Written by Deb on August 7th, 2002 For those not up with the online message board lingo... BH: Braxton Hicks DH: Dear Husband I woke up Sunday morning at 4:00 am with this funny little twinge down by my cervix or somewhere. I didn't think too much of it at the time. I've been having lots of little things going on for the past few weeks. Shortly after this twinge, I had my first ever painful contraction. It didn't hurt terribly, but it did hurt. I laid in bed for about an hour and timed the contractions just for fun (as I have done many times before with my BH). They were about six minutes apart, and really did kind of hurt. I decided to sit in the tub for a bit to see if that would make them go away or at least feel better. After a couple of minutes in the tub I decided I was kind of lonely and didn't want to sit there hurting all by myself. So, at about 5:00 am I went to the other room and very apologetically woke up DH to come and sit with me. I told him it was probably nothing, but I just didn't want to be alone. We sat together in the bathroom for an hour or so, and I asked him if he wanted to practice timing the contractions, so that when we really went into labor he'd know how to best do it. So, we started timing. They weren't too consistant, but they were around 6 minutes apart (anywhere from 5 to 9, actually). I got tired of being in the tub, so we watched Father of the Bride. At about 9:00 am, DH pointed out that I'd been having the contractions for 5 hours, and he decided to call the midwife because I was kind of scared of what was going to happen. So, about 9:30 I talked to the midwife on the phone - she made it sound like I was actually in labor and would be in the hospital that night (either to have the baby or to help me relax - I was kind of a nut on the phone with her). She said to sit in the tub, eat a lot, and try to sleep and that we'd keep in touch as the day went on. DH got me to eat a bit, but I felt like I was going to throw up with each contraction, so eating wasn't really high on my list of things I'd enjoy doing. But I tried, because I didn't want to run out of energy. Things went on, and the contractions never stopped. They still varied from 4 to 9 minutes apart (stayed closer to 6 most of the day). By 1:30 pm I was to the point of telling DH with about every 4th contraction that I can't do this anymore and I just don't want it to hurt. I was getting extra upset, so he called the midwife again. She basically said we can go to the hospital whenever we want, but we'll just be doing the same thing there that we're doing at home. DH got off the phone with her and told me what she said. We decided to try to stick it out a little longer, but that didn't last long. 2:00 I decided it was time to go to the hospital because I wanted some drugs if I had to do this much longer (we were planning an unmedicated waterbirth). I was ready to throw my whole idea of what I wanted the birth to be like out the window and go to the hospital and get drugs NOW! DH said we'd been at it for 10 hours, and let's try 2 more. I sat through one more contraction and said I really wanted to go now. Off we went. We arrived around 3:00 and went in the emergency room door. Apparently I looked pretty together for being in labor because it took a couple of tries to get the people there to understand that was why we came. But, we got the point across eventually and they wheeled me upstairs (where they had been waiting for me all day). They got me in a gown and I got on the bed. The nurse asked if I wanted to do the waterbirth and I said I wasn't sure anymore (because if I wasn't very far along I wanted some drugs, and with lots of them you can't do waterbirth anymore). So, she checked me and, after leaving me in suspense for what seemed like forever, she said I was 8 cm! I was absolutely delighted to know that we had gotten so far. It was also nice to know that I was craving pain relief because I was in transition, not because I was wanting to throw away my ideal birth, so we're on for the waterbirth. They went to setting up the tub in another room (which I thought was nice so I didn't have to listen to it the whole time). I sat on the bed through my 20-minute monitor strip and, with the nurse's help, really finally got myself under control during contractions. I had just been scared before, but if I just focused and breathed, they were okay. After I got off the strip, the midwife had arrived. She had me sit on a birthing ball. I almost liked the toilet better (which I had done at home a bit) but once I got used to the ball, it seemed to feel pretty good. From here on out I pretty much blocked everyone out and just focused on the contractions and getting that baby down and out. I sat on the ball for a couple of hours, until the midwife thought I sounded like I was wanting to push (I never did get that terrible urge to push, but oh well). At 5:30 she checked me and said I just had a little lip of cervix left. We talked about breaking the water (she said I could birth the baby in the sac if I wanted, but it sounded to me like it would be easier to get him out if the waters were broken). So, at 5:43 she broke my water and I was immediately complete and "ready to push". So, I walked down the hall to the room with the tub. The midwife said that since this was my first baby she would put me on the toilet for the first couple of pushes so I could get used to how it should feel. I said I promised I'd push like I was on the toilet if I could just get in the tub. So, after hanging on her for one more contraction I got in the tub. It was wonderful! About 20 seconds later, I had a contraction and was allowed to push. I didn't like it much at first because I was pushing out a lot of amniotic fluid. Once it was all gone, we did okay. After 2 hours and 15 minutes of pushing (which did not feel that long), Isaac came! It was 8:00 pm exactly. It took a lot of work to get him out, but it was SO worth it! I got to snuggle him for a bit. Then when the cord quit pulsing, DH cut it (which he did not plan on doing). He held the baby while I got out of the tub and onto the bed to deliver the placenta and get stitched up (the midwife's term for my tear was that I gave myself a little episiotomy). Isaac looked great! Apgar's were 7 and 8. We got back to our room at about 8:45 and Isaac and I snuggled for a while. He decided to nurse well for about 45 minutes. He is doing okay with that now. We got to return home Tuesday afternoon, and it has been an adventure so far!