The Much Anticipated Arrival of Peter and Kallan

by Anne
(Colorado)

After contracting for two days, with contractions that were just in the front, much like Braxton Hicks, things finally woke me up with quite a shock at 12:30 am on Monday morning.

I could not quite believe that it was a real contraction, because it was so strong. Usually, they don't start out that strong for me. So, I got up, took a couple of Tylenol, and planned to go back to bed. That's when I got another, just as strong, and quite close.

I thought it was interesting, so I woke my hubby up and told him that I did not think he would be making it into work that day. He got up, and started getting things ready. I hopped on the computer to time the contractions, and found that they were coming every four minutes, lasting a minute, immediately! I was so shocked. I knew they were strong, I could not walk or talk through them but was still in disbelief.

I called my sister and told her that Don would be coming to pick up her daughter, our babysitter. Don got all the bags in the car, and the car seats, and set off to get Nichole.

Just two minutes away, but by the time he got back, an hour had elapsed since we had woken, and we both knew it was time to head out.


When we got to the hospital, we went to sign in, and I had a contraction, that again, I had to really work through. The nurse, watching and waiting, told me that they were not going to triage me, but get me in a room right away. She could tell...

When they checked me, I was at an 8! They called the midwife, and the doc was already there. The original doc that was supposed to be there could not because she hurt her shoulder. So, it was a different doc.

Sharon, the midwife checked me, and I was at a nine just about 15 minutes later. All this time, I had been telling Don I wanted an epidural. He just kept telling me I could do it...I told him I knew I could, I just did not want to.(This is always my weak point. I always ask, even at my homebirths!) But, by the time it got hooked up, if I were to have one, I could have almost been done.

If I let her break the water, I would be done..So, that's what we opted for. As the contractions came, I just hung onto my hubby and moved my hips back and forth.

Sure enough...A was born at 3:05 am. There was meconium in the water, so I only got to hold him for a minute, and they took him to make sure he was ok. He needed to be taken to the nursery for oxygen, as he was having a bit of a hard time breathing.

At one point, before B was born, I looked over, and breathed a sigh of relief. My sister Mary was there! I was so thrilled! Another set of hands to help watch over the baby!

About the same time, B was born, at 3:17. He was just fine! They both looked so small to me! Surely, a big difference between a nine pound and a 6-7 pound baby! It was surely amazing!

There were so many things that could have gone wrong, that usually do, but this was just a beautiful birth! The doc who was standing by, just in case, said he saw no reason why we could not birth in the regular birthing suite. So, no OR! YEY! We were so happy about that!