godsgrace: Remie's natural birth

Posted Tuesday, September 18, 2007 12:40 PM

The Beginning
I woke up at 4:45am on Friday January 5th, 2007. I felt a "pop" in my stomach and I thought that my water might've broke but I wasn't sure. I lay in bed a few minutes trying to decide if I should go back to sleep or get up to see what that pop was. I decided to get up. A few minutes after I got out of bed I started having slight cramps. That's when my husband, Remie, woke up. I told him what was going on and said to go back to sleep because I just thought that I had Braxton Hicks contractions. For some reason he didn't listen and stayed awake. My cramps were getting worse but I still thought that I was not in labor. Remie convinced me to start timing my "cramps". They were coming every two minutes. He wanted to call Dr. Gilbert but I kept saying that this wasn't painful enough to be the real thing. He decided to get my pregnancy book and check up on what I was feeling. After a few minutes of reading, Remie told me that we should call Dr. Gilbert to see what she thought because he thought that I was really in labor. I agreed. He was so nervous that every time he tried to page my doctor he would mess up our phone number and have to do it again! Finally, the third time worked and Dr. Gilbert called back. She said to get me to the hospital immediately because I was definitely in labor.

Time to Hit the Hospital
I still thought that everyone was nuts because I was not in that much pain so I decided that I was going to take a shower. Remie said that there was no time for a shower and that I needed to get dressed and go. I must've known that he was right because I listened and got dressed and slowly made my way to the car. We finally made it to the hospital around 6:15am. Remie raced me into the ER and then they wheeled me up to the Labor and Delivery floor. By this time my contractions were REALLY close together and I had to bend over and concentrate when they hit! I thought that it was funny that the nurses were asking me serious questions like my ss# and my birth date in the middle of the contraction, did they really think that I was going to be able to answer?

The Build-up
Anyway, the nurse examined me and to my surprise my water had broke at home and I was already 6cm dilated and fully effaced! Unfortunately, the nurses were concerned because there was meconium in the amniotic fluid. The contractions were getting worse but still not too painful, I remember telling Remie to watch the monitor and tell me when the contractions were ending. My wonderful husband just kept telling me to breathe and that’s how I made it through each contraction without any medication. The nurses kept asking me if I wanted an epidural but I said no each time because I was really not in severe pain. It was extremely intense cramps but nothing I couldn't handle.

Time to Push
At 7:45am I was checked again and I was fully dilated and ready to push! The nurse told me that Dr. Gilbert was almost there and that I needed to tell her when I felt the need to push. Almost immediately I felt the need to push! They called Dr. Gilbert and she began running through the parking lot to make it in time. I pushed and pushed and pushed. It was so much work! I remember thinking that my baby was never going to come out!

He's Here!
Finally at 9:17am, my beautiful baby was born into the world weighing 8lbs 10.5 oz! I didn't know if he was a boy or girl so Remie had to tell me, "It's a boy!" Giving birth was the most miraculous experience ever! I loved every minute of it and I can't wait to do it again!