In the days leading up to the labor and delivery, I had been having light contractions and lost several mucus plugs.
The night before the big event, the contractions were longer and harder than before, and there were other signals for upcoming labor. So, I alerted the midwives, doulas and my mom. Then, I tried to go to bed early and get a little sleep in case it was "the night".
Sure enough, I woke us a little after midnight from strong contractions. I tried to go back to sleep, but the contractions would not let me. About an hour later at 1:30 a.m., I tried to wake Ricky up because the contractions weren’t going away, and I knew active labor had now begun.
He was able to get me up out of bed at 2 a.m. We went into the bathroom, got me ready and put me in the wheelchair. Then, Ricky got back in bed. I began timing my contractions: 3-5 minutes apart, 1 minute long. So, I called everyone on my birth team. A half an hour later, Ricky got back up to feed me and give me electrolytes. This time he wouldn’t be going back to bed!
Soon after, both midwives and one doula trickled in. The contractions were picking up fast — in strength and length.
Around 4 o’clock that morning, I had to use the restroom. When Ricky tried to put me back in the wheelchair, my body would not have it, and I screamed. That scream woke Aolani. Transition had hit. I got Ricky to carry me straight to the bed. He laid me on my right side and then went to help the midwives set up the birthing pool while the doula sat beside me.
Aolani tried to stay in the bedroom, but she quickly lost interest and went into the living room. I had a few really hard contractions before feeling the urge to push.
I began yelling for Ricky to lift my leg. He appeared in the bathroom doorway holding a wrench and looking perplexed. Next thing you know, I was pushing Morgan out! After one or two pushes, I looked down, and he had slid out on my bed at 4:26 a.m.
One of the midwives rushed over and scooped him up and gave him to me. Aolani came in when she heard Morgan cry, and she even got to cut the umbilical cord about 10 minutes later. Once Morgan had a good latch and my placenta was delivered, then everything else went like clockwork.
We got to spend a good hour alone with the baby before the midwife examined him. During that time, the midwives cleaned up, and my mom arrived along with my second doula.
Morgan was wonderfully perfect with an Apgar score of 9 and weighing exactly 7 lbs and measuring 19.5 inches long. Morgan arrived on mine and Ricky‘s 13th wedding anniversary -- May 20th, 2020, which was 12 days before the due date, but the exact day for which we had been praying!
We were also blessed with a short labor, as I was only in active labor for three hours! And our other two sons slept through the whole thing! Haha! They woke up to find us with a little baby boy in our arms, as the midwives and doulas had already left. What a wonderful surprise :)
