I couldn't get an email sent to your address, so I am putting my birth story here. I had my son, Tanner, 10 days early on April 9th (due April 19th).

The funny part of my story is as follows. For the birth of my daughter nearly 7 years ago, my dad had taken me out for Mexican food the day I went into labor. We went to Casa Gallardo, where I had a Chimichanga meal with refried beans & rice. Now, on April 8th of this year, my coworkers wanted to take me out to lunch before I had the baby. I told them I wanted to go to Casa Gallardo for a chimichanga meal like I did when I went into labor 7 years ago. I told them I wanted to have this baby, and I hoped the mexican meal would get my labor started. We joked about it all through lunch, and they said I wouldn't be in the next day. Of course, since I was 10 days early yet, I didn't really BELIEVE that it would happen.

After lunch, I felt kind of yucky at work, so I layed down for about 1 hr. in the afternoon. That evening, I woke up around 10:45 p.m., and I wondered where my husband was (as he had been helping a friend work on his house). I then saw the headlights coming up the drive, and right at that moment I felt my water break. I fiddled around the room for a while wondering what to do -- then I called the doctor. She told me to head to the hospital since she thought I'd have a quick labor. I told my husband we'd have our baby in the next 24 hours.

I showered, and we ended up at the hospital around 12:15 a.m. on 4/9. I had just started having mild contractions around midnight (I hadn't felt any before that). After I got checked in, the nurse said I was at 1 cm. She said she'd be in every half hour to check on me. My husband & I took Bradley classes, and I wanted no medication, so they basically left me alone. The nurse never did come to check on me again. At about 3:45 a.m., I told my mom to go tell the nurse to check me because I felt like pushing. I had been having steadily harder contractions, but never really closer than 5 min. apart. They would last about 1 min. & 50 sec. on average. The nurse said I was at 5-6 cm & she would call the doc & check on me in another hour. I told her it wouldn't be that long. About 20 min. later, she came in because she heard me making sounds. She checked me & I was at 8-9. I knew I was close, because I was trembling through contractions, and medication was starting to seem like a good idea. I stuck with it though, and the doc arrived at 4:13 a.m. She looked at me, and started to leave the room. I felt an incredible urge to push, and the nurse told me to stop. Ha! Ha! Yeah, right. I couldn't stop, and she yelled to the doctor to come back (I later found out that the doc was going to get my birth plan -- I believe to check my preference on an episiotomy). Well, there was no time for that, because as soon as she wallked back I felt another huge pressure & out popped Tanner's head. As soon as that was out, everything slid out at once! It says on my chart that the doc arrived at 4:13 a.m. & baby boy was born at 4:16 a.m.! Just in time.

Tanner came out so fast that I had a minor lateral tear which had to be stitched up. The doc did give me a shot of Pitocin to deliver the placenta after baby was already out. So, I had the unmedicated birth I wanted. It was truly a wonderful experience, and I thank God that everything went so smoothly & Tanner was so healthy. He will be 13 weeks on July 9th, and he's around 15 lbs now. He was 7 lbs 8 oz at birth & 19 1/2 inches long. He is a smiling, happy baby boy, and he sleeps through the night now (around 8:30 - 9:00 p.m. to 6:30 - 7:30 a.m.). I'm back at work, and today is my second day. It is hard, but I guess it will get easier as time goes on.

Sorry this is so long, but I wanted to get everything in. So glad for the birth stories site, as I missed them all while I was away from work for 12 weeks. Thanks!

Jeannie