It was Sunday, May 27th and we spent a fun afternoon a family friend's house for a BBQ. I was feeling really good; tired and large, but good. Everyone kept asking me when I was going to have this baby and I assured them it wasn't coming any time soon and in fact, I was beginning to think my due date was perhaps calculated incorrectly. However, knowing that the next day was my due date, I couldn't help but go home that night with a glimmer of hope. I was excited, however, that we had plans in the morning with our friend's Mia & Kris to go out to breakfast for the LumberJack! This was the meal I had the day I was due with Emmy, it's the perfect breakfast for a very pregnant woman who wants a little taste of everything. It's french toast, pancakes, biscuits, eggs, bacon and sausage - a pregnant woman's dream! I might not have had the baby yet, but at least I had this meal to look forward to.
I went to bed that evening around 10PM and was woken suddenly at exactly 12:01AM. I remember looking at the clock because I couldn't imagine that I already had to pee since I had just gone to bed, but heck, I was very pregnant, so anything was possible. All of a sudden I heard a crack of thunder and realized I didn't have to pee and the thunder was what must have woken me. It was extremely loud and knowing how afraid Emmy is of thunder, I stared at the monitor waiting for the "DADDY" call!
While I waited up for her for a few minutes, I grabbed my cell phone, went to my "What to Expect" app and it said, "Due Date"! Just then I had a contraction. At first I didn't think anything of it, or at least I was trying to convince myself it was nothing because I had been having braxton hicks contractions for a few months. I didn't want to get my hopes up even though in my heart I knew this time it was different. I timed my contractions for about an hour and they were just about 10 minutes apart. After the hour I decided it was time to wake Andy. I nudged him a bit and said, "I think I'm in labor". He rolled over in his sleepy state and said "Ok, well if you need me, just let me know." I laughed and said "I need you, that's why I am waking you up." At this point he jumped out of bed and we both started pacing.
Since this time I was determined to have a VBAC (Vaginal Birth after Cesearan) I knew it was in my best interest to keep moving. Thankfully I had started packing my bag a few days earlier, so I threw some last minute things in the bag, took a nice long, hot shower and continued to time my contractions on a handy iphone app I had downloaded a few days prior. It's amazing what a difference 3 years makes, because with Em we were timing them on good ole paper and this time we were able to indulge in the advances of modern technology. My mom said, now I have seen everything, as she came up to check on me once Andy told her I was in labor and we were going to be on our way!
It was now a little before 5AM and I was eager to see how I was progressing, so off to the hospital we went. Upon arriving I was so upset to learn that I was only 1 centimeter after being in labor and a lot of pain for almost 5 hours. My midwife told me to walk around for an hour because I couldn't be admitted until 2 centimeters. Andy and I did just that, taking a nice tour of the labor ward, stopping every few minutes for my contractions. After 45 minutes I said I need to be checked, if this labor isn't progressing than I NEED an epidural. It was just 6AM and I was so happy to learn that I was almost 4 centimeters and was now being admitted. It was at the moment that I knew if I could get through the past 45 minutes, taking just 1 minute at a time, that I COULD do this. I didn't want an epidural because I knew if I was stuck in a bed I would have a c-section and not progress and I was already considered high risk because I was attempting a VBAC.
I continued to labor for 4 more hours until I was fully dilated. Don't worry, I won't go into all the details but let's just say I literally took it 1 minute at a time, don't think I opened my eyes for 4 hours straight and swore to Andy we were only having 2 kids! I will tell you that I had my midwife check my progress, she said at least twice as much as she usually does. I told her I was a numbers person and that I needed to know we were moving in the right direction and in a timely fashion. I could handle a few more hours but if it was going to be all day I needed an epidural and a nap! Thankfully it wasn't all day and I believe because I had continued to weight train throughout my pregnancy I was able to stay strong throughout the whole experience.
It was finally time to push and Cathy, my midwife assured me this baby would be here before lunch. I immediately told her I wanted lunch now! We all had a nice laugh and off to pushing I went. I ended up pushing for 2 hours thanks to an arm that insisted on being next to Mr. Ian's head. Cathy tried to pinch his fingers so he would retract his arm but he was having none of it and finally at 12:05PM, just in time for lunch, Ian made his grand entrance into the world. Since Andy and I were both so positive it was a boy it actually took a good minute or two before we actually checked to make sure our prediction was correct. We were right, a beautiful 8 pound, 11 ounce, baby boy came into our world and we were thrilled. He had quite a set of lungs on him and cried for about 30-40 minutes. It wasn't until Daddy came to the rescue and had skin to skin contact that he finally settled down. I told Andy, I hoped this wasn't a glimpse into our future :)
I know people thought i was crazy for attempting to even have a VBAC, and even crazier to do it naturally but I am SO SO happy with my decision. Natural childbirth was something I had wanted to experience and even though the c-section with Emmy was necessary and at the time I was grateful for modern medicine, I wanted to experience what my body was made to do. Andy also told me afterwards that it was the coolest experience of his life, so I am grateful and proud to give him that opportunity as well. I'll never forget him looking at me afterwards and saying, "And you tell me you can't do Crossfit?!?! You can do anything now!"
