7/22/14
It was one year ago today that I woke up with contractions. Looking back on it now I realize I most likely slept through “early labor”. The main reason I got out of bed was the contractions were painful if I was laying flat. I don’t remember thinking “this is it” right away. I waited about one hour to wake up Justin and said “it’s happening.” Justin was in such a deep sleep that he sprang up saying “really?! Are you serious?!”
Justin called the midwife because my contractions were all over the place, some 3 minutes apart and some 12 minutes. She asked if I could talk through the contractions and he told her yes. She told us to call back if anything changes. I got in the bathtub for a while until the contractions were too intense that I felt like I needed to be upright walking around. The ONE thing that always helped with the pain during a contraction was if Justin would squeeze the backs of my hips together. He was a trooper because he was doing this every contraction over the 10 hour labor and delivery process.
I continued to labor at home until my water broke. I ran into the bathroom because I felt like I was peeing! Once in the bathroom light I realized there was a lot of blood in that trail from the bedroom. This may have been the only time I was actually scared for a minute during the whole entire process.
Justin was back on the phone with the midwife and she had told us the blood was completely normal and not to worry. She then asked if we felt like we needed to come in. I said yes.
The car ride to the hospital a 3:30am was smooth sailing as far as the traffic goes. I would have to say that the contractions in the car were the hardest to deal with because I was not able to have my mobility. It took all of my mental might to breath through them in this short ride. When we parked in the parking garage, we still had quite a walk to labor and delivery. Stopping every 3 minutes or so for our “go to” position for contractions, it took us about 20 minutes to reach the unit. We even had to stop and ask for directions from staff! One person offered me a wheel chair, which I declined.
When we were comfy in our room (with a big tub), the nurse checked me and said I was 8-9 cm dilated. The looks on Justin and I’s face must have been great! We could not believe it! I think there was a high five given between us. Back into the big tub I went. This is were I did the rest of my labor before pushing. I would sit back in the water between contractions and then up to my hands and knees for each one. Justin or the doula was feeding me water in between or sitting behind me ready to squeeze my hips. I felt that deep moaning was the other great way to release the pain.
It was time to get out of the tub and checked again. 10 cm this time, ready to push when I felt the urge. I was now starting to get a bit tired after working all day, but the work had just begun. I pushed for 2 hours total and had to have some pep talks along the way. Justin and our doula were so encouraging and helpful. If I ever doubted myself or my progress they would tell me how great I was doing and to hang in there.
I remember being scared to push. I don’t know exactly what I was afraid of, but I was nervous of my abilities more than ever at this point. Finally the midwife gave me a quick pep talk an hour and a half in. She said, “You can push really hard with all your might for 5 more minutes and this baby will be out, or we can be doing this for another hour.” This gave me the final encouragement to push as hard as I could and in 15 minutes or so I had her out on my chest! J and I were so excited and relieved that we forgot to look at her gender! The midwife had to ask us to look! It was the best surprise of my life to have waited to find out. That was the moment it was all worth it.
We knew right away without discussion that we would name her Mira Lynn Mayo. We had also considered Wren Marie Mayo. She was 7 Lbs 4oz, had a full head of dark hair and long eyelashes. Absolutely adorable looking just like her dad.
What an amazing year it’s been. There are no words to describe the joy that Mira has brought to our lives.
