Eerika's Birth Story-8 months late

During the past two weeks, few of my friends' have had babies. I love to listen to people's birth stories. I just read a book called The Baby Catcher and I devoured the book and the stories of the strength and endurance that women have. At a recent baby shower celebration, I told the girls that I wasn't baby hungry and I didn't want to be pregnant, but I was little jealous of them that they would get to give birth. It sounds insane, but I really get so excited about the process of birth. I wrote Eerika's birth story the day after she was born. Yet I never posted it. So to make sure that I won't lose it, I am posting it 8 months later. Yes, my little baby girl is 8 months. It is unbelievable. Yet somehow the fact that she took a bite of Saku's In-N-Out burger today makes it very real. And the fact that she loves marshmallows. I might get awarded the "best nutritionist mom of the year."

The birth of the baby gives you such a special feeling, and I was so happy after her birth. However, I am even more grateful for her today. And much more rested!

My sweet daughter's birth story.

I had a feeling that our little girl would arrive that day. I had few painful contractions the night before but they had stopped by the morning. In the morning I had a feeling that I should say a prayer for strength and courage to go through the labor without pain medication, the ability to stay home as long as possible and still make sure that my daughter and I would be safe.

When I was on the phone with Starla around five o'clock, I had a contraction that felt different. They weren't painful and were not consistent, but I still started to wonder if that night would be the night.

We went through Saku's bed time routine and put him to bed. Troy went to store to pick up milk, eggs, bread and a Sunday from Mc'Donalds for me. While he was gone, I had my first contraction(8:15sh pm) that signaled to me that this was the real deal. When Troy got home fifteen minutes, I thought I was in labor. I texted Camille to let her know that we could be dropping Saku off sometime that night. For 30 minutes the contractions were 10 minutes apart, but they quickly started to come five minutes apart. I jumped in the shower and hoped that it would help me to relax. With Saku's labor, I had insanely painful back labor and I was worried that I would have to go through again, so i figured being in the shower would help. I was in the shower for 30 minutes and listened to relaxing music and while the contractions were intense, I felt like I was coping well. Once I got out of the shower Troy gave me a blessing. At this point, the pain was so intense that I had a moment when I freaked out. Also I was irritated that Troy was just hanging out at the computer while I was in so much pain. Troy remained calm and said that we should to the hospital. We called Camille to tell her that we were on our way to drop Saku off. We left our house at 10 pm and then the worst car ride of my life started.. It felt like the seat belt and my pants were way too tight. I felt so much pressure while I was sitting. And so so much pain. After we left Camille's house, I told Troy to say a prayer because I really was so overwhelmed by the pain. It took us 20 minutes to get to the hospital. While we were driving, my left leg kept shaking uncontrollably. It was almost a relief because it distracted me from some of the pain. When we passed Kino hospital, Troy jokingly asked if we should stop there.

I had planned to give birth without an epidural, but the pain was so intense and I thought that I would still labor for few hours at the hospital. While the idea of getting an epidural made me feel like I was giving up on my goal, the pain had completely overwhelmed me. We got to the hospital at 22:30. Right as we walked up to the

receptionist, another couple walked in for a scheduled induction. And they took their sweet time, and I wanted to point out that I was in active labor and should be seen first. When she finally saw us, she was taking her sweet time so I went to the bathroom. I felt so much pressure at this point and my contractions were coming every minute to

two minutes. I could barely walk to the triage area.

Once we got into the triage area, the nurse calmly started to ask me questions such as my allergy status and due date. I know they see many women who are more or less hysterical or sure that they are "about to have the baby", but I just needed to be checked so I knew what the status of the labor was. I went to the bathroom to change. I took my pants off, which seemed to be an impossible task at that moment and sat down to pee. The moment I sat down, my water broke and I felt so much pressure. I yelled out to the nurse that my water had broken and I felt a lot of pressure.

To Troy's amusement, I walked out of the bathroom wearing only my regular shirt and no pants since the nurse wanted to get me on the stretcher right then. Fortunately, for everyone, we were the only ones in the triage area. The nurse checked me and I was completely dilated with baby's head right there. Interestingly enough, once I was laying there and knew that she was about to be born I didn't feel any pain anymore. She paged for STAT delivery and I was wheeled to the first room. There were about 6 nurses and techs in the room and obviously no time to call for my own doctor to deliver the baby. I felt like everyone was moving in slow motion. In reality, we started pushing within two minutes.

Oh what an experience pushing a baby out without an epidural. I pushed through two or three contractions. Apparently, I started to reach down and one of the nurses said "she is going to deliver her own baby" and the doctor said "let her do it". After one of the contractions, they told me to rest but I wasn't about to stop when she was right there . I really don't have words to describe how it was. It wasn't painful, it was just this incredibly amount of pressure and stretching. While it wasn't painful, I didn't want to endure it any longer than I absolutely had to.

I don't think I will ever forget the moment when they put her on my chest. I just started crying and thought that she was the most incredible thing in the world. It was so different from Saku's delivery. While his delivery was special because he is my first baby, this delivery was amazing. It truly was a labor of love. I am so grateful that I was able to have this experience.

I am undecided if I want to do natural again in the future or whether to show up to the hospital when I have my first contraction and demand an epidural. And good thing that I won't have to worry about that for few years:)