by Holly Wengenroth-Mealer

Labor actually started on Friday, 12/29/11. I had light to medium contractions from seven am to nine at night. For most of the day they were thirty to forty seconds long about five min apart. They got more intense as the day went on. We went in for a labor check just to see how my cervix was doing. It was disappointing to hear that at one p.m. my dilation was about the same as it had been the day before. The midwife said that my cervix was quite a bit thinner, but the dilation remained the same.
We went home and the contractions got a little stronger in the evening but didn’t feel progressive. At around seven pm the midwife called back to check in. She said to take some Tylenol PM and go to bed. It will progress or stop but it isn’t in my control and I needed to relax. We went to bed and woke up contraction free on 12/30. Honestly I was quite upset. I felt like I did a ton of labor for nothing. I was really irritated/angry/disappointed.
          We decided that we were just going to ignore it, since it stopped anyway. I went out with my sister and ran some errands. Stephen went to the range with his father. He got home around six and we were getting ready for dinner. (We had a dinner appointment with the whole family that evening; twenty five people…) My water broke! I called the midwife and she said to relax, it could take between 24-72 hours for a first time mom. So Stephen got me some mom diapers and we went to dinner. We got there and I went to sit down. I heard what I read on google described as a distinct popping sound, so I ducked out to the bathroom: blood in my diaper!!! I went out to call the midwife to check in and while on the phone I had the most god awful contraction, EVER! I ran in and grabbed Stephen. I said: We need to leave, now.
          On the phone the midwife had said to call back when my contractions were 3-5 minutes apart for an hour. I remembered Maureen telling me in an appointment: if your water breaks and you start having contractions, I would head right in. So we went home and I got in the tub. The contractions were very strong and from seven (the first one) to eight they were exactly consistent and very strong. I could still talk through them but it was closer to barking than talking. Stephen made me drink a protein shake (we missed dinner) and water. He sat with me by the tub timing contractions on his phone the whole time. He called the midwife back at eight. She seemed hesitant to ask us to come in right now. He had her listen to one of my contractions… I realized that he had the phone out so I made it sound just a hair more dramatic than it was (I knew I needed to go.) At the end of the contraction I said, “Listen, if we don’t leave right now I’m not leaving. We will have the baby here.” The midwife said to head on in.




          We drove there (about 40 min) and I had regular contractions the whole time. We got there around 8:45; Stephen helped me walk in. I walked right through the door by everyone, took off my clothing and got in the shower. They tried to let me know that wasn’t the right room and they would get the water going in my room. I knew any room that had water was the right room so I just got in the shower. Stephen sat with me for a few minutes and then brought everything into the room and got it all set up. Finally they let me get in the tub. I sat in the tub and the contractions continued. They did an exam, but I said I didn’t want to know how dilated I was. I thought it would slow the process and/or freak me out about how long I had to go. Honestly, at this point I was in a state where I couldn’t hear or see anything. It was just contractions and pauses. I do remember Stephen telling me that he loved pizza, a joke from the Bradley class. It was great. He made sure the whole time that I was drinking, remembering that hydration keeps it going.

          All of a sudden I realized my stomach was heaving up in the water and I was pushing! It was about 9:50. After the second push the midwife came in and asked to check my dilation again, because she heard me pushing. She said something to the effect of “Oh wow! You are ready!” Stephen held me up in the water the whole time I was pushing. There was one time they asked me to push and I said no. I remember feeling his head coming and thinking: oh heck… this is not happening!!! But it did and at 10 pm after five or six pushes, 7 lb., 7 oz. Lucius Alexander Mealer more or less came flying out.
I remember them putting him on my tummy and thinking: but I didn’t have transition!!! I didn’t think I couldn’t!!! I didn’t get to ask for meds! I think I was just so in the contractions that I could only breathe and pray. Stephen got to be with me the whole time. It was wonderful. Three hours and a baby! No appreciable tearing, no stitches, no complications. Mommy and Daddy got to snuggle in the bed with him and it was fantastic!!!
          I was ready right afterwards to think about baby number two! We are so glad to have had such a positive experience. It wasn’t frightening or any of the things you are told to expect. We might have lucked out, but we think that knowing what to expect and being educated was a huge part of the positive experience.