The Story

First of all, I have to start off with God is good! It still amazes me how He made us so complex and the miracles He works through our bodies!
For the past couple of weeks I have been having Braxton Hicks contractions every night. Many times quite regular, but I chose to ignore them, not wanting a repeat of two false alarms like I had with Sydney. I knew that they needed to become intense to be the real thing. Last Thursday I started showing signs that labor would be approaching, so I let my mom know to be ready "just in case." I ended up spending the night at her house on Saturday night because Josh was working that night. Everyone thought it would be best if I wasn't home alone. Sunday morning I woke up with an upset stomach and a bloody show. That made me a little nervous because Josh needed some sleep and I had the girls by myself at church. On top of that, we sit in the front pew and the LAST thing that I wanted was to have to get up in front of the whole church with my kids. I would have everyone chasing me down asking questions! Luckily, nothing so dramatic happened at church. I was feeling well, I even stayed behind for the Potluck lunch after church. Not an easy thing for a girl 2 days shy of her due date with 3 kids. I did want Josh to get some sleep and the thought of not getting the house messy with lunch food was very appealing. It was actually a little humorous, someone came up to me mentioning that she didn't even know I was pregnant again!
After church I rested as normal and got up to get ready for Common Bond (our small groups for church). The girls really enjoy playing with their friends and I again couldn't pass up not having to clean up after a meal. My stomach was still getting upset, even though I knew I hadn't eaten anything that would bother it. No contractions though, so I just ignored it.
I got home and put the kids to bed and was ready to relax. Josh and I spent some time together and watched "The Perfect Storm." Must have been the change in barometric pressure from the movie :) cause I started having contractions while we were watching it. They started off about 6 minutes apart and then suddenly changed to 3. I knew the birth center wanted me at 5cm when I came in and I really wanted to make sure it was the real thing, so I hung out for a while, trying to make sure they were real contractions and getting more intense.
Around midnight I finally made the call to the midwife. She already had a woman in labor so she told me to just come on in. We made all our phone calls for child care and headed out. We didn't go racing down the road or anything, I actually enjoyed our hour drive to the birth center. Josh kept me distracted talking about life, we listened to music and just enjoyed each others company.
We arrived at the birth center and learned that I was 3cms. Not where I wanted to be, but she said we could stay and rest and see if the contractions kept going. Once we got there, we learned another mom and called in and was coming. 3 birthing women at once! My nightmare! Luckily, the recruits were called in and another midwife came to share the load. I tried to lay down and rest, but it was not comfortable. My back started hurting more, so I got up to do some pacing and leaning. I strapped on my TENS Unit and started reading the Bible. I'm not that holy, but that was all I had to distract me at the time, so that's what I used, not a bad choice though :) The contractions started getting more intense and were requiring some effort to focus through. I asked the nurse about a bath so she started filling the tub. I got in and sat for about 2 minutes before I realized that the water was really cold and it wasn't helping at all. On for the next thing. We tried the birthing ball next. I got to a point where I needed some confirmation that I was progressing. 5cm. Kinda a blow. I was really hoping to be close to transition. If I had been in a hospital, I would have gotten an epidural, no turning back now! She checked and found out that I had sprung a leak in my amniotic fluid, but that it hadn't broken yet. Progress was progress though!
I stayed in bed for a while with the midwife sitting next to me and Josh in bed next to me. It was very soothing. The midwife knew just what to say to help me focus and I loved having Josh so close. When I thought she was gone I would break down a little, just to realize she was still there and she would encourage me. The pain was getting really intense. I moved to the birthing ball, it was great! I would actually get so relaxed on the ball that contractions would come as a surprise. I started feeling pressure and the urge to push so I asked the midwife to check me again. 7-8cm. WHAT!!! NO WAY! This thing has got to end soon! I'm started to make noises I didn't know I could make. She offered me a deal! She offered to break my water, which I said yes to gladly and then she massaged my cervix to help it dilate quicker, all while allowing me to push as I wanted. PERFECT! The next 15 minutes were INSANE! I can't begin to describe the pain and desperation that I felt, but PRAISE GOD, Julianna Joy was born at 6:57am. It was surreal, I had just delivered a baby naturally! They laid her on me and I was in bliss! Julianna was finally here!
My recovery went well and I was surprised that I was actually ready to leave after 4 hours. We ended up staying about 7 hours just finishing up paperwork and such and glady left to take our newest baby home to meet the rest of the family!