We were expecting Baby #2 by December 22. But Christmas came and left; still no baby to hold. The night of December 29 I noticed some back pain. I made plans then to tackle putting away Christmas decorations the next morning. I got a good night's sleep, then began the work early the next morning. And yes indeed, labor contractions came!I held off on calling my midwife because I was getting so much accomplished. I finally decided I better call her before she left for lunch. I called and let her know I was in labor. She told me to come by her office after lunch. Once again, I must have sounded a little too pleasant on the phone. I told Andy to load our suitcases into the car because she would most likely send us straight to the hospital.
The waiting room was crowded. I stood quietly in the corner, swaying and breathing through contractions, patiently waiting my turn. I was called back and quickly stripped my bottoms. I knew we needed to get a move on. My midwife checked me, then exclaimed, "Lydia! What in the world are you doing here?! Get to the hospital now! You are 7 cm!" I said, "I told you I was in labor."
Off we were to the hospital, which thankfully was next door. My midwife had already called to alert the nursing staff, so they were waiting for us. We got settled into our room, an IV was put in, and my midwife came by. She stripped my membranes, and I paced back and forth for the next 45 minutes. As I was swaying back and forth through one contraction, the baby shifted, fluid came gushing out, and my body began pushing. Andy and my midwife helped me quickly get into bed, and precious M was born on December 30 at 9lb 4oz.
This labor and delivery was by far the most smooth. There were only 2 glitches.
The first was me puking at about 9 cm. My midwives let me drink Gatorade while in labor. My stomach can handle clear Gatorade just fine, but this time we tried red. Not so much luck. And when I threw up, Andy freaked out because he thought it was blood. Nope. Just red Gatorade.
And the second glitch was amniotic fluid all over my brand new Christmas slippers. Yuck! And this is why I now wear cheap, nasty flip flops in the hospital. No more brand new, beautiful slippers that matched my brand new fleece robe. Thanks Mom for taking my dirty slippers home and washing them. She brought them back to me the next morning, and I still have them today.
