October baby didn’t want to wait

My little October baby decided he had enough and decided to come early. My original due date was October 17th however at 10:30pm on September 22, my water broke while getting up to use the bathroom and within 14 hours, he was born at 36w5d. As soon as I confirmed my water did in fact break, I immediately called the on-call OB at my practice who said it definitely sounded like I was having a baby very soon and to head to the hospital with all of my belongings. Luckily I felt no contractions so we were able to grab all the remaining things we needed and prepare ourselves without rushing. By midnight we were at the hospital and headed to labor and delivery. They hooked me up to the machine and tested to make sure it was my water; which it was. I was also having contractions but felt nothing yet so it was the waiting game. By about 2/230am I was beginning to feel some contractions but they weren’t bad yet and I was checked. I was dilated about a 3-4 cm and 90% effaced. By about 5/530am the contractions began to pick up and I finally decided to get the epidural and it was in by 6am. It took a little while to kick in but once it did, I felt nothing and it was glorious. Shortly after, the OB came in to check my progress and I was dilated at about 7-8 cm and completely effaced so we continued to wait it out. Honestly my husband and I were getting bored so I spent my time watching the friends marathon on tv! By 830 I was checked again and was dilated to 9 cm but the baby was still stationed a little high so I was expected to be ready within the next 2 hours or so. By 11am the delivery nurse checked and it was go time! We started pushing at 11:15am with breaks between contractions and by 12:13pm my little surprise baby (a boy!) was born and on my chest. It was honestly such a quick and easy labor lasting for only 14 hours once my water broke. I felt nothing, I had a minuscule tear that needed one small stitch and felt great overall. I never once screamed or felt the “ring of fire” that some women do. I’m still very surprised! I even saw his head pop out!

Nathan James weighed 5 lb 5.4 oz and was 18.5 inches long. He is perfectly healthy and has zero issues, even being 3.5 weeks early. I had diet controlled gestational diabetes so they had to check his sugar a lot throughout our hospital stay and his was perfect every time which made me so so happy! I will say when they had to prick his foot for a blood sample, I hysterically cried the first few times as I felt so horrible 😭. We are now exactly a week in and home and doing great. He lost less than average weight from birth and has started to gain it back.

I will say looking back, I never would have guessed that I was going into labor that day. The Friday prior at my 36w check, I was only 1 cm dilated and 80% effaced. The doctor said I could go early but I also could go term as it’s hard to tell with first time moms. I am small though (4’10”) and was terrified of birthing a huge baby if I went full term! The days leading up to I had some contractions but figured they were Braxton Hicks. I was achy but who isn’t when they’re fully pregnant! To help with labor I had been drinking Raspberry Leaf Tea 3x a day and was doing exercises on a yoga ball to loosen my hips. I also walked a lot. The day my water broke I felt nothing though. That morning I woke up and felt like “meh” and just figured this baby isn’t coming anytime soon. I went about my day and felt normal. That night we even had a long walk through Valley Forge National Park. Ironically though jokes were made that day about going into labor and right before my water did break, my husband had a realization that one day I would come running from the bathroom saying my water broke ... and then it did. Now we have this beautiful bundle of joy 🥰