Where to start...the bulk of the weekend came and went with no sign if his arrival. I'd been waking in the night for several nights with contractions that went nowhere and that was about it. Monday morning i woke with the now typical contractions shortly before 5am. Thought, okay, here we go again. However, despite the contractions being relatively short and manageable, I could tell this was probably it. Didn't wake dh right away, just got out my big ball and did my thing. Dh woke on his own about an hour later , heard me breathing, bolted up in bed and said "is this it??" I said I think so but we are a ways off yet, so after asking if I needed anything and me saying no, he rolls over and goes back to sleep for awhile. (lol)

By 8ish, things were getting more serious so I decided we'd better pack up and head to the hospital. (Contrax were not all the same distance apart though, so I didn't really know what stage of the game I was at.) Got to the hospital around 8:45....I was 4cm along. Doc came in around 11 and broke my water. (6cm at the time....I've had to have my water broken with all my kids so I was good with that.) Things of course sped up from there. By 12:30 I was pushing, and 12:52 Callum made his appearance.

Callum's stats, which I think i forgot to post before now:
8lbs 1oz
20inches

I managed the whole time without any interventions or meds. :mrgreen: I only started to freak a bit during the pushing stage...dh and the nurse and such really had to talk me through that. I remember thinking "gosh...I can't do this again!" But you manage somehow, right? The biggest thing for me is that I didn't tear this time! After tearing with both Liam and Fiona I fully expected to again. What a difference in recovery without it! lol.

Anyway, that's it. Dh and I say after every labour and delivery...ok...I think we are done now. lol. But we'll see. In any case, I'm pretty happy and satisfied with my little family right now! :D

yeah that pushing time is when we lose all confidence isn't it? but, you have no choice but to keep going now, too late to turn back or rather stop things LOL

how big were the other two? perhaps callum's size made the difference there? or just slower, more controlled pushing. anywho...woohoo for no tears!! :)

Sounds like everything went well! Congratulations! :mrgreen:

Sounds like everything went great for you Kim. Congrats!:mrgreen:

yeah that pushing time is when we lose all confidence isn't it? but, you have no choice but to keep going now, too late to turn back or rather stop things LOL

how big were the other two? perhaps callum's size made the difference there? or just slower, more controlled pushing. anywho...woohoo for no tears!! :)

One of my nurses was actually telling me stories about women who actually try to get up and leave the room in the middle of the worst moments to get away from the pain. Our senses kind of leave us at some points in labour I guess.

That's the interesting thing, Tara. My other two were both smaller...7lbs7oz. Part of me wonders if me freaking out during pushing actually had something to do with not tearing...I actually didn't push right away on most contrax because I had to be talked into it (lol) which led to Callum just about crowning and then pulling back at the end of a contrax and having to start again the next time. So maybe the back and forth stretching helped? I dunno. I'm just glad for the easier recovery! :D

congrats again, Kim! Yay for no tearing...that's awesome! Good job Mama!! [claploud]

Not tearing makes a WORLD of difference when recovering! With Abby I tore so bad, they stiched it but later when I went home, the stiches broke. It killed me every time I had to go potty. But with Josiah I didn't tear at all, i think because I never had the tear repaired. But I recoverd so quickly and without the pain!
Contratulations again Kim! You did it!!!![claploud][claploud][claploud]

I managed the whole time without any interventions or meds. :mrgreen: :D

OK, every time I hear this from some of you ladies, I'm just like... "Wow, you're my hero!" I just couldn't do it... I had to have the meds :(

Way to go! Congratulations on the entire blessed event!

Congratulations on using no meds and not tearing! That is fantastic!! Way to go!! :-)

those smaller ones tend to want to shoot out quickly, not giving you ample time to stretch...the bigger ones offer more time to stretch
I didn't tear with #1 or 6 who were my biggest..tore with scrawny #2, he was just in a big hurry :p

thats hilarious, the women trying to get up and walk out mid-labor LOL oh my :p

anywho, congrats again! :D good job mama!

With birth number one I hate to admit it--- that may have been me walking out the door:oops: he he, but did you dr practice in USA? he he. With an all natural delivery I don't think I was quite prepared for the pain in pushing.

Sounds like a great birth Kim! You did it, wohooo, and just the cutest little peanut to cuddle now, awwww. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!

Aww Kim, I'm so happy things went well! :mrgreen: And no meds or anything.. congrats! I went without as well, and for me the hardest time was the transition period. When I got to pushing at least I could *do* something, that helped me, don't ask why.

Congratulations!!!!!! I'm glad it went so well!!

Yay, Kim! Glad that things went so well. It's wonderful to be able to not have stitches, isn't it? I didn't tear with DD either, and she was 8 lbs, 13 oz. Probably, because like you I had to be practically coaxed to push, lol. :)

Thanks everyone! :D

Thanks for the tip, Tara. It never occured to me that it was *because* of him being bigger that I didn't tear. Go figure.

Wow. Kim you are my hero. I tried to go all the way w/both of mine and caved. Maybe next time I'll go for it. TFS. He is a cutie. Congrats.

Congrats Kim, he is too precious. Glad things went well for you!