Corbin's Arrival Part II

So I was 5 cm and now we were staying - time to get the bags out of the car. Like smart cookies, we decided to bring our stuff with us just in case I was close enough to stay. We, of course, did not bring any of our food or drinks...oops. With 100 degree weather, popsicles would not have survived if we didn't stay.

So Mark started making a few phone calls and I squatted around trying to look like I was busy "in labor".

I had picked out some Enya CDs for our "birthing music" - yeah remind me to shoot myself later for that decision - but there was a selection of CDs in the birthing room also. Believe it or not there were Christmas CDs in that stack too. I looked at Mark with a wicked smile, and he abruptly told me "Don't even think about it". So I picked out Nora Jones and was quite satisfied...until the CD died from scratches 4 songs later. Bah. However, I must say I would recommend a few of her songs for relaxation.

The contractions were getting a bit more painful, but nothing killer. I just rolled around on the birthing ball and did my relaxation thing. I've come to realize that I suck at the whole relaxation technique thing. Must rethink my labor strategy...again.

The midwife had told us that I had A LOT of amniotic fluid and that was keeping Corbin from dropping down. She was afraid to break the water too soon, for fear that his cord would come down first and cause complications. She wanted me to do some more squatting trying to get him to come down a bit further.

We continued to get updates about my friend down the hall. She made it to 7 cm. Blast! How dare she get ahead. The midwife asked if I'd like my water broken now. This would speed up the labor, but of course that meant things would get really serious, really quickly. Is it possible to answer yes and no at the same time? Yes I'd like labor to be over...no I don't want to be in more pain. Hmmm...in the end my competitive nature won out - you bet your buns I want my water broken. She's 7 cm and I'm poking around here at 5 cm. Let's get this show on the road! Hehe. But seriously, I just wanted to get the whole labor thing over with.

So with lots of pain - yay for internal pokes and prods - my water was broken and now there was no turning back.

Hmm...not that you could actually change your mind or anything...or trust me I would have said "Um yeah, I don't think I want to have a baby anymore, I've changed my mind. This is a little more pain than I'm in the mood for thanks!" But baby has to come out some way and the escape hatch is my hoo-haa.