Noelle's arrival 9/9/2017

I was 39 weeks and 5 days. So at about 2000, I was walking down the hall, laughing at something my hubby had said, when I felt a gush of liquid. I just thought I'd peed, so I changed my underwear and shorts and moved on. A few minutes later another gush, but I got most of it with toilet paper because I had just stepped into the bathroom. I peed as much as I could and the on a pad just in case. A few minutes later was another gush,so I said to my husband "I know this sounds weird,but I think my water is breaking." So he kind of giggles, like what could be more weird. So he's like "did you flood the carpet?" And I told him no, just a few pads. He told me to call the midwife and see if she wanted me to go in. So the midwife said to labor until I couldn't talk through them or do anything. So we were on our way to the hospital by 2230. At triage I'm at 4cm. I get to my room and the contractions are getting intense, lots of pressure and sensations down my legs. The monitor is registering them as being good ones, enough so that the nurse called my midwife in to check me. I was at 7cm after less than an hour. I was just about to give up on my natural birth when my midwife told me to get in the shower...what a God send! I labored in there until the pressure got unreal. Then they had me drape over the back of the bed so that I could relax in between surges. And out of no where my body pushed in the middle of a surge. My midwife kept telling me to do what my body wanted. So my body took over. Then a really intense push brought her down and her head was out. They called my husband to my hind end to help catch her. Another push and she was out and in her daddies hands. He held her for a sec while I caught my bath, then they helped me grab her as he handed her to me under my legs. Magic! Got to the hospital around 2230 and she was born at 0135.

We did 2 hours of skin to skin, didn't cut the cord till it stopped pulsing, and I massaged in her vernix coating. We decided no eye ointment, so instead I dropped in a bit of colostrum. She latches great and loves eating already.

Noelle Ann-Elise

6lbs 12oz

19.25 inches