Our Labor and Birth Story

Ambulance Ride, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Should have gotten it up sooner, but you know how it is with a new baby and all... things take time.

Remember when I'd mentioned that Erik and I were feeling silly about him deciding to stay home on the 23rd? Well at about 3:30, we didn't feel silly any more-

When I went to use the restroom, I could tell that something was NOT right. I called Erik into the bathroom to check and confirm my suspicion... something was coming out, something that shouldn't have been coming out...

I jumped into the bathtub and assumed the knees to chest position, so that my rear was up in the air, and confirmed that it wasn't a head or an umbilical cord... what it was we did not know. In a panic, Erik called 911. The lady on the other end was very helpful, even though she was at first trying to walk Erik through performing an emergency delivery. Once she realized the baby was not about to pop out, she called our doula and my mother. The EMS team arrived shortly after that and hauled me out to the ambulance. The whole while Erik ran through the house grabbing everything he could remember we needed. Thankfully, we were all packed up so he was able to get things together quickly. We rode to Clark Memorial via ambulance in 19 minutes. Considering the heavy traffic at the time, it was a good thing we had that ambulance.

Hello world, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

We arrived at the hospital and met our midwife. She was all ready for an emergency situation, but what she found was not what she expected. I was not in labor and the baby was doing well... too well! For at least 2 months little Sophia had been in perfect "head down" position... well, not on July 23rd! She had moved completely transverse! I guess she was tired of the old position. What we had witnessed earlier in the bathroom was most likely her hand covered by the bag of waters. Thankfully, my water had not broken or I would have had no choice but a c-section. While I was not in labor at the time, my contractions were picking up a little. This baby had to move quickly or I was headed to the OR. My midwife and doula began to brainstorm about how to get Sophia to move. We started with hot and cold packs on the belly and finished with me sitting with my read end up in the air for 45 minutes. Much to our relief, this worked perfectly! My midwife quickly broke the water so she could not move again. It was time for Sophia to make like a baby and head out! That's exactly what she did - at 9:32pm Sophia Elizabeth was born drug free! How's that for a dramatic entrance?

getting ready to go home, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.