The labor went by unexpectedly fast! I woke up at 12:30 a.m on June 30th with a backache and mild cramps. I didn't wake Kyle up both because I wasn't sure this was "it" and because if it was "it" then he would need the rest for a typically long labor. By 3 a.m I couldn't get to sleep any more and woke Kyle up for a heating pad. I had time to look up "True Labor versus False Labor" from our childbirth packets and on the internet. Kyle got me a heating pad and actually went back to sleep. By about 4 a.m. (I start losing track of time here) I was out of bed and in the bathtub to deal with the contractions. Kyle was still asleep! At some point in the bath, I realized that I was truly in labor. I got out of the bathtub in the middle of a contraction and started calling for Kyle, who needed to be shaken out of his sleep. From that point on he started holding my hand, reminding me to breathe and timing my contractions (which seemed to begetting closer and closer together. When I couldn't deal with being in the bath any longer, I moved to the birth ball in the bedroom. Kyle called our Doula (birth coach) at about 5 or 6 and she secretly told Kyle that she thought I could go on for another 20 hours. My contractions were two minutes apart by about 7:30/ 8 p.m. and I felt like I needed to get to the hospital NOW. (Having contractions in the car is no fun, by the way.) Kyle tried to park in the parking garage and told the attendant that I was in labor. The attendant said, "If she's in labor, then you need to go to emergency." At this point, I felt like I might have the baby in front of Kaiser instead of inside the hospital. The emergency entrance to Kaiser is under construction, so when we did try to park at that entrance, the security guard told us it was all ambulance only parking. I ran towards to entrance with a very surprised Kyle yelling, "Are you sure you're going to go ahead without me?" Uh, yes.
In triage I measured 6 to 7 cm and my water broke. The nurses put my on a gurney and wheeled me to a labor and delivery room...past a frantic Kyle who I hear say, "That's my wife!"
In the labor and delivery room the nurses checked me again and I was 9 1/2 cm already and being instructed not to push yet. Our shocked Doula arrived just in time to help me not push and then with the actual pushing. After a half an hour of pushing, Ian was finally born, but with the umbilical cord around his neck! After a little oxygen he was good as gold and ready to be laid on my chest. There isn't a feeling to describe that.
I got to Kaiser hospital at 8:50 a.m. on June 30th and Ian was born to his lucky parents at 10:02 a.m. the same day.
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