Almost a Walmart Baby

The day I became a mother, I was 20 years old, and living in California.

I had Braxton Hicks contractions constantly and therefore had a hard time knowing what was "real labor." I got sent home from the hospital twice.

 Afraid of getting sent home again, I came very close to having my baby in Wal Mart.

Luckily, after heading to the bathroom twice in Walmart...I realized that maybe this was the real thing.
So we drove 7 minutes to the hospital.  When I finally made it up to the labor and delivery floor, I was fully dilated and ready to push.  (I know it's not fair to all of you who had 60 hour labors)

He was born at 12:01 am on his due date with his water bag in tact.  He decided to break my tailbone on the way out.  For those of you who find it unfair that I basically skipped labor, it may be some consolation that I could not sit down for many months after that.

It's amazing to me,  how almost eleven years later, I remember every little thing about this birth.

I have had four very different birth experiences myself and I am so thankful for four healthy boys!

At the same time I'm burdened by the fact that for so many women I know and love, the day that they give birth is one of the scariest and worst days of their lives. 

How can you and I help?  I'm thinking about that a lot right now and will write about it sometime soon.