At 10pm, the contractions start. The excitement kicks in. This is it! I tell my mom, since we're just chilling ta home. I phone Peggy, Cortney, Kali, Corbee, and David to put them on standby. Cortney, safely back from her vacation, calls work to tell them that she won't be in the next day. Cortney comes over to spend the night. My mom, Cortney, and I go to sleep.
That starts a chain of phone calls and text messages to alert the birth day support party that they will be getting more information in the morning.
We wake up at about 6am. The contractions have started to get closer together, but I'm rested and still in good spirits. As each one comes, I completely relax and don't tense up at all. This makes them just pressure waves instead of painful. We put our bags in the car and grab the prepped fruit and other food from the fridge. We take a walk around the neighborhood.
At around 8am, Kali picks up David from the metro and swings by to pick up Corbee. They head to the townhouse. David is taking pictures and video, but he does not faint. We are all super excited. We play some dancing music. If labor hasn't become serious yet, then we continue to go about our day. We put a load of laundry in. We make sure that the house is clean and ready for our return. We make sure that food is ready for this next week. Maybe Kali and Corbee run to the store. I am drinking lots of water and eating some energizing food. I am doing a lot of standing and rocking, squatting, and using the birth ball to roll around.
When I start to get serious about the contractions, when I'm no longer joking, and I have to concentrate on getting through the pressure waves that are now around 3 minutes apart, we head to the birth center. This is around 12pm. I relax in the car, and the limited space does not hinder my progress. Corbee and my mom follow in my car. Kali drives us. Cortney sits behind me in order to help support the waves. We remember that I cannot sit in the backseat, because I am liable to get morning sickness.
The birth day support party is alerted that we're on our way to the birth center. Some of them are able to meet us there. Those who cannot break free will connect with us when we return home or later in the week.
At the birth center, we arrive and there's only a few people there. We have the run of the place and there is lots of privacy. We are in the Aspen room, and there is plenty of room for everyone to lounge around in the waiting room, too. The lights are dim. It's almost dark. We put on some relaxing music. I have the freedom to move around the room. We put up our glitter posters that remind me to RELAX!, RIDE THE WAVES, BIRTH IS WILD, THIS IS NORMAL, YOU ARE ALMOST THERE, SURRENDER / GIVE IN / LET GO, and that TRANSITION = 30 MINUTES (5 to 6 contractions).
The birth pool is full of water and I am free to get in and out as I please. I can walk around the hallways of the birth center, if I like. I am continuing to drink lots of water in between EVERY contraction and Cortney makes sure that I eat more energizing food. When the pressure comes, I am likely to be imitating sleep. I use the hypnobabies methods to just relax. I just feel pressure. Little to no pain. Some folks are wondering whether or not I'm even really in labor.
The birth progresses on its own time. The midwives are there to make sure everything is okay, but they do give us a lot of privacy. Both my body and baby know what to do.
I start to get a little shaky and confused. I can't get comfortable. There is a lot of pressure down low. Even if I get a little worked up, everyone stays calm. I am probably not going to want many people in the birth room after this point, so they can all hang out in the waiting room. I try not to snap at people, but I can't help it. I don't want to be pushy, but I have a hard time communicating what I need. Everyone understands and just tries to stay out of the way. We recognize that I've hit transition, and we talk through it. We keep saying that this is normal. We're almost there. This will just take 30 minutes.
We make it through transition and into 2nd stage labor. I have the strong urge to push. I spend a lot of time in a squatting position as I push. After about 10 minutes of pushing, Lily's head is visible. I reach down and touch her head with my hand. I also use a mirror to see what it looks like. There's my baby girl!
In 10 more minutes of pushing, maybe around 2pm, she is born! She is confused and purple. Her skin all wrinkly. She is immediately placed on my chest. Her little arms try to move. She starts to cry a little, but I help her move towards my breast, so that she can breastfeed. She gazes up at me fuzzily. We get to lay there for at least an hour to rest, connect, and just be happy. She can breastfeed as much as she wants.
It wasn't painful at all! Sure, there was pressure and hard work, but all of that meant that we were closer to meeting Lily!
She is not washed when she is born. Instead, I rub the vernix into her skin. The umbilical cord is cut only when the last life-giving blood has flowed into her body. She is not given any shots. Not even the vitamin K shot. No lotions or creams are put on the baby. It's just her and everything Mother Nature gave her.
While she is born, everyone pops some champagne and partakes in Lily's birthday cake. I have some birthday cake, too! David is snapping away with the pictures.
It will be a happy birth day for Lily!
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