Labor Story

Luke came 4 days past his due date and when that day came and passed I was getting a bit impatient. The day before he was born I went to the doctor's office and I was dialated one and a half centimeters. I had my midwife do a membrane sweep because 50% of the time it starts labor. After I came home from my appointment my sister Shannon suggested I get an exercise ball to bounce on for a couple hours because she knew someone who had put herself into labor by doing that. I was all about it! Anything to get that baby out! We got the ball and later that night I bounced on it for 2 hours while watching Lord of the Rings. At 10:30 pm contractions started. They were very inconsistent until about midnight and that's when the pain came. Contractions got closer and closer together and more painful as time went on. By 2:00 am I couldn't take it any more. I was throwing up because of the pain and contractions were only 2 minutes apart. David called our midwife and while on the phone with her I had 3 contractions. David told her that and she said to get to the hospital right away. When I got there it was 2:30 and I was dialated at 6 centimeters. She asked if I wanted an epidural and I said yes! One hour later I finally got the epidural and I had progressed to 7 centimeters. What a relief! I was able to rest for a little bit before I had to push. At 6:30 am I was ready to push. I was still able to feel the pressure of the contractions and so my midwife let me push on my own. There was nobody counting to 10. It was surprisingly very relaxing. One hour of pushing and Luke was here! The umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck twice but the midwife quickly took care of it. What and amazing experienc holding my baby for the first time. He has the cutest cry. David could hardly speak for the first 5 minutes after Luke was born. I couldn't have made it through labor and delivery without David. He was the perfect cheerleader.