Our birth story begins at 7:30pm on July 13, 2010. I am on break at work, talking to Matt about how uncomfortable I am and how ready I am to have this baby. They say only 15% of women experience their water breaking before their actual labor begins. I am proud and thankful to be in this percentage. I stood up to head back out to the floor and whoosh! Yes, it made that sound. Bewildered, every part of my body except my trucker's mouth froze. Proclaiming "oh, fuck", I gathered first my wits and then my things.
Matt was on stand-by at home, having put together my overnight bag and some pants of his own. He was under strict instructions not to call anyone until we were officially admitted into the hospital. I had spent much of the pregnancy nervous about being paranoid regarding the beginning of labor. How would I know if this was it? (I was pretty confident at this point that this was my water breaking, but how embarrassed would a person be if she thought her water broke and rushed to the emergency room only to be told she had only peed her pants? Seriously.) Regardless of these fears, Matthew did not listen. He called his parents and they started the eight-hour drive from Boise to Coeur d'Alene before I was even home from work.
I was set up in that sexy delivery gown, disposable underpants and seafoam green booties by 8:15pm. We spent some time walking, joking, sorting cards we never actually played, bouncing on the yoga ball, etc. before the contractions began to really hurt. By 1:00am, I had spent most of the evening in the jetted tub (the best idea for labor EVER!) and my cervix was only dilated to 5cm and 90% effaced. The nurse told me that the general rule of thumb is one hour per centimeter. I did not like the idea of five more hours of labor, despite the comfort of the bathtub. I caved and wanted an epidural. However, due to childhood scoliosis, the anesthesiologist could not insert the catheter into my back successfully. After four attempts, I politely told him to "fuck it" and continued to labor epidural-free. About thirty minutes later, Matthew asked on my behalf for one dose of IV medication. I had not wanted any of this-- it was my goal to labor and deliver completely naturally. But I was so tired and frustrated that I gave in.
I slept between contractions and felt the urge around 3:00am. After an hour or so of pushing, Aurelia Helene Sebby was born at 3:54am on July 14, 2010. She weighed 7lbs & 6oz and was 21 inches long.
Healthy and happy, we were able to go home on Thursday morning. It's been three weeks, and even though we are still tired and unorganized, we are loving everything about our new life.
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