Brendan's Birth Story

Tues Feb 9th I felt "funny." i was working from home and on the couch watching the snow fall - 12 inches in Chicago! I went to bathroom and had my first spotting of the pregnancy - could this be bloody show? Ugh! I called my midwife and she had me rest, I had no cramps or contractions. AFter I talked to her an hour later, they started - 12 min apart. I went through the night and got up to about 7 min apart. My husband took me into the office and they put me on the monitor. I was contracting, but I was only 1 cm, so she said, go get lunch and dont work the rest of the week. We did and as soo nas we left the office they got more intense. This was at 1pm. By 330pm he aws on the phone with her b/c i couldnt talk.

To the hospital we went! We checked in at 420pm and I was in pain. The attending physician checked me b/c my midwife wwas still at the office. I was still 1cm. What the?!? She came by and said I could get an epidural then, but i didnt want to get one at 1 cm, so she said to walk around and she wpould be back by 7pm. That was the longest hour and a half of my life. She came back and I was a good 5cm! She called for the epidural. and that was the next longest hour of my life! I was feeling intense pressure and was sooo scared that I wasnt going to get it in time. I finally had a little relief and she checked me again to see I was 9cm! No time for a rest, she broke my water and we waited a bit. I began pushing, which is harder than i even thought, and after only 45 min or so, Brendan James was born at 933pm. Talk about the most exhilerating 5 hours of my life!