A speedy arrival: The birth of Abigail Rose

On September 9, 2014 at 11:20 p.m. I started having contractions five minutes apart. They were different than the Braxton Hicks contractions I had been having; there was pressure in my pelvic area with each one. I waited at home until 1:20 a.m., then I decided we should go to the hospital to check if I really was in labor. The contractions stayed the same until I got to the hospital, and then they started coming closer together and getting stronger.

The nurse checked me, and I was dilated at a 3. I got up to go to the bathroom, and when I got back, I sat down on the side of the bed. While sitting there, I had another strong contraction, and I felt my water break. The nurses were in no hurry and decided only now to call my doctor.

By this time, the contractions were becoming even closer and stronger. The nurse checked me after my water broke, and I was a 4. Very quickly, I started to feel like I had to push. I pushed a little with some of the contractions because I couldn’t help it. I was only given one shot of Stadol. I was complaining that I had so much pressure and a burning sensation in my pelvis. My mom had the nurses come check me again, and her head was already there!

I was freaking out because I was in so much pain, and I had planned on getting an epidural. I was going to have to suck it up because there was no stopping her from coming. I was screaming and cussing from the pain, but after only a few pushes my little girl was born, without my doctor—or any doctor for that matter. We didn’t even have time to take the bed apart, and my legs were hardly spread! The nurses worked quickly to help her come out without tearing me too badly.

I can’t imagine if I had waited any longer to go to the hospital. I arrived at the hospital at 2 a.m., and she was born at 5:16 a.m. My mom got there at 4:48 a.m. and barely made it. We all thought it would take much longer.

It was an amazing experience to give birth with no pain medicine and not be induced. Everything was natural, and my second daughter Abigail Rose arrived safely at 7 pounds, 1 ounce and 19 1/4 inches.

Send us your birth story! Whether you had a home birth, hospital birth, 37-hour labor or emergency C-section, we’d love to read the tale of your little one’s grand entrance. Write up your birth story (click here for tips on getting started) and email it, along with a few photos, to birthstory@pnmag.com. We’ll share it on our Birth Day blog and may even print it in an upcoming issue!