I know it's a little late (I haven't had much time to spare to get online), but I wanted to write down the details about Alex's birth before I forget parts of it.

I'd been having prodromal labor for about 2 days (very early labor) and finally started real contractions at about 6pm on Friday. I got about 3 hours of sleep and woke up at 1 with contractions too intense to sleep through. I sent Marcelo in to lie down with Marc so he wouldn't wake up and call out for me. I went downstairs to work through contractions. At 6:30 I woke Marcelo up and told him to call the in-laws to come pick Marc up. At about 7:15, they picked him up and we went to the birth center. We met the midwife there at about 8:30 and I was already 8 centimeters. Woo-hoo! They listened to the baby's heartrate with the doppler, then put me in the tub. I labored there for awhile, then got out when my back started hurting but got back in pretty quickly. Somehow in the process getting out and getting back in, I ended up completely naked. I've always been a pretty modest person and I'd even brought my swimsuit top with me to wear in the tub, but I guess pain eliminates modesty. I never planned to give birth totally naked! By that time, I just didn't care though, and that's saying a lot for me.

After awhile, I started to feel like pushing. When they checked my dialation, I still had a lip of cervix that needed to dialate or pushing would hurt the baby. It probably took about 45 minutes in reality, but it was possibly the hardest thing to not push when my body was pushing for me. When I was finally allowed to push, that was the part that was most different from my hospital experience last time. In the hospital, they do it like you see in movies - every time you have a contraction they pull your feet back and make you hold your breath and push to the count of 10. At the birth center, they just told me to push when my body told me to push. The difference? 2.5 hours of pushing in the hospital and maybe 20 minutes of pushing at the birth center. At the hospital, I also ended up with an episiotomy (I don't recommend it!). This time, I only had a small tear along my old episiotomy scar, caused by the weakened tissue, and it only required 3 stitches.

The other big difference was that the moment Alex was born I got to hold him, and he was nursing within 5 minutes. When Marc was born, they took him and put him in a warmer and then cleaned him and weighed him for a good 20 minutes before I even got to see him. This was a much better experience!

Most of my husband's family was at the birth center, though I decided at the last minute that I'd rather not have anyone else in the room while I was pushing. After he was born and we'd had a little time to ourselves, Marc came to see his baby brother and then so did the rest of the family. We went home about 4 hours later and got to spend the night in our own bed.

He's an amazing sleeper so far - he wakes up only twice between about 10 and 8:30. I know it'll change, but I'm enjoying it while it lasts! He's also a nursing pro, it's so much easier this time than with Marc. I also find that while last time I was totally chicken to nurse in public (even with a blanket) that this time I could care less. When he's hungry, he's hungry and I just don't have the time or energy to stress that someone might be uncomfortable that I'm feeding my baby in public, especially because he's covered up.

My parents are here now and are enjoying their new grandson. They're also spending a lot of time with Marc which is really helping make him feel special too.