How Could I Forget?

The thing I failed to mention in my last post is probably the most important part of our successful natural birth. I would have never ever been able to handle the contractions without the help of my confident, calm husband. I remember thinking that there is no way in the whole world I could give birth to Chloe without my husband right by my side. He swears he didn't do anything, of course, but he was really a blessing. The Bradley Method is actually known as The Bradley Method: Husband Coached Childbirth. I was nervous about having Paul as my coach given the amount of joking around we did in our classes. When it came down to it, Paul had his books out and was studying each sign of labor. He was by my side reminding me to stay calm and breathe deeply through each contraction. He filled my water bottle and made sure I kept eating. He reminded me to switch positions every half hour to an hour. He was amazing.

Paul actually wanted to go to the hospital much earlier in the day, but I wouldn't budge. I didn't intend to stay at home through transition and really just wanted to go to the hospital when I went into hard labor. I realize that dilating to nine centimeters unsupervised at home isn't the safest thing in the world. Luckily, Paul knew the signs of transition and was able to rush me to the hospital just in time.

As I was going though the labor my heart swelled with more love for Paul than I have ever known. But that changed when I saw him holding our little girl for the first time. My heart grew ten times larger on January 24!