Around 11:45am I called our midwife, and she came over to check and see if I was making any progress. She said I was 3 cm dilated, but that didn't necessarily mean I was in labor, especially since I was in no pain. She said to call her if things progressed. We went about our day, and around 1:45pm we hopped in the car and headed to the airport to pick up my mom. We arrived around 2:30pm, and as we were walking through the airport, it was REALLY uncomfortable for me to walk. I wasn't really having painful contractions, still mild cramping, but baby seemed to be right on my pubic bone. As we waited for my mom, I started to have some more intense cramping, but nothing too noteworthy. We got my mom, and headed to the grocery store, and by the time we left the grocery store (around 4:30pm) I was having some more serious cramping, but nothing that made me stop what I was doing.
We got home and I called our midwife at 5, and she came over and checked me again, and I was at 5cm. Still not really in too much pain, but I wanted to go to the hospital ASAP to avoid the frantic rush of the car ride! We got to the hospital at 6:15, and I felt a bit silly and wondering what to do! At this point contractions were about 3 minutes apart, and were definitely manageable. I decided I wanted to start filling the tub so I could labor in there, and while we waited my midwife checked my blood pressure, checked baby's stats, and all that good stuff.
Around 6:45 or 7pm I hopped in the tub, as my contractions were really starting to pick up. They were pretty much 2 minutes apart, and took a lot of focus to get through them. I started using the nitrous oxide, which really didn't seem to take the pain away, but really helped give me something to focus on (breathing in and out) rather than focus on the pain. Around 8:00pm I felt like I needed to get out of the bath, and literally once my body was out of the bath and gravity was back in play, I felt so much worse, and like I needed to push. I got over to the hospital bed, in lots of pain and wishing I'd gotten an epidural, and Sandy (my midwife) gave me the option of laying on an incline on my back to push, or kneeling. I chose to kneel, as it felt most natural at the moment, and just a few pushes later, baby Jack was born!! It was amazing knowing I was able to do it without an epidural, and he came out soooo fast. And, even better? No tears, no stitches! With Riley I pushed for HOURS, with Jack, he was out in minutes!