Tuesday night I woke up several times with back pain and then had it pretty constantly through Wednesday. I had a prenatal massage Wednesday afternoon and after that I was able to distinguish a pattern with the back pain and realized that they were contractions. I started timing them around 3:30 and found that they were pretty consistently 4 minutes apart lasting about a minute long! I called our midwife and she asked me to call if they get closer or stronger. Nate got home from work at 5:15 and by then they were getting to about 3 minutes apart. Nate called our Doula to see if she could come to help him know what to do and then he called our Midwife who said that she was going to an appointment, but would call back around 6:30 to see how things were progressing. At 6:30 they had slowed down to 5 minutes apart and were consistently lasting 1+ minutes long. The midwife said to call back if it picks up again. So at about 8 it was suddenly pretty intense. I was having contractions 2 minutes apart lasting 1 or more minutes long. Nate called our Midwife and Doula back and they both were there by 9pm. It just progressed from there getting more and more intense. I labored on the bed, in the bathroom, in the birth tub and on a birthing stool. Once I hit "transition" everyone told me it would be soon (it wasn't) and the midwife called her assistant to come and help her. Unfortunately, the assistant got here and then it took forever for me to progress. I think I was in transition for at least a couple of hours. I remember thinking that I now understand why people opt for an epidural and thanking God that I decided to give birth at home because I was so free to labor and deliver anywhere that felt best. At the end, I was on the birth stool pushing, which took forever! She kept using the doppler to check Zeke's heart rate which was awesome because he was so strong all the way through it. I kept thinking that if he could do it, then I could do it too! The head came out, but no one told me! I asked the midwife what she was doing and she said "nothing, you are! Push the shoulders out!" So I did and it hurt a lot. This kid has broad shoulders! Out he came at 4:21 am and they pushed him into my arms. It was so amazing to see this beautiful new baby who has been inside me for so long. Then he was finally in my arms. They moved us to the bed so they could stitch me up while he nursed. Everyone was gone by 6:45 after cleaning things up a bit. Then we called immediate family and took a nap.
What an amazing morning!
