The Next Day
After writing how comfortable she was in there, I woke up the next day (my due date) at 6 am. My husband was up too, so we got up and went for an hour walk to see if we could get her to come down and out. I had a regularly scheduled midwifery appointment that day. She thought I’d lost my mucus plug. There was a lot of fluid, so she couldn’t check my cervix in case my amnoitic sac had ruptured. She advised me to come in if I thought I was leaking fluid or at least by Monday to see if I was dilated. I went home disappointed thinking I’d have to wait another four days to get a check on what was going on and steeled myself for a weekend without a baby.
When Jaylon got home that night, we went for another hour walk and had eggplant parmesan again for dinner. Anything to get her moving out. Jaylon fell asleep at nine, but I couldn’t. I was too restless, amped up. I turned on the television watched ER and whatever comes after that.
I went to lay down at 11:35 pm. I was uncomfortable and crampy. I snuggled up next to Jaylon, hoping it would go away and it did. I started feeling crampy again and looked at the clock. It was 11:45 pm. The wheels started turning…pre-labor, I guessed and started getting excited that I might be able to wake Jaylon up in the morning with some real contractions. I made it until 1:30 before they started getting intense.
Jaylon rolled over and half asleep said, “How are you doing, babe?” “I think I might be having contractions,” I said. In 2 seconds he was up, stopwatch in hand, ready to time contractions. By 2:30 am they were five minutes apart and by 3:30 am we were on our way to the hospital to meet the midwife.
At 5 am and four centimeters, my midwife, Mary Ann, ruptured my membranes. I had a little snack and promptly puked it back up. After 15 minutes of walking and I was ready for the tub. I labored for a good three hours in the tub, eyes closed. I remember thinking, I can never fall out of standing bow after this; one minute of standing bow is nothing. I am so thankful for cat and cow pose…they got me through the morning.
It was incredible how distinctly I felt transition. I’d read tons of stories of women getting a new attitude or a second wind. I had had my eyes closed for three hours. Suddenly, I opened them and felt like I could talk to Laura and Jaylon. My arms stopped shaking during contractions (low blood sugar) and I felt like the contractions were productive. That’s when the midwife let me know that I was fully dilated.
Fifteen minutes of pushing and Bella Angelina Curry was born at 9:50 am on November 10th. Seven pounds, 14 ounces and 19.25 inches long. A few lusty cries and she was nursing within 20 minutes. I had no idea I’d be in love so quickly with my entire body, mind and soul. She’s perfect.
For the mamas: one stitch, pushed a little to hard, too fast! They were saying blow, but I was pushing my heart out…and groaning so loud I couldn’t hear them. Who am I kidding? We all know I was MOOOOOOOOing!
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