February 13th, 2012

Thanks for reminding me about this draft Anne!!

William Bennett was born at exactly 39 weeks on February 13th, 2012! It was much quicker than we had anticipated. A whole 6 hours start to finish :) For those that have been asking for the details...it went a little something like this...

I went to bed at about 10pm because our midwife had mentioned that most women will go into labour at 2am, so start going to bed early. I was incredibly uncomfortable. No pain...just could not get settled. I thought that it was just because we were near the end and the baby was getting so big. I was almost crying because I thought every night would be this uncomfortable for the next few weeks...if he was late.

2AM I got incredibly hot and felt a pop. "Robert....either my water just broke or I am peeing my pants non stop." Of course what do you do for any medical question...don't call the midwife at 2am (like she told us to for anything we may need)...consult google.
Google said that I had up to 48 hours before I would go into labour...good...I had time to prepare. As soon as I hit the "x" to go back to bed...contractions started.
We got up...I had something to eat and drink and we relaxed while I dealt with the contractions and stayed upright and walking.

230AM Called the midwife to tell her my water had broken, that we were going to start timing contractions, and that we would call her back. We decided that this was really happening and started to time contractions. They were exactly 5 min apart lasting 1 min for 1 hour. But I decided that there was no way it could be happening that quickly...so we decided to time for another hour. When contractions started Feb 13th...I was preparing myself mentally to have a baby on Feb 14th.

330AM The second hour of timing contractions and we were at 3 min apart lasting 1 min for 1 hour...and I puked up my early morning breakfast.

430AM Called midwife to tell her that I puked and the length of contractions...and that I could no longer focus on anything else but getting through them. She said she would be right over....she had to get up, pack, and drive from the east end...I anxiously waited for her ;)

530AM Midwife arrived to check me. She thought that I was still in early labour by looking at how I was handling everything...but was amazed when we were already 6-7cm along. Robert said the look on her face was priceless. Then she smiled at me, looked into my eyes and reassured me that I was doing amazing for a FTM and that it would be over soon. She instructed Robert to start filling the pool while she set up all of her medical supplies. And I needed an IV because I was GBS +. We should have started to fill the pool at 230AM...but of course we were in shock and denial. We were sure we would have close to 20 hours to get that pool full lol.

630 AM She was all set up...the midwife to care for Will had arrived and the pool was only 1/3 of the way full. In order for water to be pain and pressure relieving, it has the be full and I had to be buoyant. I was asking to get in with it only 1/3 of the way full and asked if it would provide the same pain relief. The midwife looked at me and said..."ummm, it'll take the edge off ". Not the answer I wanted but I didn't care...I was in there in a flash. Shortly after I got in we ran out of hot water. This is common and no big deal when you have a stove and kettles. So the midwives were warming my water, massaging my back, smiling and reassuring me, and Robert was working hard with my and keeping me relaxed. At one point Will's heart rate did start to drop (which is normal) and it was as easy as changing positions to get it right back up again (this is a trick they use often). It hurts but I never felt out of control or scared.

820AM I had to get out of the pool to finish. Because the pool was a third full Will could not be born into the water. If any part of a baby is exposed to air, they will start to breathe on their own. So...out I got and in two pushes he was here! Honestly...7-10cm in the pool was the hardest part...but it was short...and do able. No one told me that eventually there would be NO break between contractions.  Pushing was the easiest part and felt good!  I'd do it again :)  Even when it felt like every bone in my body was about to snap, I knew that I could do it!

Thanks team!

So, I would do it again. After hearing so many stories of the screaming and unbearable pain...I'm glad that I have one that I can share and is a good "you can do it!" story.