Gavin's Birth Story, Part I

I cannot believe that I am writing Gavin's birth story...2 days before his due date! :D Okay, where do I begin...

On Tuesday of last week, I wrote about the contractions that I had been having since Monday morning (2/26). These contractions were tolerable and consistent, but were short in length. On Monday we went to the doctor and I found out that I was only 1.25 cm dilated, but 70% effaced. I was told that it could still be two weeks before Gavin's debut, but we were hoping that he would come quick! I woke up Tuesday with the same contractions, but by Tuesday night I was in excruciating pain. I had fallen asleep that night at 10pm thanks to Tylenol PM, but by 12pm I was awake and miserable. Beginning at 11pm, I began having contractions every 7 minutes, according to Keith. Every 7 minutes, I would toss and turn and moan in pain, and he was timing them. By midnight I was awake and being crippled by the contractions. We called the midwife on duty and she advised us to wait another hour or until the contractions were 5 minutes apart to go to the hospital. We didn't have to wait long, because by 1:30am we were heading to the hospital! :)

 So excited that it was finally time!

We only had a 10 minute drive before arriving at the hospital, but the two contractions I had in the car were intense. I kept praying that I was dilated enough to have Gavin soon because as much as I wanted a natural birth, if I was still at 1-2 cms I didn't know if I was strong enough to make it through. Around 2:30am I was checked by the sweetest nurse, and told that I was dilated to 4 cm! We were so excited to hear this news! From 2:30am until 8:00am it was just me, Keith and my doula, Amber, in the room. My contractions kept the same intensity, however they would range from 5-8 minutes. During this time period, we listened to a CD of relaxing and encouraging music that I had made and I also watched the movie Serendipity. The song that sticks out in my mind is By Your Side by Tenth Avenue North. I remember being in the middle of a contraction and hearing:

And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you 

Even now, I tear up reading those words because I know that on the night of Gavin's birth, right in the middle of all the pain, God was right there with me by my side the whole time. It was so powerful. 

It was a bit of a waiting game and during the contractions I focused on my breathing. I also used a hand massager that Amber had brought with her and I just kept massaging my legs to distract from the pain. Believe it or not, deep breaths and the massager actually worked to get me through it. 

At 8:00am, the midwife from my doctor's practice arrived and we were thrilled to discover that not only was the crazy midwife not there, but it was the one that I absolutely love! :) At this point I was wishing for a good 6 cm, but was told that this wasn't likely since it had only been 6ish hours. So, you can imagine everyone's surprise when she told me that I was 8 cm!!! My contractions were so inconsistent and definitely not close enough to allow me to dilate this much, but the body is an amazing thing and I was blessed by this dilation. During this check my water actually broke, and that is when things really got intense!

To be continued...