To be honest, giving birth in a hospital made me a little nervous. I didn't know how much control I would have over the whole birthing process. I decided to hire a doula and, in doing so, I relieve much of my anxiety about the hospital birth. Hiring a doula also took some pressure off of Nate. He wouldn't have to serve as my sole supporter throughout the birth.
Lila was due on September 23. I was scheduled to work right up to my due date, but I had really hoped Lila would come early (or at least on time). Nate's dad planned to be in town the weekend Lila was due so he could stay with Benny if she came on time. The 23rd came and went, so did the 24th, 25th, and 26th. And it's not as if I wasn't trying. I walked and walked and walked. Nate and I had a due date date night and I purposefully ate really spicy food. We tried to "sex" the baby out. Nothing worked.
Nate's dad was scheduled to return to Iowa on September 27th. On the evening of the 26th, I went to bed figuring I had a few more days. Lila clearly wasn't in a hurry to come out. And then, at 1:30 a.m., I woke up with contractions. I wasn't convinced that it was time, so I got up and started reading a book. The contractions were short and far apart. By 3 a.m., however, they were increasing in duration. I woke Nate up and called my doula. She suggested that I lay down and rest. About 30 minutes later I called her back and told her that things were not slowing down. Rather, they were speeding up considerably.
We were off to the hospital to have ourselves a baby!
To be continued...
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