Finally my turn! I was dilated to 3cm and contracting at 35.5 weeks so doc sent me to the hospital for steroids to help develop little man’s lungs, then contractions stopped and he decided to make us wait to meet him!

Friday 11/3 I was contracting pretty regularly at work (I work for the obgyn that delivered my baby) so I had doc check and I was 4cm. So since she was on call that weekend, we planned on just letting things progress and if contractions got more intense, I would go to L&D; and she would break my water since it didn’t break with my first baby. That night, contractions were every 2.5 mins so I figured I would try to get a good nights sleep and then head in in the morning, unless things escalated during the night. We texted family coming from 5 hrs away and made arrangements for 5 yr old big brother to have a sleepover with auntie, and went to bed.

Saturday 11/4 we woke up about 9am to sporadic contractions still, but nothing regular. We did the deed one last time 😁 and took our 4 huskies for a brisk walk and contractions picked up again so we headed to L&D; around 1pm. I was 5 cm and 80% effaced so they decided to keep me :)

Since things were progressing on their own, we decided to break my water and let my body do the rest.

Boyfriends mom and grandma came from 5 hrs away so they wanted us to wait for them to get there before doc broke my water. Since L&D; wasn’t super busy, doc was totally fine with waiting :) Doc came in around 3 pm and I was 6cm and still 80% (and still not really feeling contractions) when she broke my water.

The best part was being able to move around the room, stand up and lean over the bed, bounce on the birthing ball, and not have an IV tying me down.

Within an hour or so, I started to feel contractions to the point where I had to consciously breathe through them...doc checked and I was 8 cm. By 5pm, I felt the urge to push but was only 9 cm. Doc helped stretch me to 10 cm and allowed me to start pushing.

It took a couple pushes to remember how to push properly...20 mins later, I felt baby’s head starting to come out (my first took at least half an hour to get the head out) and doc goes “heads out! you can either keep pushing or wait for the next contraction” so since he was already halfway there, I gave one last push and Tucker Calvin Pitts was born at 5:30 pm, weighing 7lbs 11oz, 21 inches...long and lanky like his daddy :)

I have to say, this birth experience was absolutely a dream. Between having my own doc deliver for me, family there cracking jokes the whole time, short (relatively painless for not having an epidural) labor, smaller baby, extremely helpful boyfriend rubbing my back and being ON TOP of the cold cloth wipe down, and a newborn who sleeps 4 hr stretches since he was born...I could not be more grateful for the whole experience!