We welcomed our little girl yesterday morning at 440am. She was 19in and 7lbs 4oz (a full 2 lbs lighter than my youngest before her) she was also my earliest baby born at 40+3. And a totally different labor experience than my other 3. 

Wednesday evening we took the kids to dinner at IHOP, we had just ordered and my 6 yr old daughter asked me to take her to the bathroom. I started to stand up, and my water broke. 😳 Before this I was fairly sure that was a sitcom thing. My husband stayed and had dinner with the kids and I headed home to change and get things ready. 

I gave my bf who was coming to be my labor support a heads up. And called my midwife to do the same. Contractions were mild and irregular. My friend came over and hung out for a couple hours. When it was clear things were moving slowly she headed home to rest and we put all the other kids to bed (they wanted to wait up and be there). That was about 11p. Had really irregular contractions of varying degrees until about 2am. When it really hit me. Husband was napping and I intended to let him until I was sure this was it. That happened about 240. Contractions that had been quite hard and 5 mins apart were suddenly incredibly hard and back to back. Husband called my midwife and friend. They all arrived about 330. Set up the bed and I agreed to an exam. I'm not generally a fan. But as this was so different from my others I wondered. I was a 6. Woo! Moved around laboring for a bit. All the while freaking out like I never have in labor before. Seriously. I was a mess. By I think 20 after 4 my midwife suggested laying on my left side on the bed. To see if that helped baby get into position as she suspected I was in transition (I didn't think that was possible). Got on the bed and within minutes felt baby turn some (weird feeling) and instantly had the urge to push. 13 minutes later she was born into her daddies hands. He said she came so fast he barely caught her. It happened so fast at the end we hadn't gotten the kids up. Oops. But my bf ran to get them as soon as she was born and they were all so excited. 

She is healthy and perfect and nurses wonderfully. We are so happy. 

It was so unlike any of my others. Less than 3 hours of active labor compared to 36 hrs as my shortest previously. Only 7lbs instead of 9. And so close to her EDD. My others were all 41-42 weeks. So different but still great.