Lilliana Juliet

June 21, 2015 5:45am 8 lbs 10 oz and 20 inches

I was overdue...again. By 41 weeks, I was only having random contractions here and there with no signs of impending labor. On 6/20, we decided to go out to dinner and then go to some stores and walk around to see if something would start. That night it seemed nothing had changed and I went to bed like usual. I had been having a few contractions through the night, but would wake and fall back asleep after it passed. They were not frequent, maybe 1 or 2 an hour. At 4:00 AM I woke to a painful contraction and decided to go to the bathroom. Before I could get back into bed, I had several more contractions and thought I should time them because they seemed more intense than before. Contractions were coming every 2-3 minutes and I had to walk and breathe through them. I woke my husband and at 4:25 I called Jennifer (student midwife) to give her a heads up. She asked that I call her back in 30 minutes and update her, but after about 20 minutes, I knew the contractions were getting stronger and called her back. She was on her way and called Jenn (an assistant at the time) to come as well. We started filling the birth pool and getting birth supplies into the living room. We called my parents and asked them to come pick up the older boys at 6 AM so they could get just a little more sleep. At about 5:00 AM Jen arrived and started monitoring the baby. I got in the pool even though it wasn’t completely filled yet and Jenn had also arrived. At this point, I wasn’t sure I could do this for another 2 or 3 hours. Just after that, at 5:33 my water broke in the pool. I felt that things were moving really fast with the next contraction I could feel the baby moving down through the birth canal. I was able to feel her head once it was out. My husband was in the pool with me at this time and was ready to help deliver her.

After only 6 minutes of pushing, Lily was born at 5:45 AM by her daddy.

She was 8 lbs 10 oz and 20 inches. Just as she started crying my parents knocked on the door to pick up the boys who had slept through the whole thing. The senior midwife (Patrice Bobier) missed the birth too lol. It was a wonderful, intense experience!