I asked DH if it was weird that I don't ever want to be pregnant again, but that I want to relive her labor and birth because it felt so empowering. He said definitely. Hah.

I went into labor at midnight on 4/20. She was due on 4/30, but was already over 7lbs. I'm tiny. 5'3 and 100lbs pre preggo. This is my second time giving birth (rainbow babe). I had prodromal labor (non productive 5 minute apart contractions) for almost two weeks and there was an obvious change in the feeling...I could feel it radiating lower. I was soooo over prodromal labor and being pregnant. With my first, my water broke Hollywood gush in the middle of the night. We went to the hospital 12 hrs later and I refused pitocin. Was in full labor by the 24hr mark and had him at 31 hrs....so this contractions for weeks thing was all new.

Anyways, for the contractions, lying down and sitting were the worst, so I danced my way through irregular contractions listening to "eastside" on repeat and took a shower, timing them to be sure I didnt have an accidental home or car birth. They never became consistent...mostly between 4 and 9 minutes apart and manageable as long as I moved.

When some were less than three minutes apart between 5 and 530a, I called in the reinforcements and woke DH up. My parents came at 6am to be with our son. I was still talking and joking between contractions. When we got to the hospital at 630a, I walked in, checked myself in and got settled triage, chatting with the nurse. I was sure we were going to get sent home. I'd walked past some woman heading home who looked way more uncomfortable than me.

The nurse, who had been taking her time up to this point, announced with a look of surprise that I was at at least 8cm. I immediately laughed and said epidural! We joked about how the anesthesiologist on duty was everyone's favorite (including mine from my son's birth)..I still had feeling and control of my legs throughout. I walked from triage to the delivery room. The magic pain killer was done by 8, they broke my water, and I asked to rest and labor down even though dilation was complete bc she was still a little high. I called them back in at 10 because o reached down, felt the bulging and I thought she was going to fall out on her own. After the set up scramble, 5 minutes of pushing and she joined us at 1020a...all 7lbs 2oz of her with a giant head.

While I suspect this one was way easier because her water didnt break, I'd like to think that part of it had to do with my being more relaxed and confident that this was something I could do. At any rate it is the strongest and most powerful I have felt in a long time. And regardless of why, I'm going to do my best to hold onto that feeling for as long as I can.