First let me say that I was doing all that I could to prepare for labor (dates, red raspberry leaf tea, yoga ball), all while trying to meter my expectations because “first babies are usually late”. My due date was January 17th.

     On January 12th around 9 pm I began feeling some slight cramping. We began to time the cramps and it turns out they were light contractions.  I went right into our bedroom, popped a unisom and tried to settle down for a good nights rest.

     10 pm – there was no sleeping for me. I came out and sat on my yoga ball while my husband timed my contractions. 4 minutes apart and about 30 seconds long. I texted my doula to let her know that we would probably want her to come over in the morning.

     Around midnight I called the midwife. She listed to me having a contraction over the phone and suggested that I try to get some rest. I was still in early stages of labor. I should be watching for my contractions to follow the 4-1-1 rule (four minutes apart-one minute long- for one hour).

     Contractions stayed 3-4 minutes apart and lasted about 30 seconds on average. Around 3:30 am things hadn’t changed. I was pacing the house and couldn’t get comfortable. I needed a change so I called my doula and asked her to come over.

     Around 4 am my water broke. I called the midwife to let her know. Based on the timing of my contractions I was advised to take it easy and wait for things to ramp up.

     My doula arrived around 4:30 am. We paced the house, did the miles circuit to get things moving along and waited. Around 8:15 am it was suggested that I take a shower to relax a little. At 8:25 am I knew that I wanted to go to the hospital. I wanted to be checked. I couldn’t believe that there had been no change in my contractions timing and I was wondering where I really was at with this whole process. The contractions were more intense but the frequency was the same. I had Ryan tell the midwife and our doula that we were going to head into the hospital. I was warned to not be discouraged when I got there if I wasn’t progressing.

     Ten minutes into a twenty minute drive to the hospital I started yelling at my husband to pull over …. I was giving birth to our baby. We pulled off the road. Ryan jumped on the phone with 911 and our doula came to the passenger side of the car. It was cold and rainy.

     Reagan came quickly – three pushes and my doula and Ryan were holding her in their hands. We wrapped her in my sweater and EMS arrived five minutes later.

     We went to the hospital where I delivered the placenta. Both baby and I checked out just fine. The craziest part is that I don’t remember feeling panicked or in pain at all during delivery! Reagan weighed 9 lbs 4 oz and was 21.75 inches long.

And yes…our car got detailed ASAP.