Here's the story of his birth in a nut shell (ok it's a big nut shell):
Paul and I took Savage to the dog park around 4:00pm on Tuesday the 20th (Jack's actual due date). As we were leaving the house I had a contraction different from any Braxton Hicks that I'd had before - this one hurt! On the way to the park we started timing them and they were about 10 minutes apart. Paul kept asking if I was ok to walk around the park and I said yes, that everyone had told me that labor can take hours so we might as well get the dog some exercise. At the park, my contractions were consistently 5 minutes apart and by the time we got home they were getting closer. Paul called the childbirth center at the hospital and they said to come in as soon as the contractions were closer to 2-3 minutes apart. Well, that didn't take long...this was the first indicator that my body moves quickly when it comes to having a baby. Our plan had always been to labor at home as long as possible because home is a comforting place and we didn't want to sit in a hospital room for hours on end or be sent home because of "false labor" or anything silly like that. That plan however, went out the window as soon I experienced the massively painful contractions. As the contractions neared the 2-3 minute pattern they became so close together that I barely had a break in between each one. At 8:10PM Paul packed up the car and we were off to the hospital.
We arrived at Swedish in Ballard at 8:30PM, were shown to a room and nurse Lisa came in to check me. She said I was only 3cm dilated but since I was obviously in a lot of pain I would be given a morphine shot along with some fluids, monitored for an hour and then sent home. Sent home? No thank you, I came in to have a baby! I was very upset after finding out that we would be sent home. However, instead of staying upset I became bound and determined. Indicator #2, my body moves quickly; after an hour of laboring, the nurse returned to see if I had made any progress. Sure enough I had. I had gone from 3cm to 7 cm in an hour! Go me!! The (very shocked) nurse admitted us into the hospital and asked if I was interested in an epidural to manage the pain. Let me tell you, my "plan" before now was that I wanted to feel the contractions and see how long I could go without medication. Well I had felt the contractions and was not trying to be a hero - bring on the epidural! The nurse warned us that an epidural can often slow down the progress of labor and suggested I take advantage of this pain-free time and allow for "unassisted descending" of the baby thru the birth canal (she said at least a few hours, possibly more and then at least a few hours of pushing) and to get some sleep in the meantime for the long labor ahead.
At this point (about 11:00pm) we called our parents to let them know that we had been admitted, but told them to get a good night's sleep because it would still be hours of laboring and pushing. We assured them we'd call back when we were getting ready to push.
After a quick nap with the epidural medicine flowing the nurse came to reposition me in order to make sure the medicine would distribute evenly throughout my body. Minutes after this, Jack's heart rate dropped which caused the nurse to come right back in. She repositioned me once more and his heart rate went right back up. Since she was already in there, she decided to check me again since a dip in heart rate can be an indicator of Jack dropping further into "pushing position". She checked me I had made it to 10cm and she could already feel the head. The doctor was called in and I was asked if I'd like to start pushing. What? I thought I got to sleep for hours! What about all the DVD's, books, games and such that I can painstakingly packed in our labor bag? I couldn't start pushing yet, we hadn't even had time to connect my iPod and listen to my labor playlist! Indicator #3 of my fast moving, determined body: Jack was ready to come out and we had only been at the hospital for 4 hours.
Paul quickly called our parents and told them to hit the road if they wanted to be right outside the room as soon as he was born. (Luckily they made it in the nick of time). I started pushing at 1:00AM and Jack Oliver Edler was born at 1:42AM. (Indicator #4) The doctor'S comment later was "your body was made to have babies!".
I feel so blessed to have had such a positive labor experience. Our little man is absolutely perfect and the love we feel is so much greater than either of us ever thought possible.
