We aren't big on Chinese food, but that night there wasn't much in the way of dinner in our pantry. Our two year old had just woken from a late nap, and was being a bear, so all three of us went to pick up our order. On the way home my husband and I discussed baby names. After months of discussing nothing but boys names, we started talking about girl names. We'd had a girl's name picked out before Darin was born, but something about it didn't seem as appealing this time. We decided in the car on a new choice.

Dinner was delicious, but my fortune was the highlight: “Nevermind tomorrow, TODAY is the day.” I scoffed. It was 8:30pm, today only had 3 hours left. Confucius laughed because around 10:30pm, my water broke.

I got a hold of my doula right away. She told me to time my contractions for an hour and then to call her back. After about a half hour I realized that my contractions were about four minutes apart and at least one minute long. I called my doula and had her come.

I talked to my midwife (Nicole) about an hour later, and I told her what was going on, and she said she'd be right over. I called my friend, Kari, and told her to come on over too. My mother in law was also called, but I wasn't ready for her to come over just yet. I gave my mom the option of coming, and she said that she'd be there in the morning.

By midnight, both my midwife and doula had arrived. I was still doing really well, contractions were not very painful yet. Darin was providing the entertainment, else everyone would probably have been totally bored (and asleep). Midwife tells me she is not feeling well due to her pregnancy, but she is well enough to attend to me as it just some nausea. Darin has been picking out CDs for me to listen to, so sweet. I'm feeling really good about the process at this point. My doula is giving me hand and foot massages, and I'm expecting this to be an easy birth. Second babies are supposed to be easy!

A couple of hours later, things seemed to be moving along nicely for me. Contractions were getting noticeably stronger and more painful, but still very manageable. Working a lot with the birth ball, it seemed to be my friend. My midwife is still feeling a bit off, so she calls in her back up just in case. I decided to let my mother in law come now as things have picked up. I was still very optimistic at this point that I would not have pain as intense as last time.

Around 4:00, labor started to really get intense. I was alternating using vocalizations with fast breathing to get through contractions. The backup midwife had arrived. This is starting to feel like transition, and I get the feeling that the rest of the room thinks so. I want to be done soon.

It was 6:00 am, and I am still not complete. I start to worry that something is amiss, because now I believe that I've been at 9cm for an hour. I really am in labor-land at this point. I can't really focus on anything at all. I agree to get into the tub. I had to crawl from the living room to the bathroom, I don't think anything could have gotten me to stand up. The tub must have worked wonders, because less than an hour later I finally feel like pushing.

Now, here's where I'm a bit disappointed. With my previous birth, the actual act of pushing seemed to negate all the pain I was feeling. Not this time. It was every bit as excruciating as not pushing. But, I pushed, and I pushed so that I could be done with the whole process as soon as possible.

Didn't stay in the tub long, I wanted something soft to sit/lay on, so I moved to my bed. There was a birth stool all set up and waiting for me, but the thought of sitting my super painful bottom on something hard and wooden was awful. I remember at one point Nicole said the head was sitting right on my perineum, and I replied, “No shit!” After about an hour of pushing, she was here! 8:09am. 

What an experience. The sun was streaming in through the windows. It was a beautiful day. I had a hunch that she wanted to wait for the sun to come up before she was born.