Brooklyn's Birth Story - 7lbs, 14oz, 21 inches

Saturday night was the only night I wasn't hopeful of going into labor. I felt nervous about it because of the rain and everyone that would be rushing to the hospital in those bad driving conditions. So sure enough, I woke up at 130am after only an hour of sleep with what I thought might be contractions. I decided pick up a little around the house a little, just in case. They started to get stronger so I took a bath and brushed my teeth - mainly to distract myself in case it wasnt the real deal after all.

At about 2am I started timing my contractions - they were about 3 1/2 minutes apart consistently but they were only 30 seconds long. I could talk through them and walk through them so I still wasn't convinced that it was anything more than early labor - if that.

But by 230am I called my mom to tell her what was going on. She told me to call the L&D and tell them and call her back. The L&D nurses told me to come on in and get checked out. I woke up Kalina and David and called my mom to tell her to head down here.

Kalina was so excited - in her half-asleep state she said, "I'm so excited! I thought this day would NEVER come!" David was very calm and collected as he grabbed the carseat, the bag and tried to calm Kalina for my sake. It took a quick 5 or so minutes and 2 contractions to get to the hospital.

By the time I got into the exam room, around 3am, the contractions were quite strong and it seemed they were coming more quickly. The pressure was intense and all I could do was focus and breathe through each contraction. After a couple contractions they started to double up on each other so the nurse finally did an internal exam. She determined that I was at least 8 cm dilated and would be moved over to the delivery room. I started to cry because I realized at that very moment what was *really* going on. I was going to have to get this baby out - come hell or high water. And trust me - it was going to feel more like the fires of hell than anything soothing like water. I cried "David - I can't do it. I can't do this. F*#$."

I whined like a little baby and then they moved me over to the other room.

My mom arrived, as did my cousin Vanessa to take Kalina out of the room. My mom and David stayed with me and helped talk me through the rest of the delivery. My mom reminded me to slow my breathing with each contraction and when I screamed she reminded me to focus the energy into pushing. David kept telling me I could do it - as I screamed, "ooooh noooo - I cant do this!!!" He reminded me that if I could put up with him - I could do ANYTHING. ;)

5 pushes later my sweet baby girl was born. Just like that.

No epi and no episiotomy, just a few curse words, awesome labor coaches and a lot of ... I dont know ... good luck? - It was just like I hoped for but wasn't sure could happen. It was amazing. I still hurt when I think about it.

She was born at 430am, a mere 3 hours after I went into labor. And worth every second of it. I couldnt be happier right now. I have been blessed with one of the greatest blessings in life - family.