At exactly 1am I woke up with a sense that something was happening. I had to go to the bathroom but as soon as I made up my mind to get out of bed I felt my waters break. I raced to the bathroom in hopes of not leaking all over the place. After I figured that it was the bag of waters (because there was so much liquid) I got cleaned up as best I could and went back to bed. I anxiously awaited the contractions and wondered when they would start. I tried to sleep but ended up just resting while waiting.
For the next 3 hours I stayed in bed resting, the contractions started to come gradually around 1:40 and were about 15 minutes apart. I got up every hour to use the bathroom and to clean myself up a bit. By 4:30am the contractions were strong, but irregular and I was still able to walk around and through some of them. I found that if I sat down or lay down the contractions seemed to slow down, so I stayed mobile or standing. Some were 15 minutes apart and others were 2 minutes apart.
I woke Corey at 4:30 and told him that they were getting stronger (he had awoken earlier and I told him my water broke), it was harder to focus through them but calling Gerri (the midwife) wasn’t necessary yet. In the middle of one strong one I did tell him to start getting the pool ready.
At 5:30 Corey called Gerri to let her know that I was in labor and things were moving along but we would call her when we needed her. She called us back and said that she needed to drop some papers off at her tax persons house but that she’d come right after. We called her back around 6:15 and told her that she needed to come now, it ended up taking her about an hour to get to our house.
Meanwhile, Noah woke up at 6 and Hannah woke up at about 6:30, Ben was last to get up at 7:00. Contractions were coming strong, but still irregular and it was hard to concentrate through them. I got in the pool at about 7:10, it was real nice and made me relax a bit. The kids wanted to finish the movie that they had started the night before: Annie. So I faced myself in the pool towards the TV and watched, rather I listened to it, too. At about 7:15 the midwives showed up and started hustling around getting ready for the birth and organizing supplies. At some point the children finished the movie and were off to the playroom to play. They wanted to watch the birth so I made sure that they were called in when it was time. I was shaking in the pool, it was cold so we had to get the water warmed up, it was much better when we re-filled with hot water and I covered myself with a towel.
I think I was subconsciously waiting for the kids to wake up and for the midwives to be here. As soon as they showed up, the contractions became strong pushing contractions. I wasn’t comfortable sitting in the pool, my belly was getting cold so I decided to turn over and lean on the pool while on my knees. My belly was completely subemerged and hung in the warm water, and that felt better. The contractions were strong down low in my pelvis and it felt a little better to have my belly hanging down. I could stretch my back and belly easier than when I was sitting.
I felt the baby’s head coming down and I announced to the room that I was pushing just to make sure that they knew I was pushing. They knew. It felt like I was by myself and I hoped that everyone was still there. I wanted to labor alone but I still wanted them around. So when my body started pushing I remembered the children and called for them, and they ran in. I knew that the baby was coming quickly and I didn’t want anyone to miss it. I didn’t push on top of the contractions, no one counted either, I just let my body do it on it’s own. I think it was two or three pushing contractions and she came down and out easily, her cord was wrapped around her neck. I can’t believe how aware I was with this birth, I felt the head coming down, and I kept in control throughout.
While the midwife was unwrapping the cord from her neck, Corey said “Hannah look at your little sister!” I said “What? We have a girl?” I was then able to turn over to sit and hold her. Everyone is so excited! A little girl. We are now a complete family with 2 boys and 2 girls.
Rebekah Elise was born at 7:51am, weighing in at 7lbs 15oz, and 20¼ inches long. Just perfect.
Minutes after birth
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