I awoke suddenly on December 9, 2008 at around 3 a.m. in our family bed. I felt "something" happen inside of me. "Ahhhhh!" a gush of water came out of me and onto the bed before I could stand up. I stood up and it poured out of me, clear warm water. So much of it! What an unforgettable feeling! I had not experienced spontaneous rupture with my first born. My belly was smaller and tighter from the loss of water. I waddled to the living room, leaking, to call my midwives and my mother as my husband mopped up and soothed our confused and startled toddler.
We arrived at the birth center at around 5 a.m. The center has 3 birthing rooms. We were very happy to find that our chosen room was available, the "purple room", with light lavender walls and a hot tub to labour in, the same room my sweet boy was born in three years prior. It was very comforting being in that room again.
The contractions were mild for the first few hours, so I laboured outside of the tub. I would hang on to my husband when one was coming on, rotate my hips, I squatted, breathed, paced about, I felt too much pressure to sit down. When the contractions started getting heavier the midwives prepped the hot tub for me. I slipped naked into the soothing hot water. As with my first labour the hot water provided instant relief. The contractions increased intensity quickly, beyond anything I had experienced with my son; I was also slower to dilate. The two attendant midwives pressed on my lower back, alleviating the deep pain I was feeling there. My husband sat beside me on the outside of the tub, feeding me peanuts and giving me sips of water. But nothing could soothe me in the heat of a strong contraction like the faces of the midwives, nodding their heads, letting me know that what I was feeling was normal, that everything was alright. I was exhausted the last hour of labouring, weeping. I was on my knees in the tub, rocking back and forth. "I want to push!" I told the midwives. I had not experienced the urge to push with my first birth; it was an unmistakable and undeniable feeling. The head midwife checked me and said the baby was very close. I pushed for seven minutes.
At 10:15 a.m. my little baby slipped into the then murky and bloody water, lingering underneath for an instant as I reached for it. The midwives arms were everywhere. The baby was slippery and on my chest. I was trying to look past the hands and arms. I was the first to say it, "It's a girl!" I was so overjoyed. We wanted a girl. "We have our girl!" I said to my weeping husband.
We arrived at the birth center at around 5 a.m. The center has 3 birthing rooms. We were very happy to find that our chosen room was available, the "purple room", with light lavender walls and a hot tub to labour in, the same room my sweet boy was born in three years prior. It was very comforting being in that room again.
The contractions were mild for the first few hours, so I laboured outside of the tub. I would hang on to my husband when one was coming on, rotate my hips, I squatted, breathed, paced about, I felt too much pressure to sit down. When the contractions started getting heavier the midwives prepped the hot tub for me. I slipped naked into the soothing hot water. As with my first labour the hot water provided instant relief. The contractions increased intensity quickly, beyond anything I had experienced with my son; I was also slower to dilate. The two attendant midwives pressed on my lower back, alleviating the deep pain I was feeling there. My husband sat beside me on the outside of the tub, feeding me peanuts and giving me sips of water. But nothing could soothe me in the heat of a strong contraction like the faces of the midwives, nodding their heads, letting me know that what I was feeling was normal, that everything was alright. I was exhausted the last hour of labouring, weeping. I was on my knees in the tub, rocking back and forth. "I want to push!" I told the midwives. I had not experienced the urge to push with my first birth; it was an unmistakable and undeniable feeling. The head midwife checked me and said the baby was very close. I pushed for seven minutes.
At 10:15 a.m. my little baby slipped into the then murky and bloody water, lingering underneath for an instant as I reached for it. The midwives arms were everywhere. The baby was slippery and on my chest. I was trying to look past the hands and arms. I was the first to say it, "It's a girl!" I was so overjoyed. We wanted a girl. "We have our girl!" I said to my weeping husband.