This was like the pregnancy that would never end.  I had mentally prepared myself to deliver a couple of weeks early since all the others were that way and as the days ticked past with no sign of labor in sight, my nerves began to fray.  My body was exhausted and in pain and the uncertainty of each day thinking it would be “the day” was almost too much to bear.  So Wednesday night when I went to bed, I figured it was another day lost and I would go on to see a third day past my due date.  You can imagine my great surprise when a strong but not painful contraction woke me up and broke my water at 12:30 Thursday morning.  Not a massive gush like William’s birth but a very small trickle that at first made me wonder if that’s what it really was.  I sat up in bed for about 30 minutes to see if another small amount would come out and sure enough, about 20 minutes later there was another little gush that made me realize this was it!  I woke up Dave, who woke up my mother to let her know we were on our way, and we threw our bags in the car and headed out to the hospital.

I wasn’t having any painful contractions yet and they were few and far between so I figured it would be somewhat of a long night.  After checking in, we headed up to L&D and I was 4cm and 90% effaced – not bad for not having a single painful contraction!  The only problem was that the baby was extremely high and I was unable to walk around because of the risk of cord prolapse.  So they hooked me up to the monitors and started the IV (after 4 attempts!) and David and I just watched TV and relaxed.  The hours ticked past and I still wasn’t having any painful contractions, which started worrying me a bit.  I REALLY didn’t want to receive Pitocin and I figured since contractions weren’t getting painful, I wasn’t progressing.  But when the doctor came in, he checked and I was 6cm and 100% effaced but my bag of water was so full still and in between the baby’s head and my cervix, keeping him from dropping down.  He tried to break my water but the membrane was so tough he couldn’t do it and said we would just wait a couple of hours and see if things worked themselves out (I LOVED my doctor’s low-key and compassionate demeanor during my labor).  Actually, his exact words were, “I cannot break this water!  This membrane is a tough son of a bitch!  Hahaha!”  The nurse looked at me funny and said, “Do you normally not feel your contractions until you are in transition?!”  Whatever the reason, I was thankful!

After a couple of hours I could feel all the water coming out of me and the contractions picked up on the pain scale but were still manageable.  My biggest fear was that the baby was still high though and that I would be stuck at this level forever.  After an hour of being at 7cm, I said I would have an epidural.  I was too scared that I would be stuck at 7cm forever waiting for the baby to come down and the fear got to me.  BUT things took a drastically different turn than I expected!

The anesthesiologist came in and I sat up so he could place the needle.  As soon as I sat up things skyrocketed!  I went from 7cm to 10cm and the baby was almost starting to crown in 10 minutes flat!!!  He could barely get the epidural in and there was no time to hook it up.  I heard the anesthesiologist say to my husband, “I think we are going to have a baby here in just a couple of minutes!”  My doctor flew into the room with some other nurses and the anesthesiologist gave me a bolus of medication in hopes that ½ through pushing, it would kick in.  I was in a great deal of pain at this point but the nurses and my doctor were wonderful.  Far different from my experience with Colin’s birth in LA.  They were so calm and patient and every time I screamed “Wait!  Don’t touch me!” while I was having a contraction, they all stopped and said they would wait until the contraction had passed to get me into position to push.  There was zero irritation, zero impatience, and nothing but reassurance from my doctor.  It was wonderful and eased my anxiety SO much.  I started pushing and kept asking when the epidural was going to kick in (having no idea they didn’t have time to actually hook it up) and the doctor laughed and said, “When this baby is on your chest!”  Thankfully, as I pushed, I started to get a bit of relief from the medication.  I could tell that something was going on as the nurses began shifting my position and the doctor started getting quiet and concentrating.  Nobody said anything but I knew the baby’s shoulder was stuck and we had a case of dystocia going on.  Thankfully, there was no panic and it was very mild and everything worked out easily with a few adjustments.

Sure enough, as the doctor predicted, once the baby was on my chest I had pretty much complete relief from the bolus of medication the anesthesiologist gave me.  So even though I labored completely without it, and did ½ my pushing without it, I was still thankful for it in the end because I did need some stitches and was able to concentrate on just pushing effectively to get the baby’s shoulder out instead of being paralyzed by fear from the pain.  Overall, I’d say this was my easiest labor even though it was my longest by a couple of hours.  At 9:41, Owen Ryan Horner arrived weighing 8lbs 10oz and 19 inches.  As always, I fell completely and instantly in love and the whole tortuous 9 months of pregnancy was worth every single second!

During this whole experience, David was at his best.  He was so attentive, relaxed, and sweet during the entire process.  If ever there was a perfect birth partner, David was it.  I was so happy to have him by my side every second of the way!

Nothing brings me more peace and happiness than having a baby.  It’s like magic.  When David came with all three boys to pick me and Owen up from the hospital, it suddenly hit me that we had FOUR children.  I immediately started sobbing.  Having four boys is a dream come true for me.  It’s all I’ve ever wanted.  I am soaking up every second of Owen and all the boys absolutely adore him.  There’s been no fits, jealousy, or anything other than excitement and love for our new family member.  Love just overwhelms me.  May it always.