Photo of the Moorish arches in the Synagogue of Santa María La Blanca in Toledo, Spain.

My wife April and I are American, and our daughter Alleke was born in Spain. We often get asked questions about April’s pregnancy, the hospital where April was born, whether it is possible to have a natural birth in Spain, and in general what April’s experience was like giving birth in Spain.

So, I asked April if she would be willing to tell her birth story here on kellycrull.com, which you’ll find below. Also, if you are interested in knowing more about having a baby in Spain, visit my newest blog called Spain Dad, a baby blog.

On October 2, we had our regular prenatal classes that evening. After doing our normal stretches and meditation, Carmen, the midwife told me and the other woman who was at 38 weeks that it was time to practice pushing. Knowing that our baby girl was due in two days, I figured it was a good idea. After class, we talked with Carmen rehearsing all the things we needed to do if I went into labour. She mentioned to Kelly that she was going to be on-duty in the hospital on Tuesday night and Thursday morning, so if we wanted her to be there, try to plan accordingly.

For the past few nights, we had been taking long walks, which was our habit during the pregnancy. That night we decided to take an extra long walk, knowing that it could help induce labor. We left the classes and walked about 15 minutes to a bookstore to get a baby book for Alleke. Then we walked out from Plaza Fadrell to the edge of town, past the concert hall, nearly to the basilica, and then back again, down the tree-lined boulevard. Once we got home, we had been walking for nearly two hours. Since it was a little past midnight, we decided to go to bed.

Around 2 am or so, I woke up with a lot of pain in my hip sockets. I kept shifting around, trying to fall back asleep, or trying to stretch what felt like really tight muscles. I slept off and on, getting up to go to the bathroom, or just feeling like I was in pain. For awhile I laid there trying to time how far apart the pain was. Now and again the last few weeks I had restless nights thinking I was in labour when I obviously hadn’t been, so I thought this might be the same. About 7 am I finally woke up Kelly (whether intentionally or from being so restless I don’t know) and explained what had been going on. He asked if I was in labour, and I honestly couldn’t tell him, but said we probably should be ready, because I was consistently having pain in my hips.

After eating some breakfast, I made some heating packs out of old socks and rice and popped them in the microwave. When I laid these on my hips, it helped the pain go away and I could sleep more. I took a nap and Kelly worked in the office for the morning. We had decided a few days before that before the baby was born, we really wanted to go to one of our favorite restaurants for a last menú del día. When I woke up from my nap, the pain in my hips had subsided some, so I decided we should go to the restaurant. We headed out and walked past the four or five restaurants in our neighborhood that we liked. Either we didn’t like what was on the menu or the restaurant was full, so after getting really frustrated, we eventually returned home. We sat at home for a little while trying to decide what to do and I finally said “I can’t just stay here and concentrate on how I’m feeling. It’ll be better if we just go.” So around 4 we headed out again and went to the closest restaurant which had space at that point because it was later.

Once the food came, including a heavy paella, I realized that this probably was not such a good idea. I was still getting the pain in my hips off and on, and when it was strong, there was nothing I could do but shift in my chair and grit my teeth. Getting to the comfort of my own home seemed like a much better idea. Besides, I wasn’t much of a conversation partner.

On our way home, even though we were only a block away, I had to stop and push against a light pole during a contractions (which I had finally started to label the stretching pain in my hips). While we were stopped, Kim called to talk to Kelly, and he told her the baby would probably be coming any day, but didn’t say that I was actually in labor. We got home around 5.30. I finished packing what I could of our hospital bag and changed into my pajamas. I went to sit on the couch, with my heating pads, and read Chronicles of Narnia for awhile. The whole day Kelly kept asking me what I wanted him to do and finally I said that I just wanted him near me, even though I didn’t need any help yet. So he sat on the other couch working on a web design. While I was reading, stretching, breathing, imagining my cervix opening, etc. I tried to time the contractions. They weren’t coming consistently, but did seem to be about every 7 to 10 minutes. I eventually decided to try to take another nap with the rice socks helping for the pain.

I woke up a little before 7. I was still groggy, but I remember Kelly saying something about a plug-in he had found for the new website he was working on. That’s when I screamed, heard a loud pop, stood up, and ran to the bathroom. Kelly followed yelling, “What happened, what happened.” I sat on the toilet saying, “I don’t know, I don’t know, I think my water broke.” It wasn’t as much water as I was expecting, though, and I felt like my entire insides were emptying out and the pain had jumped off the scale.

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