Daniel's Natural Birth Story.

Daniel's natural birth story started Friday morning at around 8 am when I started having some contractions. They didn't hurt. They just felt like pressure. I could walk and talk through them, so I thought nothing of them.

I did start timing them after a couple hours, just to see what they were doing. They were 5 to 6 minutes apart, but would slow way down if I sat down. However, I had no desire to sit, I felt the need to stand.

When my 2 year old went down for his nap, I took one too. I told my husband that we were probably going to have to head up to Boulder to the hospital later in the afternoon, but I was going to nap first. He told me that since it was Friday, leaving any time after 3 was a bad idea with rush hour traffic and we should wait until 7. I told him we'd have to see how it was going and I went to take a nap.

I didn't have any contractions while I was sleeping that I remember, so when I woke up, around 3. I figured we probably could wait until 7. I tried to keep myself busy. I was still having contractions, but again, they didn't hurt and I could function just fine.

Around 4:30, they started to get a little more intense, so I took a warm bath. That didn't help much so I knew it was time to go. We got our 2 year old ready, got my supplies, and started the hour plus drive up to Boulder. I called the midwives to let them know I was on my way.

During the drive, my contractions stayed 5 minutes apart, but started to get more intense. They were mainly in my lower abdomen and my butt bone, which made sitting in the car very uncomfortable.

We had no traffic what so ever, which was amazing, as it was 20 to 6 on a Friday night. We made it there in less than an hour.

When we got there, I was pretty uncomfortable, but nothing that I couldn't handle. We got checked into my room, the nurse started the paperwork, and they hooked me up to the monitors for about 20 minutes to see how baby was handling things.

They took me off the monitors just in time, I could not handle the pain in my butt bone!

Meanwhile, my parents went to the wrong hospital, so my son was still with us, running through the room, stressing me out! He didn't like that I was in the bed and he couldn't get to me. He didn't like the hospital in general.

Then the nurse started filling up the tub. I ran to the bathroom to throw up the juice I just drank, and my parents arrived, and so did my midwife.

While I was in the bathroom, the contactions started coming right on top of each other and I started to freak out. Then I remembered reading somewhere that when that happens, it's usually transition, and it will all be over soon. I took a deep breath, told myself I could do this, and went out to everyone.

My Dad says; "do you want me to take a picture?" No, thanks, just take Dagan. My husband took Dagan down to my parents car, switched out the car seat and all that jazz. That was at 7:25 pm. I asked if I could get into the tub. So I did. It didn't help.

I couldn't sit, my butt hurt too much, so I got on my hands and knees. I was only in there for about 10 minutes when all of a sudden, I felt this incredible pressure moving things down. I let out a great big holler! My midwife asked me if I was pushing. I said I didn't know but the baby was coming.

Everyone came running into to bathroom, telling me to get out of the tub. They had to help me out, I couldn't do it on my own. They had a mat set up on the floor, which is where I planted myself. Apparently my water had broken in the tub, and there was meconium in it, so everyone went into panic mode.

I wanted to stay on my hands and knees because of the pain in my butt. She asked it I wanted to get up on the bed and use the birth bar, or the stool, but the floor is where I stayed. The nurses were trying to check for Daniel's heart beat and couldn't find it, so they had me roll over. Just then my husband came back into the room. I couldn't stay on my side and went back onto hands and knees. It was time to get down to business.

I started pushing with each contraction. I felt his head start to come down, but when it started to tingle I paused and waited for the next cntractions, which was only 5 seconds away! His head came out, and then his body. They took him quickly to the warmer and suctioned to make sure he hadn't inhaled any meconium, and wasn't overly distressed. Meawhile, I rolled over to lay down on my back and deliver the placenta that came out quickly.

My husband was standing over with Daniel and the nurses... He weighed in at 9lbs 1oz, 21 inches long, and a 13.5 inch head. He was born at 8:03 pm. I pushed for 13 minutes.

My midwife was checking me for tears, and there were none!! Woo-hoo!! The nurse asked if she could give him the eye goop and Vit K, my husband referred her to me, I told her no, and got a dirty look. Well, my baby!

I am so happy I transferred to the Boulder Nurse Midwives, because the OB I had been seeing would never have let me deliver on the floor!!

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