Audrey Lynn was born on May 26th at 3:46 a.m. She was 7 lbs. 1 oz. and 18.5 inches. I was having light contractions from the time I woke up on Wednesday the 25th. By 3 p.m., the contractions were getting more intense, but I still wasn't sure if "this was it." Conor came home from work at 5 p.m., we did a little curb walking in the rain and some stair climbing. After pacing my house 100 times, we finally checked into the hospital at 9:30 p.m.
I thought I was really far along, but to my dismay, I was only 4.5 cm (at my doctor's appointment the week before, I was 2.5 cm)! Fortunately, things progressed fairly quickly. We requested to not have the monitor on me and our nurse reluctantly said OK. Conor and I think she was slightly skeptical of our desire for a natural birth. I was 6 cm an hour after settling into our hospital room. Every hour the nurse came in to put the monitor on me and I had to lay on the bed for twenty minutes (super uncomfortable as my contractions intensified).
We were able to labor in the tub until I was 7.5 cm. After that, it was pretty uncomfortable for me to get around. Every hour after that, I progressed a little more. My water finally broke at 9 cm (even though the nurse kept offering to break it in order to help things along... I happily declined every time!). The doctor came in to tell me I had five more contractions to get through and then I could start pushing. I remember looking at Conor and feeling really scared and tired and unsure of myself. I just wasn't sure I could go any further. We counted the five contractions and sure enough! By 3:35 a.m. on Thursday, I started pushing. Ten minutes later (although it seemed A LOT longer), Audrey was born! We spend the next three hours with our wide awake little girl before she fell asleep from all the excitement. Conor was an amazing coach and for the most part our birthing experience was all that we desired!
Mary & Conor, Waukesha
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