A New Adventure

Guest Post (written by Susan)

I woke up with a contraction at 6:30 am on the  morning of September 12th.  Contractions were irregular most of the day.  I was in complete denial that the baby was really coming!  I just went about my normal day (including visiting friends at 5:30 pm and going out to dinner at 7 pm -- all while having contractions!).  Contractions were 3-5 minutes apart starting at 5 pm and went to 2-3 minutes apart around 8 pm. 

Out to Ruby Tuesdays for dinner

My doula came over at 8:30 pm which is when contractions got more intense.  I had been feeling all my contractions in my back so we did lots of things to try to get baby to change positions but to no avail.  My doula did a lot of hip squeezes which helped tremendously! My water broke at 11 pm. This is when things really intensified and I said I wanted to go to the hospital.  We got around and drove to the hospital (somehow I was able to keep my composer in the car and felt relatively little pain).  Arrived at the hospital at midnight and triage took 40 minutes (and they wouldn't let my doula come back!).  I was 5 cm dilated upon admission.

Within an hour of arriving at the hospital, I felt the need to push.  My nurse checked me and I was 8-9 cm.  We called my doctor in (he was already on the floor as he had recently delivered another baby).  By the time he came in (about 10 minutes) I was fully dilated.  I pushed for about 25 minutes.  The baby's heart rate kept dropping during contractions (from 130 to 95) due to coming down the birth canal so quickly.  They gave me some oxygen but by the time they got it, I was on my second to last contraction.  She came out with her head sideways and screamed before her body was out.  My doctor immediately placed her up on my chest.  It was so amazing!  Jeff cut the cord and we did skin-to-skin for an hour before she was weighed and checked. 

20 minutes after the delivery

Our baby was born at 1:40 am on Friday, September 13, 2013. 19 hours from first contraction to birth, but only 6 hours of active labor including 25 minutes of pushing. She was 7 pounds and 19 inches. I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to have a natural, medication-free birth.  We are so in love with our baby girl, Miss Lily Elizabeth.

Below is our birth announcement with some newborn photos!

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