MY (UNMEDICATED) LABOR!

I know it's been almost 3 weeks since Gretel was born, but time has really flown! I can't believe it's taken me so long to give a little more info of how it all happened....

So on Sunday, October 12 I woke up at 3:14 am with what I thought were just awful cramps. It went away, and I went back to sleep. Twelve minutes later, the same feeling, but a little worse. I didn't think these were contractions, because my stomach never felt super tight, like it had with the Braxton Hicks contractions. I woke up Johnny, and was whining to him, and he suggested that I sit on my exercise ball to see if it would help. This helped a lot because when I was sitting up I could feel my stomach tightening with each contraction. I had another one ten minutes later, then the next was seven minutes later. From then on, they were consistently five minutes apart. The contractions slowly grew more intense, and I felt like getting in the shower. I couldn't believe how much better the hot water made me feel, and made the contractions a little more tolerable! While showering, Johnny called the hospital (that's what they told us to do in the classes) and they said it sounded like I was in early labor, and to just stay home for as long as possible and to come in if my water broke.

So that's what I did. John suggested we get back in bed and try to sleep. I got a little snippy at him, because I knew I wasn't going to be able to fall asleep, and I soon discovered it hurt a lot worse to lay down. Thank heaven for my exercise ball and for my hubby for remembering all the different labor positions from class! When I'd feel another one coming on, I'd kneel on the floor and slump over my ball. I totally felt like one of those women in the natural childbirth videos with their birthing balls!

John was also supposed to teach a lesson in church that day, and he was concerned about what he'd do about that! I remember saying, "Well maybe you can go, but I definitely can't see myself sitting through church being in pain every five minutes!" Neither of us realized how quickly things were progressing for me!

Soon I threw up from the next contraction, but still wasn't sure when to leave for the hospital since everyone had told me it's best to labor at home for as long as you can. Otherwise, we'd heard we'd either be sent home, or we'd be hanging out at the hospital all day. Although my contractions weren't getting closer together, they were becoming more painful. So John got in the shower and made me some food, and we decided to leave for the hospital anyway.

We got there at 8 am. After giving them a bunch of my information, they finally got me into a room, but due to a shift change, they wouldn't be able to have someone check me for another 30 minutes! I almost died at that thought! When they asked me to rate my pain on a scale from 1 to 10, I told the girl a 5 or 6 because I didn't want to be a total boob and figured I had a long way to go, so I wanted to leave a little room for myself on the pain scale!

When the doctor came in she told me I was dilated to an 8! I was in shock-I was not expecting that! They told me if I had wanted an epidural, I wouldn't be able to get it for another 30 to 60 minutes. I had a feeling things would go too quickly for that! (I was right!)

They got me into my delivery room, and I threw up again because my contractions were suddenly a lot worse and without breaks in between. (Thanks hubby, for holding out a barf bag for me!) The nurse asked if I wanted to shower, and I did. At this point, I was at a 9, and my water still hadn't broken. They told me it might break in the shower, which it did. After it broke, I had a really horrific contraction. I felt weak and shaky, and Johnny dried me off with a towel and got me back in my gown. As I laid down on the bed, I had another horrid contraction, then suddenly felt the urge to push. (Through all of this, John was a very good birthing partner, and very patient with me, because I couldn't talk or have anyone talk to me during my contractions-but he did remind me to focus on breathing slowly through them, which made a huge difference!)

The nurse got the doctor in there-not my regular doctor, but I got lucky because I loved her! She was the same lady that had checked me-she said she rarely gets to deliver those she checks, because normally her shift is over by the time they're ready to push.

It took 3 or 4 contractions to push her out, and although it felt like 5 minutes, they said I pushed for 15.

I still cannot believe I had a baby without my precious epidural! I was definitely not planning on that happening! I am really proud of myself though, I must say! I am so happy with the way it all went; really fast just like my mom's labors, and it felt like everything went very smoothly! Gretel was born at 10:43 am.

I got to watch the whole thing in a mirror, and it was so motivating to see her little head! Also, I got to touch her head while she was crowning, and after she popped out, they gave her a quick wipe down and laid her on my chest so we'd have the "skin to skin" time that's so good for the baby. She slept on me for the next couple of hours, and it was heaven!

She's such a little doll- a very good little baby; very easy to take care of! I only wish for more sleep, like all the other moms out there!

She is so cute; she has olive skin and tons of really dark hair! She loves her little "day at the spa" which is what I call her bath time-she especially loves getting her hair washed! She's my sweet little muffin!