Eamon's Birth story

My Birth Story ~ A Labor of Love Part Two
Starting at about 37 weeks pregnant, I began having contractions fairly regularly. Some days I had more than others, and some of these came at regular intervals. On Easter, April 12, I had contractions lasting just less than a minute and coming at regular three to four minute intervals. This lasted for roughly six hours, but I was able to fall asleep and woke up to no contractions at all. I was starting to get slightly irritated with contractions that I thought weren’t doing anything. 
This continued throughout the next week, with everyone on alert, anticipation in the air. Elijah was born 10 days early, so when that point in the pregnancy came and went, the anticipation only worsened. Then at 39 weeks, Saturday April 18, I awoke with a strange sense of peace. I decided that the baby would come whenever it was ready and I was resigned to wait until 42 weeks if that was what was meant to be. 
At about 4 p.m. we decided to head to my aunt and uncle’s house to return the 12-string guitar Larry had restrung for my uncle. Before we left, I was getting a little annoyed at the contractions I was having. I wished they would stop or do something already! We visited with my aunt and uncle until around 8 p.m. When we came home, I was having contractions about 5 minutes apart, but they weren’t painful. This wasn’t anything I hadn’t experienced in the last 2 weeks, but I started to get a little excited.
Around 11 p.m. I headed to bed, thinking I would wake in the morning to no contractions again. Surprisingly, around 12:00 I came out of the bedroom to tell Larry that the contractions were getting stronger and they were about 4 minutes apart. He sighed a little, saying "And what percentage are you sure this time?" I laughed, shrugged, and responded "90 percent." So he went to bed, thinking if this was it, he better get some rest.
Around 1:30, the contractions were 3-4 minutes apart and getting rather painful. This was it! I was 100 percent sure now. I ate a bowl of soup and headed to the shower for some "water therapy." Larry couldn’t fall asleep; there was an excitement in the air. We called my mom at 3 a.m. to come stay with Elijah. She arrived at 3:30 a.m. and at 3:40 a.m. we left for the birthing center. We were checked into the room where an initial dilation check indicated I was already 6 centimeters dilated. 
The room wasn’t quite ready when we arrived; the Jacuzzi tub was still being cleaned. At this point the contractions were such that I was breathing through them and had to really concentrate on relaxing. I got into the shower in the room and the running water on my abdomen was a great distraction. After a while, I began to feel over heated and wanted to lie down on the bed. The tub was still being filled, but it wouldn’t be long before it was ready.
And that was a very good thing! The contractions I had on the bed were very intense. For the first time during labor I was having a lot of pain, writhing and squirming under the intensity. Larry applied counter pressure to my back, which helped some, but I couldn’t wait to get into the tub. It wasn’t quite full when I got in, but what a relief! I started to come back into focus, feeling a control and awareness unlike anything I experienced during my labor with Elijah. Under Larry’s expert coaching, I found my Zen place, and allowed my body to do the work it was by nature designed to do.
It was very calm in the room as I labored in the tub, Larry by my side. We were left alone by the staff, with only brief checks of the baby’s heart rate every 20 minutes or so. I breathed my way through each contraction, willing my body to feel the water as each contraction moved the baby further down. This is what we now call "the calm before the storm." As transition hit, the contractions were long and consistent, not giving me much rest between each one. At some point I looked into the tub and saw blood. "That means it will be soon" I managed to say. A few minutes later my body began to push on its own. Larry went to get the nurse and midwife, who wanted me to get out of the tub to be checked.
I was completely dilated! It was ok to push! So, less than two hours after arriving at the birth center, we prepared for the final moments before meeting our precious new baby. After 12 minutes of pushing, out came our beautiful baby. I instantly asked Larry the answer to the question I had been waiting so long to hear…"What is it???" Larry was still recording the birth, and a little overwhelmed by the intensity of it all, so it took him a moment to realize what I was asking. He laughed jubilantly, "It’s a boy!"
Eamon Arthur Sapp was born at 6:47 a.m. weighing 7 pounds 5 ounces and was 19 ¾ inches in length. He is a beautiful baby, and everyone says he looks like his mom. I feel so blessed to have had another completely unmedicated, natural vaginal birth. Once again, Larry was my rock, and I can’t even imagine a better labor coach, husband or father. Elijah loves his new little brother, and we are all loving life as a family of four.