My July 1st Baby

Went to bed June 30th feeling a little bit crampy, but was sure it wasn't labor because I've had prodromal labor for weeks. Woke up at 530 to pee and noticed a different feeling kind of contraction. They timed about 11 minutes apart so I called my midwife to let her know. Woke up my hubby at 630 so he could take his time and get ready. Then all of a sudden they were 4 minutes apart, and I lovingly told him that we should probably go. On the drive there they began being only 3 minutes apart. They hurt, but not so bad I thought I was more than 4 cms. We got to the hospital and they checked me and I was 7 and completely effaced! I was so shocked and happy because baby was finally coming!! They got me into my natural birthing room and I had a smiley conversation with my in laws and mom while I waited for the tub to fill up, pausing to breathe when I got a contraction. It was about 845 at this point. They told me to expect about half a centimeter an hour.

I got into the tub and the contractions started to hurt. I was cracking my husband up because I was still making jokes. I felt like I needed to push around 1030, so I called my midwife in to check me and she told me I was still 7. I told her that I was going to need to push soon, to which she said I shouldn't rush things. Transition started a few minutes after that. They didn't give me any clear to push, so I didn't for a while. It felt like I had a massive poop coming, so I told them "I'm sorry I think I'm going to poop" and my midwife said to reach down to feel the baby's head. It was right there! And it hurt, I could tell I was going to tear. So I was timid pushing for a few minutes hoping her head would stretch me out. Finally I got the bravery to give it a big push and she was out at 1213 pm! I had a really short cord, so it was hard to hold her out of the water for delayed cord clamping, so we were only able to wait for 2 minutes instead of the five the birthing center usually does. We couldn't see her gender at first because of her cord being so tight, so we had to wait to find out. I don't remember this but my husband said the first thing out of my mouth was "he looks like a really cute little old asian man."And when they saw it was a girl I said "Well that's okay, you'll look different in a couple days anyway." And so my Shiloh was born in about 7 hours of labor. I had a second degree tear, and honestly the stitches hurt more than the ring it fire. The lidocaine didn't numb me at all and stitches on a tender area after that aren't really pleasant. My husband definitely thought it was hilarious I said please, thank you, and repeatedly apologized to my nurses even as I was delivering. He used to tease me for having a low pain tolerance and he has now been silenced forever. This is my Shiloh's third day and she has been a dream (save for some nursing trouble). She was 6lbs 12 oz and 18.5 inches long. Best first time birth a girl could ask for.