40 Weeks to the date

Here she is, folks! Kathryn Elise Snyder, born October 2nd, at 4:05 in the morning. 7lbs 4oz, 20 inches long.

After waiting and waiting and waiting I began to feel contractions Tuesday night after dinner. They were very mild, just like menstrual cramps. The next day, they continued at fairly regular intervals (about 20-30 minutes). Some were rather intense, to the point where I had to stop what I was doing. I called my midwife and told her what I'd been feeling, and she said that I was in early labor which could last a few hours or a few days. She then told me to call her back when they were 5 minutes apart. That evening they got to be 15-10 minutes apart, and they were feeling pretty intense. But when I wasn't having them, I felt pretty ok. We had dinner that night, watched a movie, put Ethan to bed and went to sleep. By this point, they were hurting, but still only 10 minutes apart!

At about 1 o'clock (after two or three hours of trying to sleep), I was stirred out of my dozing state by a really painful, long contraction that seemed to last forever. I quickly remembered and used my breathing techniques to get through it. When it was done, I started shaking uncontrollably. "Ok, " I thought. "I don't care if these are still 10 minutes apart, we're going to the hosptial!". I woke up David, told my parents (who were already staying with us), and off we went.

Once we got settled into our room, the nurse checked me for dilatation. She checked for much longer than usual. I said, "Do you need a second opinion?" She replied, "You know, I think I do." Another nurse came in, and then they both confirmed that I was just about fully dilated. WOW. They couldn't believe how calm I was, and that the contractions never got to 5 minutes. I couldn't believe it either. My midwife finally arrived, and she couldn't believe it either. All we had to do was break my water, and then push. And so we did.

It was an amazing experience. One that I anticipated, feared, and eventually surrendered to God. My desire for a natural childbirth was so great that I switched doctors and almost changed our insurance coverage. But in the end, I had to wonder why I desired this so much, and whether or not this is something that was right for me. My first childbirth experience was rather traumatic, and the recovery was long, so I didn't want to repeat that. It sounds weird, but I have to say that I desired this natural childbirth in the same way that I desired my college education at the University of Chicago: I wanted to challenge myself, say that I got through it, and that I accomplished one of the personal goals in my life. I don't have too many personal goals or dreams, but this was definitely one of them. Call me weird...

This is Laura, the midwife who delivered Kate. She is one of two midwives at my doctor's office.