I was getting more exhausted with a mixture of very bad acid reflux and not sleeping from that and contractions going from midnight to 4am nightly. Around 40+4 the contractions switched to all day and nothing at night. This was a wonderful break, and it gave me a chance to catch up on sleep. On Saturday, November 5, I decided I needed a super rich meal. The kids had eaten dinner and gone to bed. Due to a crazy day, Brent and I hadn't eaten yet. I made us some rich, homemade Mac and Cheese at 11pm. We stuffed ourselves and went to bed. At about 12:45am my contractions started and were 2 minutes apart. I knew they would fizzle out around 4am, but laughed internally that at 2 minutes apart this could be fast. I posted on a couple facebook groups so I could have a timeline, keep my friends updated, and they would know incase something came up that I needed answers to. I got up at 2am to go to the bathroom. Then at 3am Brent jumped out of bed choking. He had a sudden acid reflux attack and inhaled it. I stayed awake and listened to make sure he was ok and made it back to bed from the bathroom safely. Then woke again at 4am and my contractions were still going, and still the real feeling ones in my cervix. However, they were 5-15 minutes apart.
Around 8:20am my plug started to come out. That's when I knew it was getting real. I only lose my plug during labor. I continued to labor throughout the day. I realized that if I laid on my side that my contractions were back to back and strong enough to bring me to tears. When I sat up, they were more spaced out 5 to as far as 30 minutes apart, and easy to breathe through. I decided to stay sitting. I would rather prolong the labor and be more gentle on myself, than try to go faster and harder in hopes for a faster birth.
Around 3pm Brent made a comment that my noises were sounding more orgasmic, which is know to be when I'm getting closer. I moved back into my birthing room and spent time on my birthing ball. At 3:30 I felt a small gush of fluid and walked to the bathroom. When I got to the toilet I saw there was blood in my pajama pants I was wearing. I had heard I others bleeding when their cervix changed quickly, and a few friends of mine confirmed they did the same. However, I still felt concern and got worried thinking about different reasons for bleeding, such as the placenta. I knew it was up high, but thought of detachment. I kept trying to get baby to move, but with back to back contractions it was hard. Baby finally have me a kick, and I felt a little better.
At 3:45 I knew I needed to be in the water. Contractions were coming fast and I wanted relief. I got in the shower and sprayed warm water on my stomach. About 15 seconds later my water broke. I immediately noticed it was very stained. A second thing that I had never personally encountered. It wasn't necessarily concerning, but it was something else I had to monitor. I mentioned it to Brent when he came in right after that. He asked worriedly if that was bad. I said it meant baby was stressed at some point (possibly because I fell down a couple weeks earlier), but only bad if baby inhaled it.
Brent stayed in there with me the rest of the time. He helped with counter pressure and refreshing and warming the water in my tub. I kept changing position from hands and knees, sitting, and squatting so I could keep the contractions coming since they kept stalling out. I kept pushing on my stomach to get baby to respond, and did get a kick or roll to the side occasionally. I will admit that I was rather stressed. I would kind of test push with the contractions, but never felt progress with baby.
I moved to my knees and laid over the bench seat on the back of the tub. As a contraction started, I felt a pop and my water broke again. I let out a primal roar, and pushed as baby's head made it halfway down. Another contraction and baby was crowning. I stopped. At the next contraction I began to push, but stopped and cried out "I CAN'T DO IT". That was my cue. Brent said that's when I'm at the end when I tell that. The next contraction I began pushing. It hurt so bad. Suddenly I knew baby had to get out right now. I screamed baby out with a sense of urgency, and felt what I believe was me tearing slightly. Baby's head was out. Brent said he could see baby's little face. The next contraction came and I pushed, but baby stopped halfway instead of the normal slide right out. He said to stop.
Brent and Hannah (my daughter) said the cord was noosed around the neck really tight. There was no slack. I felt a strange and painful movement, and he said baby's arm was out. Once he got one arm out they saw the cord was around baby's arm too, holder the arm up above baby's head.
He finally got the cord off baby's arm which gave slack to get it off the neck. I said I was going to raise up, and I raised up on my feet to put my butt in the air, but still laying on the bench. I told him to keep baby's head out of the water. I couldn't push, and kept yelling at him to stop pulling on her. There was such pressure, and I felt like he was pushing on my perenium while pulling on baby. He them said he wasn't doing anything. It was just baby slowly coming out without help.
Once baby was out I asked "Is she ok?". I heard a couple tiny cries. Then asked if baby was a girl. We had another girl! She was very calm. She cried a couple times, but just looked at us.
She is absolutely perfect. She was born on Sunday, November 6 at 5:40pm CST. She weighed 8lb 10oz and 21 1/4 inches long. Our 10th baby! Still no name. I love the name Lena. We shall see.
