Longer, harder, closer together

My second daughter Luthien was born on April 28, 2012 at home. Labor began close to 9:00 am, although I was unsure as to whether it was the real thing or not as the days leading up to it were quite different than with my first child. Knowing, however, that it was possibly the real deal I called my midwife Heidi in order to give her a heads up, it being a Saturday. Heidi promptly cancelled her trip out to St. Albert, and I was to call her in an hour with an update. I then called my sister who was to be at the birth and in-laws and began preparations. By the time I had the bed made, and bathtub filled, I was more than ready to get in. Mitch, my husband., had arrived home and was busy putting together a last minute playlist of relaxing/happy music, while I was scrambling to get myself into the tub. Once in the tub , Mitch left to help my in-laws pack-up our daughter Verona. I had determined to call Heidi once I thought things were really on their way - you know the drill "long, harder, closer together" - but until Mitch returned I was without a phone and the contractions were now too intense for me to exit the tub without assistance. Thankfully it was right when I was despairing of Mitch's return, and lamenting my inability to call Heidi that my sister arrived and called her for me. Heidi was on her way. Now I had nothing else I needed to do but to hold Mitchell's hand while trying to relax as each contraction rolled in.

I was about 2 1/2 hours in and had definitely transitioned when the called was made to Heidi, and the desire to push had begun. My water at this time had yet to break, and I recall pondering how much worse my contractions could become once that happened, as my water breaking had greatly intensified my labor with Verona. I was trying to embrace each contraction as it came, knowing that they are what brings a speedy end to labor...but how do you successfully embrace something that you want to run from? Heidi arrived while I was half way into pushing. I expressed to those around me that I had thought your second labor was supposed to be easier than your first, but that this did not feel like the case to me. The atmosphere was more relaxed and laboring was less stressful than in the hospital, but the pushing, even though I had gravity working with me this time, was definitively the same if not harder. My water did not break until the very end. Low-and-behold, our black haired "little" Luthien entered the world while fast-asleep and weighed in at a robust 9 lbs, 15 oz and 22 inches, at 12:05pm. Verona has weighed 7 lbs 3 oz, which I thought really explained something. Needless to say I felt a great sense of accomplishment, and the rest...as they say...is history.