It all started on Friday morning when I had an OB appt. I got checked and found out I was 4cm dilated. I asked the Dr if I could get my membranes stripped since I had already progressed this much on my own and she agreed. I had never gotten a membrane stripping and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be, just uncomfortable. I left the dr’s office really confident that something would happen that night or that weekend for sure. That afternoon I had a lot of cramping and started to have my bloody show that evening. On Saturday, I still had some mild cramping that came and went and I was still having my bloody show. Everytime I went to the restroom there was blood on the tp and in the toilet. I knew that something was definitely happening. Well, that night nothing happened. On Sunday morning I was feeling just fine and still had the bloody show. We decided to go to a beach carnival that was two hrs away since I didn’t think anything would happen that day. We had breakfast and got all packed and ready to go. On the way over there I started to be uncomfortable and had some cramps and lots of backache. My mom and DH joked that I would probably go into labor while we were at the beach carnival. I joked back that Dh would have to deliver me in the car in the middle of all the traffic(there was so much traffic on the way over there). We got to the beach and I noticed that I was walking kinda funny and it was uncomfortable as well. We got in the water and had a really good time, but I noticed that my crampiness and backache was increasing. We decided to get something to eat and that’s when I knew that I was in labor. I was getting increasingly uncomfortable and the “cramps” were coming more often, but not in a consistent regular pattern. I told my mom and my DH that we had to hurry up and eat so we could leave because I didn’t want to have our baby on the road back home. Once back on the road I started timimg the contractions. They were coming every 13-21 minutes at first, then 10-13 minutes(this was around 8pm). We finally got home and I had a hard time getting out of the car and walking inside the house. I got in the shower and felt a lot better afterwards. I didn’t feel anything anymore so I was beginning to think that it was all just a false alarm. Dh and I went to bed and I just couldn’t get comfy, the contractions had come back and I asked DH to time them for me. At 10pm they were consistently 10 minutes apart. I tried to get some sleep again, but couldn’t. DH was snoring away, while I was timing again. At 11pm they were 5-6 minutes apart. I decided at that moment that I would call L&D to see if they thought I should wait or just go in. The L&D nurse said that I should just go ahead and go in since I had already had 2 babies before and that this baby could come really quick. I woke up Dh and he didn’t think I has serious and said we should wait until morning to go. I got furious and told him that I would just go alone. He finally got up , I woke up my mom and got DS in the car and we left. We got to L&D a little after midnight on Cinco de Mayo. The nurse came in to check me and said that I was 5cm dilated and 75% effaced. I got hooked up to the monitors and by then my contractions were pretty uncomfortable. I immediately got moved to the room I would be delivering in and into a gown. I got some blood drawn and got my IV put in. At 2:30am the contractions were quite painful. I got checked again and was 7cm dilated and got my epidural. At 3:30am I was 8cm dilated and the ob decided to break my water. Less than an hr later the nurses and the ob came back in and said that they thought I was probably already complete so I got checked and sure enough I was. They prepared everything so that I could start pushing. I pushed for 11 minutes and at 4:25am Ricardo Antonio was born. He was 7lbs 0.5 oz, 19 ¼ in long. That’s our story, sorry if it was so long..

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Girl you are so lucky you made it back to your house. The traffic in Japan can be horrible!!! I remember sitting and sitting in traffic for hours while we where there:-) Glad you got to the hospital and had a picture perfect birth!! That is so awesome you only pushed for 11 mins. When DD was born she was also born at 4:34 am and I had to push for over an hr!!! Glad your precious baby boy is here and TFS your story!!!

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Wow, you are brave to go 2 hours away that close to delivery!
I'm glad to hear how well things went. I love the part about you telling DH you would go by yourself - those men! Sounds like you did great! Ricardo is so sweet!

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Ohh he is beautiful, congrats!!!

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Sounds like a perfect birth. I hope I only have to push for that long!

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Congratz!!!! What a crazy storey!!!

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Amanda, James & Sweet Mackenzie

7/17 -3rd Laparoscopic Surgery for Endometriosis
8/07 femara & ovidrel First Cy..... 8/24/07
(After trying for 6 years on and off)