(40 weeks pregnant)
First of all, I just want to say that when you expect a baby to come early and you pass your due date, it is very hard. I was so tired and ready to be done. Each day felt like a year and was a huge hurdle to get through knowing I would still be pregnant that night. Originally, we thought August 28th would be a great day, my brother's and my aunts' birthdays, then just August, then labor day, then my mom's b-day, Sept. 7th ... we had a great reason for almost everyday between then and the actual date.
The due date came and went and so did the weekend. I woke up Monday morning like any other day thinking, "Here comes another long day without a baby." But it didn't take long before contractions started and we began using the contraction timer app on the iphone. After about an hour of them being 3-5 minutes apart and 40 seconds long, they petered out and I sent Curtis off to work. An hour later they were back. I called my sisters and mothers to let them know things might start happening today. Zilpha didn't answer her phone, but I left a "heads up" message. I also called my doctor who said he would come by that morning to check on me. When he arrived I was still taking care of the kids, jumping on the mini tramp and talking during contractions. He checked me and said I was in early labor, 5 cm dilated, 90% effaced and at -1 station. He headed back to work and said to call him when the contractions got more intense.
(2 hours before the birth)
Alaura arrived and took Audrey to the bus stop and so did my mother-in-law Shauna, who took Nathan shopping. My mom came and took Audrey to school because she had missed the bus. I was glad to not be laboring while trying to take care of kids anymore because they were getting more intense without much break in between. I told Curtis to come home and called the doctor. He knew when he walked in the door that this would be it and he called his helpers, a midwife and a midwifery student. Alaura tried emailing and facebooking Zilpha, but it wasn't until mom called her in-laws that we got a hold of her and she started driving the hour down here.
Curtis and Dr. Wright got busy filling the tub and by 1:30 I was "relaxing" in the warm water. Curtis changed and joined me shortly after. He held me in his arms, holding me from behind as I tried to relax with each contraction getting more and more intense.
After about 1/2 hour after getting in, Dr. Wright checked me again. I was 100% efface, 5 cm dilated and at a station +2. I thought to myself, "Really? Only 5cm? How many more hours of this do I have then? 4 or 5? Can I do this for 5 more hours?" The contractions were really intense by then.
Within 15 minutes my water broke and I had the urge to push, so I went along what my body was doing. I reached down and could feel the baby's head not crowning, but there. It was exhilarating. During those crazy intense contractions I was engulfed in joy and excitement! I called out, "I am so excited to have this baby!" A couple more pushes and I was crowning! The baby just slipped out and Dr. Wright placed him/her on my chest. Amazing!
We just sat there cradling our new little one, no one prodded or bothered us, we were able to just take it all in and fall head over heels with this precious little one.
After a couple of minutes someone asked if it was a girl or a boy. I said, "I don't care." because I really didn't. I was just so excited to be hold the baby in my arms. Dr. Wright took a peek and said, "It's a girl!" and Curtis and I said together, "Claire!"
Not long after the birth, Nathan came up to meet his new sister and Zilpha arrived 5 minutes too late. We were in the process of getting cleaned up when Audrey came home from school. It was early out day, we had totally forgotten.
We couldn't be any happier with the way things turned out. Everyone is healthy and happy. What a wonderful day!
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