Soon2BmrsMoreno: Brooklyn's Quick Delivery
Posted
Tuesday, December 30, 2008 3:06 PM
"Brooklyn Ariela was born at 4:30 a.m., a mere three hours after I went into labor and worth every second of it..."
Not-so-perfect timing
Saturday night was the only night I was hoping I wouldn't go into labor. I felt nervous about it because of the rain and the thought of everyone who would be rushing to the hospital in those bad driving conditions. So sure enough, I woke up at 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, after only an hour of sleep, with what I thought might be contractions. I decided to pick up a little around the house, just in case. But not long after, the contractions started to get stronger, so I took a bath and brushed my teeth -- mainly to distract myself in case it wasn't the real deal after all.
Getting started
At about 2 a.m. I started timing my contractions. They were consistently about three-and-a-half minutes apart, but they were only 30 seconds long. I could talk through them and walk through them, so I still wasn't convinced that it was anything more than early labor, if that.
But by 2:30 a.m. I called my mom to tell her what was going on and she told me to call Labor & Delivery, tell them, and then call her back. The L&D nurses told me to come on in and get checked out. I woke up my 9 year-old daughter and my husband, then called my mom to tell her to head down here.
My daughter was so excited -- in her half-asleep state she said, "I'm so excited! I thought this day would NEVER come!" My husband was very calm and collected as he grabbed the car seat, the bag, and tried to calm my daughter for my sake.
The quick trip to the hospital
It took a quick five minutes and two contractions to get to the hospital.
By the time I got into the exam room, around 3 a.m., the contractions were quite strong and it seemed they were coming more quickly now. The pressure was intense and all I could do was focus and breathe through each contraction. After a couple contractions they started to double-up on each other so the nurse finally did an internal exam. She determined that I was at least eight centimeters dilated and would be moved over to the delivery room. I started to cry because I realized at that very moment what was really going on. I was going to have to get this baby out, "I can't do it. I can NOT do this." My mom arrived, as did my cousin, to take my daughter out of the room.
Getting coached through labor
My mom and husband stayed with me and helped talk me through the rest of the delivery. My mom reminded me to slow my breathing with each contraction and when I screamed she reminded me to focus the energy into pushing. My husband kept telling me that I could do it -- even as I screamed, "Ooooh noooo... I can't do this!" He reminded me that if I could put up with him, I could do ANYTHING. Well five pushes later, my sweet baby girl was born. Just like that.
No epidural and no episiotomy; just a few curse words, awesome labor coaches and a lot of... I don't know... good luck? It was just like what I hoped for, but wasn't sure could happen. It was amazing. I still hurt when I think about it. Brooklyn Ariela was born at 4:30 a.m., a mere three hours after I went into labor and worth every second of it. I couldn't be happier right now and have been blessed with one of the greatest gifts in life: Family.
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