Charlotte's Birth (Natural Water Birth)

Monday afternoon, my Midwife swept my membranes to try to get things going. I was 40 weeks that day. My mom flew in for just one week and I really wanted her at the birth to help me, so we started trying everything to induce labor naturally. Monday I had crampy contractions but nothing too intense. Tuesday night I thought my water broke, so we went in Wednesday morning to the birth center (one hour away) to check and see - nope it wasn't. She went ahead and swept my membranes again since that would increase the chances of labor. We went to the mall and did some shopping and it still wasn't happening. That night, I went for a jog and did some lunges down the street in the pouring rain - walked on the curb, walked up and down hills, and tried using a breast pump. Late Wednesday night around 11 pm, I was having contractions about 5 minutes apart and I decided to go up to the birth center again. We got there at 4 am, was checked at was only at 4 cm dilated so not far enough to be able to stay (needed to be 5 cm). Went outside and labored in the gazebo for about 2 hours, then headed to a hotel where we spent that whole next day. Contractions slowed to one every half hour the whole day, and I tried to nap a little. That night around 11 pm, they picked up again and were consistent so we filled up the hotel tub and I got in there for a bit. Finally at 1:40 AM we called once again and she said to come in at 4 am. 4:00 came around and we drove a short 8 minutes where I was checked and hallelujah I was 5 cm dilated! I labored on the bed for a bit, when my water broke at 5:30. I knew things would become intense so I asked for the pool to be filled. Got in and didn't get back out until after Charlotte was born. I got in around 6 am, and it felt amazing to take all the pressure off. After a while my midwife checked me and I was at 8.5 cm dilated - she told me to push a little and was able to stretch my cervix around Charlotte's head enough to get it to stay at 10 cm. After a while my body started to bear down and I knew it was time to push. I was so exhausted at this point that I was falling asleep between contractions and barely had the energy to push from lack of sleep and days of early labor. I pushed nice and easy for 30 minutes until she was born. I didn't tear at all. We waited for the cord to be completely limp and white before cutting. She had a great score of 9/9 at birth! After I got out, I was helped to the shower and did pass out while sitting in there. That was a new experience for me. We hung out for about 4 hours, ate some food, then headed home to bond with our brand new baby! Charlotte Dawn Ellis - 7 lb, 3 oz, 19 inches long.