I am very fuzzy on the events and details after this point, so most of this information comes from Josh and my doula recounting it to me.
Around 12:30 Josh was awakened to the sound of me panting. The nurses came into the room because their monitor showed that I was suddenly having very strong contractions. These contractions continued every 2 minutes for 5 hours. I know that at one point (or possibly many points) I told Josh I wanted a C-section, that I didn't care if we missed it, just tell them to take the baby out! Thankfully, the next person who showed up was a nurse with narcotics. That allowed me to sleep between the contractions and wake up only to breathe through the peak of each contraction.
By 4:30 a.m. I was dilated to 6 1/2 centimeters, and Josh called the doula to come to the hospital. (If I hadn't been doped up and asleep between contractions, I would have asked for her sooner!)
By 5:30 I was 10 centimeters and pushing. I remember this part better because the narcotics had started to wear off. I remember a friend telling me when I was pregnant that pushing is the easy part of a natural labor because you can finally do something about the pain. I found that to be true for me as well. I asked the doctor to let me push only when I felt the urge (during a contraction). I also really tried to lay on my side because I was much more comfortable than I was on my back. But being on my side caused the baby's heart rate to dip, so I had to stay on my back. So then I told them that I wanted to sit up on the birthing ball. I'm pretty sure everyone in the room laughed at me, realizing that the baby was already so low I wouldn't be sitting on anything. And after every push, Josh kept sticking this blasted oxygen mask on my face! (The doctor told him to because the baby's heart rate dipped a little after each contraction.) It's funny to me now to realize how silly I was being, but at that moment I felt like no one would let me do anything I wanted.
My OB was not available when I delivered Owen, which turned out to be a great thing. The doctor who delivered Owen was a woman from West Africa who apparently believes in "tough love". Josh said he felt like he was in a football huddle being yelled at by the coach! I wouldn't have thought that would be very effective or appreciated during labor, but it worked surprisingly well for me.
At 7:00, a new shift of nurses came in. One particular nurse wouldn't let me push when I felt the urge. Instead, she told me to count to 5 when I felt the urge, then push. This allowed to contraction to reach its full intensity before I started pushing, so I wasn't wasting energy when the urge to push wasn't as strong. I'm very grateful for that instruction, as it really helped my pushes be more effective.
At 8:02 a.m. Owen was born! He had passed meconium, so he was taken to the side for deeper suctioning. He was proclaimed 8 lbs. 7 ozs, 20.5 inches, and an APGAR score of 10!
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