A little background. This birth story is about our second child. With our first, I was in labor 14 hours at home, then 18 in the hospital. I used hypnobirthing to manage through posterior labor (the reason it was so long). It was a long, albeit quite comfortable, first birthing experience.

Forward now to our most recent birth. As with the first, contractions started around 3 a.m., and just as I did then, I knew this was it. I was also pretty clear from early in this second pregnancy that this time around would go a lot faster, though I never really conceived what that would mean.

At 9 a.m., I phoned Julie, midwife on call, to let her know my contractions had settled to eight to 12 minutes apart, and she could hear that I was still able to talk through them. I managed them nicely all through Christmas morning, which was great for being able to spend the time with our 2-year-old.

Around noon I noticed that the contractions started coming about six minutes apart and the intensity of them was growing. I mentioned to my husband that I would need to head upstairs soon in order to reach a greater state of relaxation. I finished up a few things and headed up just before 1 p.m. (I should mention that my husband asked whether we should call the nanny to come. We decided yes, and when he asked whether 4 p.m. was fine, I mentioned, no, probably sooner.)

I lay down on our bed and hit play on my hypnobirthing CD to settle further into the relaxed state I'd trained my mind and body to induce over the past few months. No sooner had I done so, I felt a small "gush" and called out to my husband. He came up and asked what I needed. "A towel, please, I think my waters just broke." He obliged, and I headed into our upstairs bathroom to put on a pad to capture any leakage.

Again, the intensity of the contractions increased, so I phoned Julie to let her know that I thought my waters had broken and that I would like to get to the hospital, as I was finding it difficult to relax at home (too many distractions). (The nanny arrived about this time to look after our daughter.) Julie said she would make her way in and suggested I head to the hospital when ready.

Suffice to say that the hospital was my husband's idea. All my mind and body wanted to do was relax and enjoy the mix of endorphins and oxytocin! (Looking back, I liken the sensation to that of a couple of valium perhaps, though I've never taken valium myself.)

I asked my husband to start providing the light touch massage to support labor management, which he did. As a contraction subsided, he suggested I get dressed while he finished packing the car. I did so, and then he provided more light touch massage and suggested next that we head to the car. "OK," I replied.

I managed another contraction standing outside the car, then got in, and we headed to the hospital. On the way, I started feeling strongly the need to push (good thing the hospital was only a few minutes away!). As my mind and body continued to pull me toward the comfort of relaxation, I noticed someone doing half the speed limit in front of us, glanced at the double line in the road and instructed my husband to "go around" (thinking also at the time that if a cop noticed, they'd just have to follow us to the hospital!). As we turned into the street leading to the hospital, another "lost soul" was making a three-point turn in the next intersection, then turned in front of us, crawling along looking for where they needed to go. Luckily, it was eventually opposite the way we needed to go. Thank goodness!

My husband asked, "Where is the Emergency Room entrance?!" "There!" I pointed. "How do I get in there?!" he exclaimed. "Turn into the circular drive!" I explained.

As the gentlemen with the wheelchair came out to obtain me, I asked him to wait while I breathed through another need to push. Once I got in the chair, he rolled me into the ER and asked who wanted me, to which a triage nurse said, "I'll take her." She rolled me up to one side of her desk and proceeded to sit and ask me, "What's your last name?" "How do you spell it?" "Your first name?" "Spelling?" "Is this your first or second child?" I replied, "Second, and I've got to push!" The questioning stopped, and ER nurses came out of the woodwork!

I was rolled to a gurney, stripped off my shoes, sweat pants and panties and was helped onto the gurney, to which I will add that lying flat on my back did help the contractions and need to push subside slightly.

An ER doctor checked me and explained to the nurses that they had two to three minutes to get me upstairs to the birthing suite. All I had to do now was breathe. I had no intention of birthing a baby on my back on a gurney, and I told them so!

Meanwhile, my husband had brought several bags with us, which an ER nurse assisted in carrying up to the birthing suite. She asked, "Why so much stuff?!" My husband explained to her that we'd spent an entire night in the hospital for our first experience. "Ah!" she acknowledged.

I remember being taken up in an elevator and someone commenting on how well I was managing as well as kudos from my husband as to how well I was doing.

When we entered the birthing suite, one of the nurses said, "She's in pain," to which I replied, "I'm not in pain; I just need to push! And please don't mention that word again!" My husband then started in to support my wishes of "no drugs!" "There's no time for drugs!" a nurse replied.

I looked at the birthing tub and asked could I get in the bath. "No time for the bath!" a nurse replied. I was then asked whether I could get from the gurney to the bed. "In a minute," I replied, proceeding to breathe through another need to push. "Wait!" said a nurse and everyone stopped until I was ready to go.

I flipped off the gurney onto all fours on the bed in a semi-squat. My husband offered the birthing stool, but I declined, feeling the squat quite appropriate. I was just so glad to be able to push finally, which I did, twice, then heard, "The head is out."

My immediate thought was "Really?! I don't have to push anymore?! Wow!" Well, I was asked for another small push to get the baby all the way out, and when my husband saw, he shouted, "It's another girl!" To which I replied, "NO WAY!" (I had been so sure this one was a boy, though we never officially learned the sex.) "Samantha Louise," my husband suggested. "OK!" I agreed.

By the time Julie arrived, I was sitting nursing Samantha, and all the nurses had gone back to the ER. She mentioned that the ER made it a priority to never birth babies there, to always get moms up to the birthing suites. We made it. Barely!

Looking at it now, the biggest differences were in my preparation for this birth. In my hypnobirthing class I learned about how my posture affected placement of the baby and was provided the name of a Web site, spinningbabies.com. I'd always been advised that my uterus tipped to the right, and I think that had a lot to do with the long posterior labor I experienced with our first daughter. Spinningbabies.com provided sitting and sleeping positions that I truly believe helped keep this baby in an optimal position.

The other thing I did this time was keep moving around during early stages of labor at home. First time around, I went straight to full relaxation in bed, which probably, though very comfortable, prolonged the entire labor experience the first time around. Moving around this time seemed to engage my cervix better and help progress early labor. I also had a better understanding of pushing from the top of my uterus rather than into my perineum, which made my efforts all the more effective. All these in combination added to a more swift birth experience this second time around.