Ansel Paul Antonides was born on Saturday, January 10th at 6:27am. The day before, I had my weekly check-up with Dr. Dwight at Good Sam, and when he checked my cervix I had only dilated about 1/2 cm, so no real progression. I remember Dr. Dwight saying that I probably would go into labor around my due date which was January 20th. That afternoon, my husband and I went for a nice long walk enjoying the beautiful day, and then that night he cooked me a wonderful dinner. Mark is a singer-songwriter, and after dinner I asked him to play his guitar and sing some of his songs. A beautiful evening spent together, and I remember Ansel dancing around in my tummy as Mark sang to us.
Around 8pm, I went to the restroom and once I got up I felt water trickling down my leg. I sat on the toilet and more water came streaming out, so my water broke. I was stunned by it, because I had prepared myself in believing that I still had over a week!! I told Mark and called the doc. I also called Fina Arnold, who worked with Amy Blain in her childbirth classes (A Heart For Family) that Mark and I took. She gave me some great guidance and encouragement as I was still in a kind of shock, and helped bring me back to the labor ahead of me. She would stay in touch through the whole evening checking on me and giving support which was incredibly helpful.
By 1am, my contractions were getting intense and strong, so we decided to start heading to the hospital. Checked in at 2am and I was 4 cm dilated. My contractions were quickly getting stronger and stronger, and I truly had to focus and withdraw inwards to open myself and release all tension with each contraction. I remember having to just take each one at a time, and I focused in my mind the thought that I welcomed the contractions like a friend who was helping me give birth to my son. Visualizing my son's healthy birth and accepting the contractions as working to help that birth come true gave me strength to get through each one. By 5am, I was 8 cm dilated and Dr. Dwight was called in. Once he arrived, I began to push and that was an incredible experience. I struggled at first with the pushing, my body wasn't completely letting go, and I remember Dr. Dwight telling me repeatedly to "get angry" and give it my all. Once it clicked in me to use all my force, use every bit of my being to push that I finally was getting somewhere. And about 30 min. later Ansel was born! I was elated, because I did it naturally without any drugs, and the labor progressed so steadily and quickly. Dr. Dwight was wonderful. He was a great doctor throughout the whole pregnancy and always respectful of my birth plan. I had also had some amazing nurses at Good Sam, Jenni, Hwanhee and Ghina, during my recovery who were all so caring and generous in their help.
I have to also champion the wonderful instruction Mark and I received from Amy Blain's childbirth classes (http://aheartforfamily.com/), and the support of Fina who called throughout my labor, checking in on me and giving me encouragement to follow my birth plan. Their help has continued after the birth, as I had to deal with some breast feeding challenges and being a first time mom. Their generous help and kindness has made my transition from pregnancy to motherhood so much easier knowing there are people to turn to, and I will never forget them. Fina will be leading her own childbirth classes with A Heart for Family, and she will be a wonderful instructor. Thank you to all the "Angels" that came to help Ansel's birth. We could not have done this alone.
Love, Emily, Mark and Ansel
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