Last Saturday morning (3/22) I woke up at 3 am feeling very nauseous. It almost felt like first trimester morning sickness. I drank some water and went back to bed.
I woke up that morning at 7:30 am and used the restroom. While using the bathroom I noticed I had lost my mucus plug. That was very exciting considering I lost it gradually over time with my daughter. My contractions started at 7:36 am so pretty soon after. I started to track them and they were 13 to 12 minutes apart. I had contractions earlier in the week, but they never got closer than 8 minutes apart. I kept my husband informed, but we wanted to wait to call family to come get our daughter until the contractions were closer together.
Since I progress very quickly, I didn't want to labor at home too long. Around 8:30 am I got into the shower. That felt great because the contractions were getting closer together and very strong. At this time they were 8 minutes apart. We called family and by the grace of God, they were 2 minutes away getting coffee at Starbucks. They came over ASAP.
I got into the car and my husband was right behind me. He gets into the car and all of a sudden I felt instantly sick from some smell. He heated up his left over take-out dinner from last night. It smelled awful to me! I threatened him that he better not bring that food in this car right now. He said he was starving and wanted to eat it while we drove to the hospital. It's funny now but it wasn't at the time.
While in the car my contractions quickly jumped to 6 min apart, then to 5 min and 3 min. They remained steady between 5 and 2 minutes apart. I was just praying we would make it to the hospital in time.
We arrived to the hospital at 9:30 am. We called while en route and they had a wheelchair waiting for me. They zipped me up to L&D. They already had a room ready for me. I originally didn't want any pain meds and wanted to deliver on my own like I did with my daughter. But this time, I was in more pain (or at least it felt worse) and decided to request an epidural. When I was checked in my room I was already 7 cm. I made it to get the epidural and boy was it great! I'm so glad I got it. Since I was progressing so quickly, I didn't get the whole effect but it still took the edge off.
During every contraction I worked to remember my pre-natal yoga class. I initially started to fight the contractions, but would quickly remember the instructors teachings and to trust my body and the experience. I worked to relax my facial muscles and neck and breathe through the contractions. It was hard, but it really helped because I allowed my body to do what it needed.
The epidural was starting to work and my water broke. They checked me and I was 10 cm. Ready to push.
I pushed for 45 minutes. It was very hard! With my daughter I pushed 3 times and she was out. I really didn't like how long this one was taking. I told myself to slow down and relax between contractions. Because I was starting to exhaust myself. My doctor and the nurses were so calm. It was such a beautiful birth. Not a lot of chaos or screaming. I could hear everyone very clearly and they only had supporting things to say.
At 11:25 am our son, Hudson was born. 10 pounds 0oz, 21.5 inches long. Now I know why it took so long to get him out.
