Disclaimer: This post is super long. I am writing it all out so that I can remember all of the precious details of Emmett's birth, so just get ready for an in-depth story!
Emmett's journey into the world was not what I expected. Isn't that what you hear from every mom? When does it ever go exactly as anticipated? When does anything?
I'm so glad he came into the world his way...even if labor took 3 times longer than I thought it would. Even though I had to resort to taking medications that I was trying so hard not to take. Even though the pain was indescribable (and immediately forgettable).
December 8th came and went, and my hope that he would come on his due date proved false. Every day that week was agonizing, emotionally more than physically (although I was the size of a whale and every little thing took a ton of effort). I wanted him to be out so badly! I wanted to meet him, I wanted to be done being pregnant, I wanted to avoid being induced, I wanted his birthday not too close to Christmas. But that's a lot about me, and I figured out quickly that Emmett's entrance was, and should be, all about him.
My family made dollar bets about what day Emmett would show up. One by one, each day we had bet on passed by. The latest day that was predicted was by Jim, and was December 13. As that day came to a close, Alex and I felt so discouraged. Almost a week late and still no baby. Around 11pm we got in bed and prayed. It had been a while since we've prayed out loud together and I was feeling so down, I let Alex take the reins. He prayed that Emmett would be born soon. On God's timing, but soon. He prayed that I wouldn't have to be induced. He prayed that we would be healthy and safe. He prayed that we could meet our little one.
We started to fall asleep. After a couple minutes, at 11:30, I woke up with some cramp-like pains. I didn't admit to myself at first that they were contractions, I didn't want to get my hopes up. Alex started timing the pains, and after about an hour and a half they were 5 minutes apart and lasting for a minute. We woke up my mom, who's room is 15 feet away. (My dad was up in NorCal, but he got a call later on). I was moved downstairs to labor, and most of the next couple hours are a blur because I was so exhausted! We got zero sleep that night. Around 2:30, we let my doula, Betsy, know that labor had been consistent and contractions were getting stronger. She came over to observe and support. She told me to let myself melt into the pain. When a contraction would hit, I would breathe in and out very slowly and moan gently. I let every muscle in my body relax so much that I felt like I was just melting away. This technique helped me so much, and I continued to do it once we got to the hospital.
