This is the birth story of my youngest child, she turned 5 this week. I wrote it over the course of the first year and shared it in her first birthday. I have included a picture of her about 15 minutes after she was born for anyone who wants to use it as a reference photo, please excuse the blood and poop. I will add more pictures later of the day she was born. I figure after seeing the picture some may need an explanation, that is what the purpose of me sharing this story is. I hope you enjoy it - I consider it one of my greatest accomplishments (both the birth and the writing of her birth story). 
I opened my eyes and looked at the alarm clock. It was 6:31 am. My body was telling me something. Looking back, I certainly should have recognized what, but instead I rolled out of bed and went to the toilet. As I sat there still half asleep, it suddenly dawned on me what was happening. I was 3 days past due and had just had my membranes striped the morning before. It’s not like this was my first time, I’ve done this before - twice before. I was definitely in labor. I got up and walked into the lavatory area and looked at myself in the mirror. I was beyond ready. My body had already started to sway. It wasn’t a voluntary motion. Just like the waves in the ocean, labor was rolling over me. The natural swaying of my body was just part of the way my body was responding to the surges. When the intensity increased I leaned against the wall and resisted the urge to tense against the process. After about 5 contractions, I decided to start timing them. After timing two, I knew it was time to call my midwife. I woke my husband and told him that it was time to go. I don’t think he believed me at first because we had already been to see the midwife twice in the past few days. I had been anticipating for months that my labor would be super fast, the way it was with the previous birth of my son who was born in triage. I didn’t want to risk it, we needed to leave because I wanted to have the birth I wanted - in the bathtub at the birth center. After a little bit of observation he agreed that it was at least time to call. I got her on the phone and told her my contractions where one minute in length and only two minutes apart. She urged us to leave as soon as possible. While my husband made coffee, I paced the floor. He had decided that he might want to shower but quickly realized there wasn’t time for that. He went to throw on some clothes as I braced myself against the cased opening between our kitchen and living room. My arms were above my head and my body felt like it was dangling as the waves washed over me. We discussed me changing out of my nightgown but decided there was no time for that either. The car was already packed so we just had to get ourselves into it and go. As soon as I stepped outside I felt the greatest peace I have ever felt surround me. Everything about being outside in nature felt so incredibly right in that moment. I paused and just breathed as another wave crashed over me. My husband rushed to my side and helped me to the car. I told him I didn’t want to leave, I just wanted to stay right where I was. Without too much pressure he was able to convince me to get into the front seat of the car with his help. I positioned myself onto the towel that I already had waiting for me “just in case”. He helped me get my seatbelt on and then we headed out of the driveway. I remembered that when I was in labor with my son he had driven close to the speed limit all the way from our small town to the hospital about an hour and a half away. We were no longer living in our small hometown and were only 30 minutes from the birth center. I glanced at the speedometer and was relieved to see that he had realized the urgency this time. When we reached the overpass I let out a deep labor moan. He told me to just slow down and breathe, we would be there in about 20 minutes. I told him I didn’t think I had 20 more minutes. A few more minutes down the road we reached the place to get onto the interstate. Sitting at the red light, I asked him to pull over. He said no, as it had become very obvious that we needed to get there as fast as possible. Up until this moment I had been extremely tensed up sitting in the seat. I needed to move my body. If there was anything I had learned at all with my previous births it was that movement in labor was the key to dealing with the pain and helping baby to get out as easily as possible. As he pulled onto the on ramp, I flung my seatbelt off and changed positions to help with my comfort. I laid my arms over the center console, my left knee was on the seat and my right leg was on floor board. My body pushed…twice. He said, “stop pushing, sit down and put your seatbelt back on.” I put my hands between my legs and said, “her head is already out.” “Out of WHAT?” was the response I got. My body pushed again. Her shoulders were out. I reached down and felt the cord around her neck and I pulled it off. Less than 45 minutes since I woke up and as we passed the airport, my body pushed again and I pulled her up onto onto my chest. My husband shouted out “OH MY GOD YOU JUST HAD THE BABY IN THE CAR!!!” She was a blueish grey color. I covered her with the towel that was somewhat still underneath me. I didn’t hear her breathing. Time stood still, the world around me stopped moving, it was like we were in a tunnel and what I felt was the purest feeling I had ever known. I patted her on her back and heard of few gurgles. I breathed into her mouth and her breathing began to get a little better. All the while I knew her cord was still attached and that she was getting oxygen from me. I never experienced fear, just peace. I don’t remember the rest of the drive or the conversation, if there was any. My husband was extremely calm and continued to drive as fast as he could. At some point we tried to call my midwife but didn’t get her. When we finally got off the interstate we dialed my other midwife who wasn’t on call. She didn’t believe us when we told her that I had already had the baby in the car. But when she realized we were serious she just said, “Well you knew this was going to happen didn’t you?” And she was right, we had this discussion more than once because I was convinced she would be born in the car on the way. When we arrived at the birth center my midwife met me outside with a wheelchair. The photographer was there as well and was on the phone with my other midwife who was telling her that I had already had the baby in the car. They helped me out of the car and into the wheelchair, all the while keeping baby on my chest to take her vital signs. She was perfect. Once we were inside, I was able to get into the tub to birth the placenta. I kept baby in the tub on my chest until I really felt the urge to push. Daddy held her right outside of the tub while I completed delivery. We waited until the placenta was delivered to let daddy cut her cord. After that we all three got into the big comfy bed and laid there soaking each other up. She nursed once before I handed her to daddy for a little boding time while I took a shower. After that we spent more time nursing and a little time napping. My parents and my sister in law, came to meet her at the birth center. My mother in law brought her two older siblings to meet her. And here we are a year later, all of us more in love with each other and with her. I am so thankful that we made the decision to have our little caboose, she is a light in our world that we couldn’t live without.
Happy birthday to your little munchkin!!
