At 10:30pm on Sunday, February 1st, as Mitchell and I were preparing for bed Max started letting us know he was ready to be born. We were laughing pretty hard about the Janet Jackson pasty incident during the Super Bowl half-time show. I was sitting on the pot and what I thought was pee kept dripping out of me. After about 15 minutes, Mitchell and I discussed the possibility that maybe my water had broken. However, we didn’t really entertain the idea because we were still 6 days from the due date and totally expecting our little bundle to arrive a week late. We decided to sleep on it. After I got into bed, the dripping stopped and I started having stronger contractions. Even though the contractions were stronger, I figured it was false labor because they were nothing like the unbearable contractions I’d been imagining. Anyway, a few hours past, the contractions subsided and I slept soundly through the night.

The next morning started out perfectly normal – no strong contraction and no dripping fluid. I planned a full day of running errands and attending a friend’s baby shower. As an after thought I called Michele to let her know about last night’s weird dripping. She asked me to stop by her house to make sure my water hadn’t broken. So, I packed up the car and went by her house on my way to do everything else. She tested the fluid and sure enough it was amniotic fluid.

I was in labor! My emotions were all over the board. I felt disbelief that this was really it, excitement to meet our new baby, sad that the pregnancy was coming to an end, and calm because I felt safe and prepared. Physically, not much was happening. Michele thought we’d have our baby sometime early the next morning (February 3rd). She recommended that I go home, call Mitchell home from work, start a labor-inducing regimen (taking herbs, walking for 20 minutes, using the breast pump for 20 minutes), then eat a good dinner and go to bed early. The labor-inducing regimen was to help ensure that our baby was born within 48 hours of my water breaking, otherwise I’d have to go to the hospital.

On my drive home from Michele’s house the contractions suddenly became very strong. They weren’t unbearable, but they required most of my attention. My mind had no focus and that made the drive home difficult. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my cell phone so I couldn’t call anyone. I decided to continue home anyway. A few blocks from our house my water broke with a gush and intense contractions followed, but I made it home safe and sound. First, I called Mitchell. He sounded very calm and ready. Thank God he did because his energy made me feel more safe, secure and ready.

At 3pm, I still had enough time between contractions to clean up the mess in my car and do a few dishes while I waited for Mitchell to get home. Then I started Michele’s regimen. Taking the herbs was no big deal. Walking was difficult because I could only make it about ½ a block before a contraction came on and I needed to stop and squat. Using the breast pump was the worst. It was very painful. I feared that if nursing felt like this I wouldn’t be able to do it. I did this until 5:30pm when I wasn’t able to make it to the end of our driveway without a contraction. Mitch started to time my contractions. At this point I stopped walking and using the breast pump. I sat on a birthing ball next to Mitchell and we played solitaire until 6:30pm when we called the midwives.

Vickie arrived a few minutes before Michele and I think they were both expecting me to be more dilated than I was at that time. So, it was back to the regimen for me. This time the herbs made me throw up and we decided to skip the herbs until I’d eaten something. In the mean time Sam arrived and started making dinner and Mitchell and I took another walk. All I remember is that it was cool out and I had to squat and breath every few steps. Our neighbors must have thought we were crazy. My contractions were the most uncontrollable, intense sensations I’ve ever felt. They were definitely painful, but when I focused on my breath, on relaxing and on working with my body the pain turned into a very spiritual experience – almost like I was outside my body. Anyway, we only walked for about 20 minutes, but I didn’t want to go back because I was dreading being put on the breast pump. After one more session with the pump the plan was to do another exam, eat dinner and then go to bed until it was time to deliver the baby.

The plan changed when Michele saw that I had dilated to 8 centimeters. I remember her saying, “In a few minutes you’re going to have your baby.” My thoughts were, “Really! Wow! Well, I can handle this for a few more minutes – no problem.” Next, I remember that my stomach muscles started to engage with the contractions. I had to breath and concentrate not to push with these contractions. Then, at about 9:15pm, it was time to push. This was the hardest part from me. I pushed and pushed and pushed. We tried different positions, but I wasn’t moving the baby affectively. This wasn’t a huge problem until his head got in between my tailbone and my pubic bone. At this point Max’s heart rate dropped and there was a new sense of urgency. Michele looked me in the eye and said “Kendra, you have to push. Your baby is in trouble.” This scared me to death because I couldn’t feel him moving down with my contractions and I didn’t know how to push more affectively. I remember Mitchell sitting up near my head and holding my hand while the midwives sat around me. Mitchell, Michele, Vickie and Sam were an incredible source of support and strength for me. Mitchell’s presence kept me calm and focused. Michele, Vickie and Sam kept talking me through the contractions until Max’s head passed through the tight spot and his heart rate came back up. Now it was time to push him out. His head started to come through and I could feel him moving inside me with each contraction. Being able to feel him move down inside me made it much easier to push productively. With a few more pushes Max was here with us at 10:44pm. Mitchell caught him and placed him on my stomach. He was the most beautiful thing we’d ever seen and our love for him was overwhelming. I never expected to love so much so immediately. Mitchell cut the umbilical cord and Vickie placed Max by my breast to nurse. He latched on easily and it was beautiful to feel him on my breast and watch him nurse.

I HAD DONE IT! I was elated to have a healthy, beautiful baby and I was glad it was over. However, after we spent a few very emotional moments in awe with our new son I realized it wasn’t really over. Sam took Max to the other side of the bed and I had to deliver the placenta. Michele and Vickie massaged my stomach to help release the placenta. That was very uncomfortable. I was exhausted and tired of pushing. Once the placenta was out I thought ‘Great. We’re done!’ Nope. I had a very bad tear and needed stitches. Now, I was afraid. The thought of being stuck with a needle in that area terrified me. Michele was great though. She gave me a shot to numb me, but I was already very numb from the birth and so I couldn’t really feel it. After I was stitched up, they wanted to make sure I could pee. Sitting on the pot felt like all my insides were going to fall out through the huge hole created during the birth. Then finally the midwives assured me that I was done.

I made it back to a freshly made bed and Sam brought me dinner. It was the best spaghetti I’ve ever tasted. Not long after that, Mitchell and I were alone with our new little bundle. It was about 1:30am and we each called our parents to tell them our beautiful birth story before falling asleep.