Due on October 13, our little Adelaide was worth the wait. As I suspected, when she got ready to come, she came pretty quickly. (I had already dilated to a 4 out of 10 CM previously, so I was part-way there). I had hired Karen – a doula (a professional “assistant coach” for the labor), and had been trained in the Bradley method of natural childbirth.
I woke up at 3:30 AM with labor contractions five minutes apart. I woke Matt up at 4:30 or so, and we verified how you time contractions (the beginning of one to the beginning of the next!) He snoozed and I took a shower, and then I rested in bed. A little before 6 am, I called my doula Karen to let her know I would need her soon. By 7, the contractions were only 3 minutes apart – and they lasted a minute or so, so there was little time between them. At around 7, I called and asked her to come immediately. I felt like things were moving fast, and I was afraid I wasn’t going to make it until she got there! I kept myself calm, tried different positions, and practiced relaxed breathing through the contractions, as I learned in my Bradley classes. She arrived around 8 AM, and when she arrived, I felt like I had to push.
Karen and Matt thought I was only at about 7 centimeters, but didn’t resist when I demanded we go to the hospital immediately. They didn’t see the signs of transition, and I was calm and doing well, so I didn’t seem that far along. The drive over was hard, as I really wanted to push, but didn’t want to do so in the car. When we got to the hospital triage, I couldn’t stop myself from pushing anymore. The nurse examined me, and I was complete – 10 cm, ready to go! (I wasn’t really surprised but Karen and Matt were). If I had changed my mind about natural birth, it would have been too late!
I had them wheel me to the birth room, and I settled into position. I was in the “old-school” semi-reclining position. I never thought I’d birth in that position, but I couldn’t conceive of changing. Karen and Matt were great as birth coach and doula! By this time it was 9 AM. I began pushing – not too hard at first, and then more in earnest. We could see the bag of waters bulging out, and her head was still inside – being born in the bag is good luck (and destines you to be a midwife!) I watched in the mirror. Matt and Karen helped me stay calm and positive. At 10:45, she was born! We were ecstatic! She was alert, and latched on right away! The natural birth was challenging, but not as hard as I thought it would be! It took awhile for them to get my placenta and to stitch me up. Adelaide and daddy got acquainted (he was so cute with her!) We had a great birth experience, and walked out of the hospital early, (Thursday afternoon) with a beautiful baby Adelaide!
