How it all started, the unexpected birth story

Ava Mae Additon
February 14, 2009 7:45pm
6lbs 2 oz, 20 inches long

On Friday, February 13 (3 Day past my "due date") I had an acupuncture treatment to “get things moving”. I went on a walk and later went to the hospital to see the on-call midwife and have my cervix checked. I was 1.5 cm dilated so she went ahead and stripped my membranes to see if we could get things moving. That evening Aaron and I went to dinner with a friend and then to the Museum of Art. That night I had fairly regular contractions that kept me up most of the night, but I was able to lie down during them. On Saturday, February 14, we went to the hospital for a non-stress test and to have my cervix checked again. I was 2 cm dilated and the midwife said to call if anything changes or contractions get stronger. We went home and I took a bath while Aaron went to the gym. I was able to nap for about a half hour until about 2:30 when I started having stronger contractions that I could not lay down through. Aaron called and I asked him to come home. Our doula suggested doing things to distract and not to focus too much on things we learned in our classes just yet, because it could be a long road ahead. Aaron rented a movie and we played a game. My contractions were steady at 5-6 minutes apart. We were in close touch with our doula, but didn’t feel like her presence would help at that point. Aaron would pause the movie with each contraction and walk me through each one; counting down with me when each one was winding down…they were exactly a minute in length. Around 6 or 6:30 our doula suggested that Aaron get me in the shower on an exercise ball. At that point I was having very strong contractions and started questioning in my head how long I could do this for. Aaron got me in the shower and I was starting to have stronger contractions in my lower back, so when the contractions would come I would lean forward and bounce on the ball so that water was hitting my back. Aaron tried feeding me crackers and water between contractions. I told him that I felt like I needed to go to the bathroom or the need to push. At that point my contractions jumped to 1 to 2 minutes apart. He proceeded to call the midwife after helping me to sit on the toilet. I had a strong contraction on the toilet and couldn’t fight the urge to push. My water broke and I was yelling for Aaron and he came back in the bathroom and could see a little bit of Ava’s head. He managed to get me dressed and downstairs between contractions. Once we were down stairs I had another strong contraction and I couldn’t fight my body’s need to push. The midwife could hear me yelling and told Aaron to call 911 immediately. He called 911 and the dispatcher started to tell him the supplies he would need in case we had to deliver at home. The ambulance showed up 3-4 minutes later. They assessed whether to deliver at home or in transit. They put me on a stretcher in between contractions. Aaron followed the ambulance to the hospital in our vehicle. Once they got me settled in the ambulance they told me that if I had a desire to push I could. I would say that after 5 or 6 contractions and pushing Ava was out. They were pulling Ava out and putting her on my chest when the ambulance pulled up to the hospital. They cut the cord in the ambulance but Aaron was able to recut it once we were in the hospital.