoubtedly never forget and will serve as a constant reminder of how truly miraculous and precious life is.