Wow! What an experience. My water broke at 3:30am Friday morning but active labor did not kick in until about 7:00pm Saturday night. We ran back and forth to the birth center a couple of times for them to check on me and the baby and make sure everything was ok and since it was they continued to let me labor at home. When it finally kicked it we definitely knew it though and headed back down there to start the real work.

I know that people say that there are hormones that kick in during birth that cause you to forget a lot of what you go through but I didn't really believe it. I do believe it now b/c thinking back to the labor part I'm struggling to really remember what it was all about. I don't mind too much though. When we arrived back at the birth center in active labor I was 3cm dilated and doing well but they did not want to let me get into the jacuzzi until I was between 5-7cm dilated. If they let you in earlier than that it can slow down the labor but if you wait until you are over 5cm dilated then it helps speed things up. I tried different positions, standing, walking, the birth ball, a rocking chair, to help move the labor along. The more active you can be the faster the labor moves. I was also able to nap between the contractions and that was a big relief too.

When they checked me again I was 5cm dilated and able to get into the jacuzzi. It felt so good to be able to be in the hot water and float a little bit. When I felt like pushing they took me out of the tub and checked me again and I was 9cm dilated. The jacuzzi moved things along really quickly for me. When I finally hit 10cm we started pushing. That part I remember clearly still. I pushed for about 30 minutes and Lorelai came through my pelvic bones without a problem. However, when she got to the perineum I could not push her through and they had to do a small episiotomy to help her pass but once that was done she was out and on my belly.

What a crazy feeling. There was a baby on my belly and it was mine and she was beautiful and alert and just so amazing. She has a full head of black hair like her daddy and beautiful dark blue-green eyes. I still cannot believe she is mine!