The Birth of Guinevere Arendina (4/4/09)

After my very full and overflowing first post, I think I want to take it down a bit to something much more peaceful the births of my children :) It is really my favourite thing to talk about!

At 7:30am on July 3rd I began to have some bloody show. Not much, so I wasn't concerned and there weren't any regular contractions either. By 8:30pm my contractions got more regular and by 11:30pm it was time to call the midwife to let her know my contractions followed the 411 rule (contractions 4min apart, lasting 1min, for 1 hour). She asked us if we felt okay to come in, since the hospital is a good 45min-1hr away. We got there at about 12:30am.

The midwife had some trouble trying to locate my cervix and decided to wait a few contractions longer before checking again. The next time she checked she discovered that I was only 2cm. She wanted us to go home and come back later. Just as she was saying this I was hit with an intense contraction and my water broke but not in a giant gush of fluid, just a little dribble. She decided to wait an hour and then check me again. She was hoping I would change at least half a centimetre.

The next hour she checked me and I was 4cm dilated. She admitted me to the hospital. Every contraction brought a little more fluid loss until I had a big release. She checked me again and found me to be 6-7cm by 3:30am. She wondered if the hospitals Jacuzzi tub might be nice for me (and it would have been). We filled the tub, I got in, she began to tilt it back and found the water was leaking out of it. As I'm in the middle of an intense contraction (and sitting down made them so much worse), this nurse comes in and starts to fiddle with the door of the tub to see if she could fix it. She couldn't.

We moved to the shower room, which was a shower/tub. I laboured under the shower for a little bit until we figured we could fill the tub with water, too. We did that and I laboured there for a while (that felt really good). Finally I started getting the intense urge to push. We went back to the room and she checked me. I was at 8cm. We went back to the tub, laboured a little longer. The need to push got much more intense so we looked again, probably not more than 30min later, and I was 9 1/2cm. The midwife asked me to push during my next contraction and she helped to "spread" me that last little bit so that I was able to start pushing in earnest. It was around 5:30am.

I pushed for 45min in the stirrups position, bringing the head down really well. Then the midwife says that she wants me to change positions and go labour on the toilet for a while. I really didn't feel up to getting up and walking to the bathroom, no matter how close it was, but she made me. She said that I shouldn't be worried, the baby wouldn't be born in the toilet. I had about two contractions, during which I pushed, and suddenly I felt an intense burning sensation. The midwife looked me over during my next contraction and became alarmed. She said the head was crowning and if I didn't stop pushing now and get to the bed, the baby WOULD be born in the toilet. Now I had to waddle back to the bed with my baby's head poking half out from between my legs.

I pushed hard and long once I got to the bed and, at 6:35am on July 4th, my baby girl was born without complication (and at a speed my midwife called remarkable, especially for a first timer). I had no drugs at all. No, it wasn't easy and it hurt quite a bit, but it was forgettable later on. By 9pm I felt like the whole ordeal was months away. I don't know if I could have made it if it took longer to labour, but I'm happy I didn't wind up taking anything. My midwife said that I probably wouldn't have gone so quick if I had had an epidural. I would do it without drugs again.

Baby's Name: Guinevere Arendina

Baby's Gender: GIRL

Date of Birth: July 4th

EDD: July 4th

Weight/ Height: 8lb 8oz/ 22in

In Attendance: Sylvia, Georgia, and Justin.

Time: 6:35am

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