Let's Hurry This Up!

by Cyndi Richter
(Pennsylvania)

"Honey, wake up. Wake up!"
"What? What's going on?"
"I think my water just broke, but I'm not sure."
This is how the morning started the day that my son, Eli, was born. It was 7:30 am and I was only 37 and a half weeks pregnant. I was expecting to have a little bit more time before the birth. But everything about Eli happened quickly, getting pregnant, the months before his birth, everything seemed to fly by so I guess that I shouldn't have been so surprised!
I called the doctor's office when they opened at 8:00 and they told me to make my way to the hospital to get checked out. At this point, I was not having contractions yet so I saw no reason to rush. I figured I might as well wait at home instead of the hospital! Thanks to the birth classes at our hospital, I had already had my bag packed and in the car for about a week so I didn't have to worry about that.
About 15 minutes later, I started to have contractions. They were very small so I told my husband to go ahead and take care of our numerous animals before we headed out. He went to the barn to feed our horses while I got dressed. By the time he came back up, the contractions were pretty strong and I was struggling to get on my shoes. I told him to go feed my pig, but he said no, we had better go now! I just wasn't ready for all of this to happen. I remember sitting down on the couch, my mind filled with doubt and anxiety. I reminded myself that I was ready for this and Eli was not going to wait!
We got to the hospital around 10 am and got signed in. The receptionist asked if I needed them to come down and get me since the elevators to the main floor were broken. I said no that I could make is so we walked up two flights of stairs to the main elevators. When we got to the delivery floor, they asked why I was there and I said, "Um, I'm having a baby!" I was put into a room and changed into the oh so attractive gown. The nurse strapped on the monitors and told me that she would be back in a bit "to see if you'll be staying with us." They didn't really think that I was in labor since I was handling the pain well and just walked up the stairs!

The nurse came back in about 5 minutes later and said, yes I was in labor and she needed to see if I was dialated yet. She checked and I was at 6cm already. She seemed shocked and paged my doctor. The pain was getting very intense and I could do nothing but concentrate on breathing (with my husband's help) and close my eyes. I was determined to have Eli naturally with no drugs. The nurse checked again a little while later and I was at 8cm. They paged my doctor again and suddenly there was a flurry of activity to get everything ready for Eli's birth. I felt like pushing and the nurse checked one last time and I was at 10cm! The doctor still had not arrived but with the nurse and my husband helping me, I started to push.
This was the most intense part of the birth, I knew that I would be seeing my little boy very soon and that the pain would be over too! When my doctor finally made it, he was really surprised that I was already pushing. A few pushes later and Eli's head was out. The doctor told me to stop pushing as the cord was wrapped around his neck. I felt like my heart stopped beating. My body was telling me to push, but I couldn't because it might make things worse for Eli. The doctor was able to remove the cord very quickly and I was able to push again. The doctor told me to push as hard as I could so that they could get Eli out and make sure he was okay. One more big push and he was out and wisked away to the other side of the room where two nurses were checking his heart and making sure he was breathing. He was not crying yet. A few seconds later, I finally heard him cry and it was wonderful! When I got to hold Eli, it was the most joyous moment of my life. He stared at me and I stared at him and it was just love at first sight. I had no idea that you could possibly love someone so much.
That is the story of the birth of my son, Eli. I also have a story about our breastfeeding experience so please check it out as well!