The labor

We found ourselves down at Fisherman's Wharf around 11am. We got a call from our doula as we walked through the Aquatic Park and she gave us a great pep-talk. After that, we stopped at the Hyde Street Pier, somewhere neither of us had been before. As we walked up the pier K said that she was feeling rather damp. A quick dash into the bathroom confirmed not very much. Sometimes when water breaks it happens high up on the bag of water, so the fluid escapes very slowly. Only one thing to do in that case, which is wait.

After seeing the sea lions at Pier 39 we had lunch, a tourist-tastic bread bowl filled with clam chowder. It was now that K was able to confirm that her water had broken and was leaking gradually. We dashed home to wait for contractions to begin. Helped along by the laughter from a Peter Sellers Pink Panther movie, the did just that at around 5pm. Initially they were just 25 minutes apart, but with two at 9 minutes followed by some at 4 minutes we started to move into golden period: waiting for one hour of strong contractions at least 5 minutes apart. Pretty soon though they were at 2-3 minutes apart and were very strong.

I called our doula who was enroute and told her we were thinking of going to the hospital and she should meet us there, but by then she was just a couple of minutes away. Once she arrived she helped K through another few contractions, all very intense, and then we decided to go to the hospital. I was starting to worry that we'd waited too long - this was all going very, very fast.

We left the house at 7:58, with contractions coming so fast that we couldn't get out to the car without another contraction coming. The key was to drive smoothly and safely without going slowly. The grab handle proved to be K's best friend all the way, as she experienced about another 7 contractions in the car.

I dropped K and our doula off at 8:14 and parked in the adjacent lot. When I got back into the OB triage K was starting to get on a monitor. The nurse was rather brusque and too slow for my taste. She was also annoyed that we hadn't called ahead (like we had time....) When she finally got around to checking dilation she discovered it was an amazing 9cm!!! WAAAAHHHH! The nurses kicked into action, calling ahead to find out what delivery room was closest to the elevators. It was clear that we were now very short of time. Mere moments after K's gurney was rolled into the delivery room, our OB Dr. U showed up. In addition to being on call, she was also on-site and we were delighted that she'd be the one to do the delivery. Dr. U was also really excited. K was now starting to get the urge to push which we'd learned that you have to try to not do. However Dr. U surprisingly said that it was okay. Once on the bed, the staff scrambled to get the room prepped and as soon as they were ready they said that it was time. K had hoped to deliver in a squat position but there was no time to get squat bars. She certainly didn't want to be on her back, so she got on her hands and knees to take the pressure off her spine. Turns out that this would be how she stayed. Finally the pushing began, but since the monitors weren't working properly, Dr. U told K that she had to keep going - we didn't know what the baby's heartbeat was doing. We reached a point where normally a woman could stop pushing for a mo, but not this time. With our doula's support, K kept going, and for the first time I left her side to see what was going on. I could see the head! I quickly moved back to K and told her we were close and that she should dig deep. Summoning all her courage and effort, she made one huge push. I stepped around and watched as the baby's head emerged in entirety. One last push and out came the baby's body. "It's a girl" exclaimed Dr. U. The doc suctioned out some fluid whilst K got off her hands and knees. I got to cut the cord and then little Poppy was free to meet her Mum.

It was 8:53pm.