So, I decided I was sick of the early labor dance and I wanted to try and do something about it… so since Bella was going to my Dad’s for the day, John decided to come home and see if we could get this thing rolling! We did acupressure, nipple stimulation, went for a walk and I drank GALLONS of RRLT (red raspberry leaf tea). That did it! The contractions picked up around 1 pm and they stayed through dinner… Morgan insisted we go have a distraction, so we fandangoed tickets to see Twilight (woo-hoo) and went! The contractions REALLY picked up about halfway thru the movie and I started needing to hold John’s hand through them.

When the movie was out and we got in the car, I started shaking and the contractions were right on top of each other. So we called the midwife and she said to meet us at the birth center! We made a pit stop at home because I had to pee, and we were off.

At the birth center, she checked me and I was 4 cm and they stretched me to 5cm and swept the membranes (OUCH). I labored well for a few more hours and got to 6cm. They offered to break my water, and since I knew I was progressing, I agreed. Then things REALLY got going.

So I labored over the toilet for awhile, and then moved to the fancy shmancy birth tub. SOOO NICE! I stayed in the tub from about 4-6 am.

John and Morgan (my doula) were amazing, they used our Hypnosis techniques and worked really hard to keep me hydrated, cool and relaxed. It was REALLY painful, but I really felt like I could do it, even when I was puking and groaning.

I was even able to SLEEP between contractions… seriously, it was so relaxing there, I’d go through a nasty contraction, and then turn my head to the side between them and sleep while Morgan stroked my hair. It was great!

I started feeling the urge to push in the tub, and didn’t really know how to work with it there… and the midwife discovered that I had a cervical lip (not TOTALLY dilated, close, but one side wasn’t budging) and she offered to hold it back during a contraction, but I knew that would hurt like hell so I told her to wait… a few more contractions later and I let her push it out of the way during a contraction… that HURT LIKE HELL, but I was grateful because that meant my pushing would be productive!!

So, I moved out of the tub and onto the birth stool, and REALLY felt like my pushing was effective there. It honestly felt like I was taking the biggest poop of my life! It hurt like the dickens when she crowned, and even though I wasn’t having a contraction, I pushed anyways. I knew I could NOT keep her head right there for one second longer, but if I DIDN’T push, she’d go back in and I’d have to do it again… NO WAY. I pushed for all of 25 minutes and she was out!

I did have A LOT of bleeding right after she was born, so they gave me shots of pitocin and methergine and I have to be on bed rest for 2-3 days, which I won’t argue with, I feel really faint when I try to get up to pee…

Carlee Rose is 9lb, 6oz. Two days earlier than Bella was and 2oz bigger! YOWZA! She was born at 6:31am on November 22, 2008 and we went home around 10am that same day. It is soooo nice being at home, in my bed, with all my stuff right here… Bella went off to Grammy’s for the day/night, so John and I (and Carlee) just climbed in bed and S L E P T. She’s a great nurser and a really relaxed baby, she slept 5 hours with us today!! Ahhh… I credit that to the fact that she wasn’t poked and prodded with anything after birth… we skipped the Vit K and Eye drops, and she didn’t get suctioned or anything. Just got to chill with mama.

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Kate
Mother of 2 girls, and doula!
www.letitbebirth.com