7.6.18 birth story time A look back at where we were last year on this day. I woke up like any other pregnant day, nothing seemed different. I had cabin fever and wanted to leave the house by myself. Mario didn't let me (smart). We went to a craft store then to eat burgers at In N Out. We got home in the afternoon and I felt like taking a nap but couldn't fall asleep. Around 3:30PM, I felt the strongest cramps of my life! Less than 2 minutes later, the contraction would start again. There was no lead up to the pain, just a sharp, body stiffening cramp. I started texting my doula but kept thinking I had a long way to go. She was 2 hours away and we tried some methods to slow down labor or just relax my body. Nope, didn't work. Less than 2 minutes apart, lasting ~30 seconds...so I'd breathe for about a minute and start again. By this time, my doula knew my labor was progressing quickly so she sent her back up to get to me faster. It's probably 7pm now, nothing has changed as far as contractions. Jessica (back up doula) arrives at our house and suggests we head to the hospital. My biggest fear this whole time is arriving too early at the hospital. I didn't want an epidural, I didn't want to be on my back, didn't want to be deprived of food/water, etc. Anyways, I trusted Jessica and went with the plan. We're getting out of the house when a contraction hits and I cling to Jessica with my life. This one was different. My body wanted to push. Mario's driving to the hospital, all I'm thinking is 'this baby better not come out right now.' I get in around 8:15PM. The nurse says I'm at 10cm- then says, it's 9cm. I said out loud, 'oh, shit.' I mean, I had no idea! It had been 5 hours. All the delivery rooms are taken and I get wheeled into the operating room. I remember they apologized and I really didn't care about anything at that point. I had my eyes closed, focusing on my body, and holding hands with Mario on one side and my doula on the other. My doula coaches me through pushing- all those videos and it seriously erased from my memory in the moment. I think I pushed maybe? 7-9 times and he was out. It was intense and amazingly, I was fully present. That thing where they say women forget about the pain? Nope, I can remember it perfectly. I was in shock it all happened so fast. I had read birth stories, listened to them (podcasts), watched endless videos and NOBODY ever talks about a 5.5 hour labor for a first timer. The fastest I had heard about was 4 hours for a second birth. Anyways, that's my story. I have a few theories on why it was so fast but I'll have to save 'em for another day. All in all, I'm pretty proud of my body. I felt like superwoman after giving birth. The endorphin high is amazing. The last year has been beautiful, raw, challenging, and testing. I felt crappy most of the time and just kept surviving, pushing though to another day. Over the past week, I've been feeling a lot better though. I've taking a ton of Vit D to get my levels up and had Vit B12 shot. More importantly, I started working out every morning. I had started and stopped a few times but my mind is ready this time around. Now that I feel ok, I want to get back to feeling great. Anywho, gotta get to making lunch for my birthday boy. =) Edit: just realized my verb tenses are all over the place here, typed this in a hurry, don't call the grammar police
