My living room birth

I posted this on birth stories but I also wanted to share it with the Aug 2019 group too 😅

*Back Story: To understand the full story you need to know I’m a stay at home mom to a beautiful 4 year old girl and my husband is currently in the Navy attending night school for his rate. A few months ago my daughter and I moved from California to Illinois to be with my husband so he could be around for this baby’s birth*

I had a doctors appointment around 9am on August 14th, I was 38 weeks and 2 days. My doctor checked me as usual and said I’m a little thinned now, the baby’s head is lower but I hadn’t dilated any. I was a bit frustrated but I know I had roughly two weeks left so I decided to treat myself to some Taco Bell. I went home and ate before my husband wanted me to come pick him up. On the way there I had a “contraction” I couldn’t feel my stomach get hard unless I touched it but I did feel lots of pelvic pressure. I got my husband and headed to get him some lunch before having to take him back to base. We share one car and I don’t want to pick him up at midnight being pregnant and with our older child it’s late for her. So on the way to get him food I had two more contractions while talking on the phone to my mom. I pulled over and had him drive as I wasn’t comfortable. He dropped us off at home and I told him I would update him on the contractions I was having. At 11:00 we text for an hour before he takes a nap, I’m still having inconsistent contractions like 15-20 minutes apart, not lasting a minute and really only feeling pelvic pressure. I walked around my living room each time I had one but then would lay down in bed afterwards. I told my 4 year old daughter that I was going to take a nap so she wouldn’t see me in pain. Around 2:00 pm I’m walking around the living room and I look down and a huge gush of liquid runs out of me, I run to the bathroom and there is blood with amniotic fluid. I immediately called my mom and was freaking out. She told me to call my husband and that she was booking her flight out here. I called my husband and he told me he was going to talk to a chief/higher up and would be home soon. We only live 10 minutes away from base so I knew it wouldn’t take long. Well at 2:30 he tells me someone is making him jump through hoops, having him fill out paperwork, saying things like “Well how do we know you’re married to her?” And “How do you know it’s not false labor?”. I’m a little irritated at this point because I’m in labor, my daughter is constantly checking on me to make sure I’m okay, I didn’t want to scare her by having her sister in front of her and I just want my husband. He tells me to call an ambulance and I told him I can wait I didn’t feel like I was anywhere near about to have her. Well let me tell you ten minutes later I’m squatting on my feet with my vagina two inches off the ground slowly moving my hips when my body starts to push. I reach down because my legs feel weird and there’s a head. I realized what was about to happen, laid down on my back, breathed, pushed 4 times and I heard her cry immediately. I scooped her up in a towel, my daughter peaked out from her room and says “Is that my sister?” And came out to the living room and starts talking to her and singing to her. I FaceTimed my mom right after, because I’m in shock, and say “I had her.. what do I do?” She starts laughing and crying telling me to hang up and call 911. So I hang up and call 911, tell the operator what happened, within 15 minutes the paramedics are in my apartment all laughing about what happened. My husband finally comes home shocked, I get a ride to the hospital and deliver the placenta. All the nurses get a kick out of hearing my story 😂 Both baby girl and I are great. She’s bruised because of her rush into the world, I didn’t tear or anything. Happy my babygirl is happy healthy and alive, given things could have been way different.