Arianna's Birth Story....

December 18th was our due date..we decided on Monday the 17th we would go into the hospital to be "induced" if she wasn't here by then. However, we didn't want to use pitocin or anything, we were going to just have the bag of waters broken (that was how the labor of my last daughter was started and was very successful!). So, after a restless night of sleep knowing my daughter was going to be born that next day, I woke up at 4:30am to use the restroom. Laid back down and started feeling "cramping" in my lower belly, VERY slight, well, then I got a bloody show around 5:30ish and we were off to the hospital! By 6am when I was getting in my gown and all hooked up to see what was going on they discoverd by the monitoring that I was in "Active Labor" already and was dialated to 5cm! The next 2 hours were VERY VERY intense but very powerful! No pain meds or anything else I was successfully pushing by 8am!!! Yes!!!! 2 hours of labor and our daughter was born at exactly 8:20am!!! I pushed 2 times at each contraction and a total of 4 contractions and she was born!! A BEAUTIFUL healthy 7lbs 1oz 19 inches long with black hair and blue eyes!!!! The 2 hour labor was just AMAZING...it was short but VERY intense pain and contractions doubling up on top of each other so I only got very frequent breaks, however, it was an amazing experience that neither my husband or I will never forget!!! I did not rip or tear due to the WONDERFUL team work of my doctor and me! He used a lot of oils and did the perineal (sp?) message the entire time and just worked with my "opening" so that it was as natural as possible for her to come out! The doctor would pull down on certain spots of my "opening" (lol) and tell me to concentrate on pushing exactly where he was putting the pressure! It was EXTREMELY painful, but very exciting to know that I did it and did it completely naturally! I do remember feeling her being about half way out and I could feel her nose being right there, after that next push her neck was SUCH a relief!!! Then her shoulders followed and there she was!!! Uhhh...it brings tears to my eyes still to think about that wonderful feeling!