On Saturday night (at 39 weeks 5 days), we had my parents over for dinner and cooked over the fire pit, per the kid's requests. Everyone had a good time and then headed home. Like clockwork, around 8pm, I started having prodromal labor. This had been my normal for about two weeks now. Light contractions in the evening that went NO WHERE. Well, this time, the kept being regular. I tried taking a bath, drinking water, watching a show. At about 10:30, I texted my doula Jessica and told her that the contractions were coming spaced apart (15 min-20 min) but weren't progressing. Then, I tried to go to bed.
The contractions continued that way until about 2am. They weren't bad at all. I would lay in bed, breathe through the contractions and then get up to go to the restroom. Greg was able to sleep through most of this. They weren't getting any closer together than 10 minutes but they were getting more intense.
I woke Greg at 2:15 and told him that I wanted to move downstairs. The contractions were picking up but were still spaced out. At 2:34, I called Jessica and asked her to come over, preparing to continue laboring at home for the next few hours. I really hoped to avoid having to call the grandparents to watch the kids until 6 or so. I told Jessica that the contractions were about 10 minutes apart but were getting pretty intense.
Now, at this point, I should say, I clearly suck at time management. I had been timing the contractions and they had been 10 minutes apart. But, I had to stop for one contraction between our bedroom and the stairs and another contraction in our downstairs hallway. So, they were clearly picking up.
I moved to the living room and was sitting in my favorite recliner, trying to labor as effectively as possible. I was praying in between contractions and visualizing God's hands moving my baby down with each contraction. Jessica arrived at 3am and Greg started to pack up the car. I told them that the contractions were very intense. Jessica pulled Greg aside and asked quietly for him to call his mom to watch the kids at 3:16am. She was timing the contractions and they were coming closer together (under five minutes) as I was trying to resign myself to another loooooong labor, since my labor with Smunchie was tedious.
Then, the mother of all contractions hit, at about 3:25am. The contraction and the nausea and the extreme self-doubt. I started saying over and over, "I can't do this! We have to go! We need to leave NOW. I'M GETTING AN EPIDURAL." (Clearly, this was transition).
Jessica asked me if I needed to use the restroom one more time before we left for the hospital. I thought that was a good idea. I went into the bathroom and another contraction hit as I was on the toilet. I immediately started feeling the urge to push. At 3:30am, my in-laws arrived to watch the kids. But....by that point I did not feel able to move. I was crying and saying that I needed to stay there. Jessica asked if she could check me (she's a midwife assistant, in addition to being a doula). I reluctantly got on all fours and Jessica said she could see the amniotic sac pushing out. She asked if I could go to the car and I told her there was no way. She asked if we should have "someone come to me". I said that was all I thought we could do.
At 3:38pm, Jessica called 911. The ambulance arrived at about 3:48. By that time, I was back to sitting on the toilet (the only comfortable spot I could find). The EMTs had tons of questions for me but I wasn't in a position to answer them I'm so glad that Greg and Jessica were there to field all their inquiries. Jessica, again, convinced me to get down so they could check me. The EMTs were busy discussing whether or not to try and get me to the hospital before the baby was born. They were really unsure of what to do. Finally, one of them asked me if I could make it onto the gurney, if they pulled it right up to the bathroom door and lowered it all the way down. I said I wasn't sure, since I was sweating so much that I was sliding all over the tile floor. Greg put a towel under my arms but couldn't understand me enough to know that my legs were sliding everywhere too! I managed to get my legs under me and crawled to the gurney. I got my forearms on the gurney and felt some relief suddenly. I heard Jessica say "Well, there goes her waters". I got my body on the gurney and was lying on my side. The EMTs seemed confused and were asking if the position was comfortable- I'm not sure what position is comfortable at that point!
At 3:49am, Jessica called my OB to tell him that we were en route to the hospital. The EMTs raised the gurney and we started to the front door (approximately 10 feet from the bathroom door). All of a sudden, I felt an urge to push like nothing I had ever felt before. I told them that I felt like I was going to push. Jessica mentioned to the EMTs at this point that she was a midwife assistant and they threw her a pair of gloves. I gave what I thought was a small push, to find some relief....and the baby was out! Not just the head, the entire baby! He flew out onto the gurney. I heard one of the EMTs say, "Hold up, guys! Baby's here!" They scooped him up and put him on my chest. He was pretty blue at first but seemed to perk up.
We ended up heading on into the hospital. There were some hiccups after that, due to Squish being born so quickly but he is perfect! All 9lbs 14oz of him. Truly a blessing from God and a joyful addition to our family.
