Best Mom Tip #95: Count to three

This past Saturday I gave birth to my third child, a very cute baby boy. I thought I'd share my birth story since I always find other people's stories interesting.

I'd been having contractions for days and weeks so that was nothing new, but something about how they felt on Friday night at dinner made me go ahead and pack the overnight bag for the other two kids. Jay and I hung out, did the dishes, and watched TV. I made cookies, which Jay took as a sign of my version of nesting.

At about 3:30am I woke up with contractions that felt stronger--like weird gas pains--but not exactly painful. I timed for about an hour and then woke Jay up to hang out with me.

I took a shower, drank some water, and called the midwife. The contractions felt shorter than I remembered them being and that confused me some. The midwife told me to come to the hospital when the pain got worse since this was my third baby and she didn't think these contractions would back off.

At about 5:30am we called Jay's mom to come over and stay with the kids. I dried my hair, put on makeup, and headed on out to the hospital at a little after 6.

We got into the labor and delivery room at about 6:35 or so and worked on paperwork with the nurse who was going off duty at 7. She didn't check my progress because as Jay put it, "she's just working out her shift." Sandy, my new nurse, checked me about 7:15 or 7:20 and told me that I was at 8cm and asked if I had planned on an epidural.

I said that I had had one for my other two kids, but that I was o.k. right then. About 7:40, when my contractions were getting pretty intense, there was a nurse trying to get an IV in my arm when my water broke and I felt a LOT of very painful pressure and in my head I lost all control of myself.

Jay says that I was not flailing about moaning like Fred Sanford having a heart attack, but that I did say "oh, God, it hurts a lot" 2 or three times.

There was some confusion among the staff because my doctor and midwife were expected to come in at 8, but it was about 7:50 and I was telling the nurses I had to push. At one point, the nurse actually yelled into the hall that they needed someone to deliver the baby NOW!

Baby Harry was born at 7:55am after 2 1/2 pushes (the nurse corrected me when I told my mom I thought there were only 3 or 4 pushes and showed me the graph with 2.5) and a lot of fear on my part.

So, that is how I wound up having a natural childbirth experience, complete with leaving for the hospital in the middle of the night and scrambling hospital staff.

Jay and I are very grateful to have our healthy little guy at home with us to be snuggled and loved (and occasionally shunned) by his brother and sister.