Sue woke at 6 am to a wet bed. At first she thought she'd had an "accident". Then she realized it might have been her membranes releasing. She went into the bathroom and noted the continued flow of clear fluid. It seemed to confirm her theory.
Not wanting to go to the hospital too soon, Sue decided to wait till her doctor's office opened and check in there. Jeff went to work to tie up some loose ends. Sue ate breakfast and then ran around the house packing her bag. She also spent some time 'curb walking' to encourage contractions to kick in.
Sue stalled her doctor visit till 10:30 when Jeff could join her. While in the waiting room, she began to feel occasional tightening. When she jumped up on the exam table, the fluid gushed and her doctor suggested she go right over to the hospital. She had been 3 cm dilated the day before.
Another call was made to the doula to discuss choices and consider an action plan. Sue felt like contractions were starting to kick in. Wanting to get labor established, she and Jeff spent a little more time walking up and down stairs before going over to the hospital.
At 12:15 Sue was admitted to a labor room. Shortly after, Jeff made another call to the doula. Sue was having regular contractions every 3-4 minutes and breathing well. She thought it was a good time to have her doula come.
Upright positions felt good to Sue. She stood leaning over the counter, onto her brown pillow, rocking. Jeff massaged her back and applied hip squeezes as she breathed through the contractions. After a bit she began feeling some pressure; like she needed to go #2. After some time in the bathroom, Sue came out to find the doctor wanting to check her progress. She agreed to the check at 1:45. He examined her and then said... "You can push if you want to". Sue was stunned to realize she was already completely dilated!
There was only a small lip of cervix and baby was low at +1 station. Sue began pushing, following her instincts. She pushed sitting up on the edge of the bed and then tried pushing with the squat bar. But she really wanted to go back into the bathroom. At 2:25, she and Jeff returned to the bathroom. Sue really liked the feel of pushing on the toilet... but the doctor didn't want her to stay in there. Her doula asked the nurse to find a commode/potty chair so Sue could be at the bedside in the same position. Jeff adjusted the legs of the chair so it was more comfortable to sit in... and Sue pushed!
"It feels like she's coming out!" said Sue at 2:40. She was feeling the beginnings of crowning. Sue hopped back over onto the bed and the nurse checked her progress. She immediately called the doctor to come back to the hospital!
Sue continued her strong pushing with Jeff holding and supporting her. Her perineum was a bit tight and she agreed to a tiny snip by the doctor. Then Sue birthed her baby at 3:16 pm! As Hanna was placed on Sue's chest, she greeted her baby saying "Oh my gosh... oh my gosh". Sue had tears running down her cheeks as she said "She's so cute!"