This was my 9th pregnancy and I felt like it would be my last one. I was trying to enjoy the last few weeks of my pregnancy, but I had several bouts of heavy bleeding and it was hard to stay peaceful. On Sunday (9am) we were in church and I felt a little grumpy and tired of being pregnant. I had a friend tell me she had dreamed that I had given birth. That lifted my spirits. My son was also singing happy birthday for no reason. I sat in church with my doula next to me and my friend touched my head. I grumped at her and my doula told me I was in labor and it was time to go home (11 am). I thought she was silly, but decided to humor her because I felt achy and did not want to be around people. My husband, kids, and doula went home and I have about 3 contractions while driving the 20 minutes home. Once home I crawled into bed to rest while my husband organized the kids to eat lunch. While in bed I had 2 contractions and my body told me to go to the hospital. Grumpily, I got up and walked down to the car. My doula and husband were surprised to see me willingly going to the car, so they hurried and jumped in with me.
We drove to Vanderbilt University Hospital and I had a couple of contractions, but nothing intense. I kind of felt silly going to the hospital. I had a contraction getting out of the car, in the elevator, and one more as I walked into triage. The nurses at triage sent me straight to labor and delivery. I was surprised, but glad I could skip triage. My next contraction was really strong and I had to squat to relieve the intensity. The nurse would not take us to our room until we filled out our demographic paper. I told my husband to hurry! They then took us to room 6. I changed into a gown and then sat on the bed to be monitored and checked. I was 6 cm and 100% effaced. I was in labor and did not know it! It was now 5:20 pm.
It was now 5:20 pm
The anesthesiologist came into talk to me about epidurals. I had another contraction and rolled to my side and moaned through it. I instinctively tried to bite, but my husband said, "Don't bite me!" I suddenly stopped and then realized the doctor was still talking. She tired to get me to sign the form, but I couldn't because the contractions were requiring my focus. On the next contraction I felt like pushing and just let my body do it. The nurse asked my doula if I was pushing. My doula said, "Yes, get the doctor. " The Dr. rushed in and told me to turn on my back so she could check me. I refused since my contractions were worse when I sat down. Instead I turned on my hands on knees. My doula said, "Just check her like that." The Dr. said, "I can do that?" My doula said, "Yes!" The Dr. checked me and said, "Head!" She then told me to turn and lay on my back. I refused again and my doula whispered, "You can do this. Listen to your body. Do what your body says." On my next contraction I pushed the baby out.
She was born at 5:39 pm.
The baby gave a good cry and the Dr. let the cord pulse 2 minutes before offering my husband a chance to cut it. I told them about what I wanted regarding vitamin k and the other shots. Then, I turned over to hold my sweet new baby. They also offered me cytotec to control if I started to bleed. I refused and they looked surprised. I told them to wait and they could do it if I did start to bleed alot, but I did not want anything for "just in case." What a crazy fast birth! I did not even have time to take my socks off because I was thinking I had several more hours of labor. I guess not....