Hank's birth story

Considering how short the whole birth thing really was, I wrote a really long story to publish... because it was an incredible experience. So, I'm going to take a page out of my sister-in-law Lisa's, book blog and publish in two parts. That way it won't be so boring. :)

Well, my labor probably began at about 3AM on Friday morning, when I continually woke up with back pain that felt like menstrual cramps. The cramps continued all morning, but I was pretty convinced that it was just “false labor” since I had been told by many a mother to expect many false starts. So I just ignored it.

 Johnny and I went on a one-mile walk with a friend of mine in the morning and I figured that since the cramps weren’t slowing me down, I was definitely not in labor… but then I had trouble keeping up with Johnny when he was running around the playground. So we went home and I called my doula to let her know what I was feeling, but this definitely couldn’t be labor because I was only feeling pain below my navel and in my back. I remembered having contractions that were much more violent and covered the entire abdomen when I was induced with Johnny. She said to keep her updated, which I promised to do.

Then sometime around 12PM I decided to time these “cramps” which turned out to be lasting about a minute and coming about 3 to 4 minutes apart… but I was still sure this was a just a false start, so I waited until later to call anyone. Luckily, my mom had come over for a planned playtime with Johnny, so I got to take a warm shower and walk around to distract myself from the pain. Finally, I called John around 2PM and asked if he could come home a little earlier than usual just in case. He asked if I had called the midwife yet and suggested I should just to give her a heads up. The midwife on call, Ashley, spent a few minutes asking me some questions about the contractions and timing and all of that. I had a few contractions while we were talking, so she got to hear my lovely vocalizations and she convinced me that I was in labor. She told me to give her a call when I was ready to come in because I wanted to stay at home as long as possible. About fifteen minutes later, things got much more intense and I called John to tell him to come home ASAP.

During the next half hour, I labored on my own using low vocalizations and counting in my head.  I spent most of my time lying on my side or on my hands and knees to keep the baby from turning to a posterior position and thus, avoid back labor. John got home a little after 3PM and helped me through a couple of contractions before I told him he should pack up and get us moving. It’s amazing how much having him around helped me get through each contraction, he followed my instructions well and never took a hand off me unless I told him to get lost… and then he took those instructions well too.

While John packed the car I labored on the birth ball and called the doula to let her know we were leaving for the birth center. She was a little skeptical, considering I had called her a few hours earlier saying I wasn’t in labor, but she said she’d finish up the placenta she was preparing for encapsulation and head on down. Meanwhile, the contractions are getting closer together and more intense and I started crying at the peaks and in between for no reason. I had been hoping to go through transition after the car ride, but it looked like I would be transitioning in the car. John managed to pack me into the car, with a few intense contractions on the way from the house, and then on to the birth center. 

We'll finish up tomorrow with the grand finale and some pictures!