FTM, Completely natural hospital birth

Two days later, on the day of my baby shower, at 3am I woke up with cramping. I tried to go back to sleep but the cramps Consistently came every 7 minutes. My plan was to labor at home as long as possible to avoid any unnecessary interventions. I did not wake my husband because I wanted him to have some rest before I put him to work. I filled a crockpot with washcloths and lavender and got in the bathtub. Every time I got a contraction I put a hot washcloth on my belly. It definitely helped. About two hours later I woke my husband and he made me breakfast. The contractions were still 7 minutes apart. I did various positions, and my husband would use counter pressure and squeeze my hips. 

So many people had come in from out of town for my baby shower that I was still determined to go. My contractions were definitely getting stronger and closer together but it wasn't consistent. They ranged from 4-7 minutes apart. It was 2pm and I had been in early labor for 12 hours. I was on my hands and knees on the bed during a contraction when I felt a pop. I stood up and water trickled on my feet. I knew my water had broken. Needless to say I knew I would not make it to my shower which was due to start in an hour. 

We got in the car and I was so uncomfortable that I could not sit down. Instead I draped myself across the backseat. 30 seconds into the drive I felt incredibly nauseous and hubby pulled over for me to throw up. We also happened to need gas so we had to stop and fill up. I told him you better only put in 5 bucks!

We got to the hospital at 2:30 and they admitted us to triage. My contractions were definitely hurting now and I was sure that I was 7 or 8 cm. When they checked me they told me I was 4cm. I was like are you freaking kidding me?! I had already gone 12 hours for 2 cm! I had no idea if I could do it. The admitting doctor asked if I wanted an epidural because I looked like I was in pain and I told him I wanted to try and go natural. Apparently he rolled his eyes but my eyes were closed so I didn't know. We were waiting for a labor room and I was not coping well with active labor. It hurt so bad and all my techniques I had learned in birthing classes were useless to me. My mom was there at this point and was breathing with me which calmed me down. 

Around 3:30 they rolled me into my labor room and I told my nurse I immediately wanted to get in the shower. The shower had back jets and I just wanted to get out of bed. She told me she had honestly never seen anyone use the shower and would ask. I did not care at all. I took my my gown and monitors and got in the shower. The back jets were hot and felt amazing. I was absolutely freezing even in the hot shower. The famous midwife Ina May had said that a woman in labor sounds like a woman having good sex and also that moaning helps to open the cervix during contractions. Let's just say I was moaning like a banshee during each contraction. It really helped to keep me as relaxed as possible. I had completely lost track of time or sense of time. I was so inside my body. At the end of a contraction my body felt an urge to push and I gave a little push at the end and it felt so good! My husband had been standing by the shower the whole time holding my hand but at one point said he needed a snack. He traded places with my mom and I had another contraction with a little push at the end. She said are you trying to push?! And I told her it felt good lol. She told me to get out of the shower and she dried me off. I got in the bed on my hands and knees and she ran to get a nurse. They checked me and I was 8 cm. 

The nurses kept telling me not to push but I really couldn't help it. The IV in my hand had fallen out when I was in the shower so they unsuccessfully tried to put in a new one and were trying to monitor the baby's heart rate. They checked me again and I was fully dilated. They told me I could push when I felt ready. At this point I did not feel pain. Every time I pushed it felt good. Apparently the baby's heart rate had dropped to the 80s and they told me I needed to push him out fast. So with coaching from the nurses I pushed and pushed and Samuel James was born at 5:22pm on 1/7/17. My active labor stage to his birth was all of 2 hours. 

I attribute his quick birth to Dr. Christopher's Birth Prep, EPO, Red Raspberry Leaf Tea, and date smoothies. Everyone was amazed at how fast he came. My nurse was actually upstairs dropping off a patient when I was starting to push. I am so glad that I had the birth experience that I wanted. The only negative was that I got a 3rd degree tear from pushing him out so quickly. But I love my little man.