So it's been a few weeks and I've had time to settle in and I wanted to share my labor story.

I experienced the most amazing labor on Tuesday, April 23rd. My sweet Abigail was so ready to be born that we labored for just over 5 hours! At 5:30 PM I was noticing painful tightenings that were becoming difficult to ignore. I knew that I wanted a natural birth as I had with my son so I kept puttering around the house and took my son for a walk while I waited for my parents and siblings to arrive. I wanted her birth to be a family experience from the beginning so they were with me from the first set of contractions. I let my husband know that we might be meeting our little one soon and would check in with him around 7 since our first labor took roughly 30 hours. Within the hour, I was in the tub working through the contractions that were only 3 minutes apart with my wonderful mother and sisters helping me. I, unfortunately, began to vomit from this point on until about an hour before I delivered. My family poured hot water over my back and helped make me laugh while my father got everyone ready and loaded cars and took photos. My youngest sister and my brother's amazing girlfriend distracted my 2 year old son while I labored in the main part of the house, bringing him to me when he needed a cuddle or reassurance that I was ok. They called my husband to tell him to come in to town as soon as he could as he was about 4 hours away for work. I wanted to wait for him so I made the call to labor at home for another hour. By that point, I was unable to talk through contractions so my parents loaded me up into their Yukon. I held my other sister's hand while we drove and she played music to help soothe. My mother, in her infinite wisdom, realized that we were not going to make it to our birth center (over an hour away) with the weather being so rough. She told my father to take us to the nearest hospital which was still 30 minutes. By the time we got there, I was having a hard time walking on my own. Contractions became one minute apart. Due to the vomiting, my laborist asked permission to put me on iv liquids as I was still vomiting regularly. I agreed because I was worried about dehydration. After receiving the fluids, I stopped vomiting and settled in the bed on my side. My husband arrived at 10:27 PM and held my hands while I labored. At 10:54, our laborist came in the room to check me. He declared me a meager 5 cm open and asked to break my water. I agreed and rolled back to my side to continue laboring. The contractions stayed steady and after about 4 strong contractions I asked to go to the bathroom to pee. By the time I got back onto the bed I had 3 more contractions. At this point, I felt intense pressure and couldn't stop myself. I screamed (My husband said I yelled "What's happening?!")  and the room flew into action, my nurse called for the delivery team. I would learn later that when the nurse turned at the sound of me screaming that she saw Abigail's head crowning. At 11:19, Within 2 contractions she was out and on my chest. I wasn't even fully able to comprehend what was happening due to transitioning from a 5 to a 10 so quickly. My nurse kept saying, "Look down, Mama, she's here." After she was delivered and we were calmed down, my Laborist let me know I experienced what was called a precipitous labor. When he checked me at the beginning, he waited for me to contract and realized that when I contracted I went from a 5 to an almost 10 with Abigail straining to come through. His call to break my water meant when the next contraction hit, I jumped from a 5 to complete and stayed there.  With 25 minutes of my water breaking, she was in the world. Abigail's birth will forever be one of the most amazing experiences of my life. It was raw, beautiful, intense, and spiritual. I felt incredibly close to my family, my husband, and God.