First-Time-Mommy.Com Featured Birth Story: Fionbharr

Babies Name: Fionbharr

Babies Sex:   Male

Due Date:  10/13/2012

Babies Birth Date: 10/10/2012

# of weeks pregnant: almost 40 weeks

Type of Birth: Vaginal

Babies Stats: 7 lbs. 7 oz. 19 3/4 in.

Parents: Rachel

“When I woke up on October 9th I was having cramping, which by this time in my pregnancy was par for the course, but I had a feeling it was going to be an interesting day.
 
When I arrived at work I stopped by the bathroom before sitting down at my desk.  I was wearing a panty liner to help with some of the discharge of pregnancy.  When I looked down I noticed it was very damp.  Now, I had always been told that if my water broke it would be this big production, water everywhere.  Luckily, I worked with an office full of women with kids, so they’re okay with bodily fluids!  I told them either I had just peed myself or my water broke!  They assured me that I probably just peed myself, but I called my doctor’s office anyway.  The nurse told me to keep an eye on it and check back in an hour.  Well, an hour passed, I went to the restroom to see what was going on.  When I wiped, I saw what I assumed from everything I’d read that I had just lost my plug.  I remember thinking ‘Well, that’s interesting!’  At this point I wasn’t having any contractions, just some slight discomfort and cramping, so I stayed at work and was able to finish my day.

Looking back, I had my first real contraction just as I was turning onto my street.  I was clenching the steering wheel so hard my knuckles were white!  My husband was scheduled to play soccer that night and I told him I was fine and sent him on his way. 
 
About an hour later I started to keep track of my contractions.  Yep, about 10 minutes apart.  They were getting a bit more intense, but I could still walk around without discomfort, so I decided to take a nice warm bath and call the after hours line.  The on-call doc called my back pretty quickly and when I told him I was in labor he told me not to be too concerned, it sounded like I wasn’t too far into labor and it’s my first and can take quite some time and besides, I sounded way too relaxed to be in labor.  Well, it may have been my first baby, but I knew I was in labor!  I tried to call my husband and he didn’t answer.  I called his friend who was playing soccer with him…no answer.  By the time my husband finally got home I tried to pretend that I wasn’t in labor.  “No, honey, I’m okay”.  Literally, within 5 minutes I told him it was time to get going.

By the time we got to the hospital the back labor had started and was getting pretty bad.  Every time I had a contraction I would hold my breath.  All I can see is my husband in my face saying “Rachel, you need to breath!”.  When the nurse checked me I was already at like 5-6 cms.  The doctors finally gave me the epidural and within no time I was 10+ cm and it was time to push.  I was so tired by that time and I had been pushing for almost 3 hours!  The doctor then pulled out the big guns…He told me that if this kid didn’t get out soon I’d have to have a C-section!  So, I gave the next push everything I had and at 4:39 a.m. on October 10th 2012 I gave birth to my beautiful son!”