SO SORRY! I SWEAR I POSTED THIS ALREADY.
My mom and sister got out the car with their dog and went into the house. It was 11 am at this time. Chef and I walked back to the house where my mom grabbed my belly and said, "YUP you're in labor" We called the birth center while we were out on our walk (only because my mom was pestering me), and because it was "off" hours the nurse had to get the midwife on call to give us a call back. She called us back withing 5 minutes and I gave her the rundown on what had been happening. She asked us how far away we lived. I told her a mile and a half so she told us to make our way there so she could check on me and see what was going on.
Chef packed the cooler full of snacks and we grabbed our bag by the door and headed to the birth center.
When we got there the midwife said, "WHOA I thought you were an hour and a half away." Uh-Oh! I told her just a mile and a half and we laughed at the miscommunication. What was interesting is that there are only 2 birthing suites and someone had just had a baby in one so they were going to be there for at least 6 more hours and there was a woman in labor being monitored in the other. I thought to myself that my worst nightmare had just come true. I DID NOT want to deliver my baby in the "overflow" room. There's no pool in there.
The midwife told us she had her hands full (she sure did) but she would get to check me in just a bit. About 15-20 minutes passed while I labored in the waiting room and she took me back to examine me. After the exam she said, "You're five centimeters. Looks like you're going to have a baby today." Chef screamed, "YES!" She told me she had to shuffle the rooms around to get one ready for us and I thought to myself, maybe she's kicking someone out. She sure did. The couple that was laboring was not as far along as I was so she told them to go home and labor for a while even though she was hooked up to the monitors and everything. *On their way home her water broke in the car and they ended up turning back around so they could stay this time* Chef and I walked outside while she was cleaning the rooms for us and we decided to call/text family and friends to let them know we were in labor and the baby would be here that day. I was still handling the contractions well and there still wasn't any pain involved just an intensity that I can't describe with words.
By the time the room was ready for us to get all set up and for me to be monitored it was after 12. The monitoring was to make sure the baby could tolerate the contraction. Once they monitored me for 15 minutes and everything checked out ok I was free to move around and do whatever I wanted. Eat, sleep, sway, rock... whatever
I bounced on the yoga ball for a while and swayed back and forth with each contraction and then I noticed Chef taking a NAP on the sofa in our room. I guess it's fair. He was up with me in the wee hours when I was debating with myself what was going on in my body. The midwife came in and started filling up the tub. She said, "I like to just fill it up so by the time you're ready to get in we don't have to wait." Sounds like a plan to me. It literally took almost a half an hour to fill up that thing. a 300 gallon tub is no joke. Once the tub was full she said, "You can't get in until you're 7 centimeters so just hang in there until you just can't take it anymore." OH MAN! The warm water looked soooooo goooooood. I was practically salivating. When the midwife came back in I told her to check me just for funsies. I wanted to know how far I had progressed. SEVEN CENTIMETERS! I couldn't get my clothes off fast enough. As soon as I sat down in the warm pool.... instant relief. It took the edge off of my contractions even though I was still moaning and groaning. I could move and sway around. It was just awesome. It didn't take long for my contractions to get closer and closer together and I could hear the woman that came back to the birth center in the waiting room moaning along with me. Apparently our contractions had synced up (I have a history of doing this to people) and I sped up her labor. As my contractions intensified so did my vocalizations. Labor sounds are sounds from the gut. Deep moans and groans that I could not control. I have no idea what those people on TV are doing with those high pitched screams. Chef was by my side on the edge of the tub at this point feeding me coconut water and making sure I was ok. I had him turn off the jets in the pool because they were getting on my nerves. I was being monitored every 15-20 min or so with a handheld doppler just to make sure baby was fine. The midwife and the nurse also checked the temperature of the water to make sure it was not lower than 97 degrees and no higher than 101. During one of my more intense contractions, the end of my moan turned into a grunt/involuntary push. Shit was getting real. Chef looked at me and asked, "Are you ready for me to get in." I gave him the nod and he was in his swim trunks in no time.
CONTINUED
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