I began laboring at 5:30pm on December 21st. At 39 weeks 4 days, this was my longest pregnancy and I was apprehensive about how fast labor was going to go. I labored in front of the fireplace at home, the warmth nicely setting on my back, while I welcomed the waves of contracting. 

 

The contractions stayed 5 minutes apart until 8:00pm when they jumped to 2 minutes apart. Since we were 30 minutes away from the birth center, I told my husband it was time to drive over. We packed up our daughters and arrived at 8:30pm, the contractions a minute apart. 

 

I felt the stinging in my lower back. It felt familiar from my daughters years before. I remembered to relax, not to clench my fists or mouth, and breathe through the intensity. Amy suggested the TENS unit on my lower back at 9:30pm and I was shocked by the relief it gave me. I labored on the floor leaning against the cool tile of the tub.

 

At 10:20pm I was feeling depleted. I wondered how much longer I could do this for, but Amy reminded me not to let fear creep in. My body was made for this. The contractions had less resting time in between them and suddenly at 10:30pm, after an intense contraction where my body involuntarily pushed, my water broke (and my husband jumped out of surprise - and to prevent his socks from getting wet). 

 

After my water broke, I had true resting time between contractions. They lasted a minute, but the resting did too. I suddenly had a lot of energy and knew I was in transition. At 10:35pm I got into the bathtub, feeling sad I had to take the TENS unit off my back, but the water provided the same relief it had. 

 

The contractions weren't as painful, I felt no pain in my canal, and was worried labor had stalled. I reached down to see what I could feel and to my surprise she was crowning. Where was the ring of the fire? Where was the pain? Suddenly I couldn't speak as my body bore down and my daughter's head emerged. Moments later her body, and at 10:40pm I delivered my own beautiful baby girl myself with my husband, daughters, mother, and amazing Birth Center team at my side. My daughters joined me in the bathtub to meet their baby sister, and cheer me on. 

 

I had no idea labor could be so peaceful and natural. And I'm already excited to be pregnant again and have my next baby at the Bozeman Birth Center too.