Collin's Birth Story

Ok, this is mostly for my own records since I use our blog as my journal, but here goes:

Around 5:15am (Saturday morning) I began having contractions. They were 5 minutes apart and only lasting about 30 seconds. Around 5:30am I woke Nate up so we could start getting ready to go to the hospital- given that my delivery with Asher was only 5 hours from start-to-finish I figured we had better get movin'! I quickly began doing my hair & makeup so that I would actually look cute in pictures. :) We left for the hospital around 6:45am, and by the time we arrived at 7:15am my contractions were 3 minutes apart, lasting 45 seconds. By 7:30am I was checked into a triage room & hooked up to the fetal monitor. My awesome L&D nurse, Loni, checked me and said I was dilated 6cm! They got my IV & Penicillin drip started (I had tested positive for Strep B and had to be on antibiotics during delivery) and wheeled me to a birthing suite. The antibiotics gave me really bad shakes & occassional weepiness for no reason. It was pretty annoying, but oh well!

By this point I was feeling very focused. All I wanted was my mp3 player in one ear and Nate coaching me in the other. I remember nervously anticipating the pain that was sure to come...the intense mind-blowing agony of back labor, but it never came. Sure the contractions were painful, but they were do-able. I would just close my eyes & listen to Nate & the music. ("Panic Switch"- Silversun Pickups; "Kids"- MGMT; "In the Dark"- Chris Burns ft. DJ Tiesto; "Til Kingdom Come"- Coldplay...wierd mix, I know!). Nate was an amazing coach & I couldn't have had such a smooth delivery without him.

We had Loni come check me again at 8:45am because I was starting to feel the need to push. I was 9cm! She quickly ran out the door to call Dr. Erickson, prepping his tray and the baby warmer on her way out. Dr. Erickson arrived a little after 9am and the pushing began. I'll be honest- I kinda thought that part would only take a few minutes, but I was just so completely exhausted (I seriously could have fallen asleep in between contractions). My water remained intact right up until the very end. I remember warning Dr. Erickson when it was about to break & he shielded himself just in time! It was the coolest thing ever, like someone had thrown a water balloon at him! 

After about 20 minutes of pushing, Collin was born at 9:28am. He was delivered right to my belly & those first moments with him were so special. He clutched my finger and let out such a soft, sweet little cry. He was such a good looking baby too! He had this perfectly round little head with hardly any hair & beautiful skin. We were instantly in love!

This experience was very different from my labor & delivery with Asher in that everything was so laid back & relaxed. Even while laboring, we were joking with Loni & Dr. Erickson. I feel so grateful that it all went so smoothly (just like Nate said it would in the blessing he gave me). I also feel grateful to have experienced such a textbook labor/delivery free of back labor. It was a confirmation to how strongly I feel about birthing naturally when possible...it's such an empowering experience!