The Birth Story: Part 2: The Impending Signs

Thanks to Jenny for letting me know one person still wants to read the rest of my birth story.  I actually wrote down thoughts and events from our birth story right after it happened, so here are some of my thoughts and more details.

In case you missed it (or forgot since it's been so long):
The Birth Story: Part 1: Preparing for Labor

A few days before R was born, I slept fabulously...like the best sleep in a long time during the pregnancy.  I also rested and took several naps in those days leading up to the delivery.  It was as if my body knew what was coming and was starting to prepare.  It probably also helped that I finished the teaching term on Friday and the work in our basement was completed as well, so I could finally relax.  I went for my 39 week appt. on Tuesday and was only dilated to 2 cm and effaced 85%.  This wasn't much change from when I had been check at my 36 week appt. (dilated 1.5 cm, effaced 80%).  I was actually disappointed more progress hadn't been made in 3 weeks because I felt like things were moving along.

So I had 2 great nights of sleep and several naps on Monday and Tuesday, and then I had energy like none other on Wednesday.  DH and I did a photo shoot for a local jam company that day, and I really went to work organizing the laundry room Weds. night.  I went to bed that evening just feeling different.  The baby was moving differently.  Not differently in a scary, bad sort of way, but just different.  Though I couldn't quite put my finger on it, she seemed more active.  I told DH I wasn't sure what would happen the next day....

I woke up at 4:00 am to use the bathroom and saw pink spotting.  This wasn't so alarming because I had had pink spotting periodically for the past 3 weeks.  But it did seem to be a larger amount of pink mucus.  I tried to go back to sleep and woke up at 6:00 am with back pain.  I thought I had overdone it working in the laundry room the night before.  Again, the back pain was not anything unusual because my back had been bothering me most of the pregnancy.  I'd put a heating pad on and it would usually get better.  But this time the back pain seemed to be coming and going and my usual remedies didn't seem to help.  As I continued to lay in bed and rest, I started asking DH what time it was.  Finally, after a few times of doing that, he figured out what I was doing.  I was timing my back pain.  It was coming in approximately 10 minute increments.  Maybe those were contractions?  I wasn't sure.

I decided to get up and get ready for the day.  DH went to work and I emailed our doula at 7:30am to tell her what was going on and to be on alert that day.  She said to go about my daily routine, do what I had planned to do that day (not much since I was done working), and to go for a walk.  I did a few things around the house and then decided to take a bath and see if I could get my back to relax.  I still wasn't sure I was having contractions or in labor at this point.

Well, the bath didn't seem to help.  I was worried because DH was at work, and I couldn't really concentrate or focus enough to try and time my back pain again.  I started to panic a little bit.  I called him around 9:00 am and told him to come home.  I needed him at home with me.  By this point, I think I had finally figured out I was in labor.  I was still feeling it mainly in my back, but sometimes the pain would come around to the front.  We timed contractions and they were coming closer than every 10 minutes, but they still were at unpredictable intervals.  I made him call our doula again around 10:00 am because it was no longer comfortable for me to walk, and I could not relax enough to make the back pain go away.

The doula came over shortly after and tried to help ease my back pain through her comfort measures and relaxation techniques.  I used the exercise ball a lot and also had them both massage my back with a foam roller.  I was also laying on my left side and kneeling at the couch at times as well.  She also made me eat a little bit (peanut butter toast with a banana) as I hadn't eaten anything that day.  She said it was probably going to be a long day because at my last OB appointment 2 days prior, I'd only been dilated to 2 cm and 85% effaced.  The doula guessed I was at a 2 1/2 or 3 at that point.

I increasingly felt myself beginning to focus more on myself and not talk to others through the contractions.  I knew this was the next part of labor, but I remember thinking to myself, "Am I faking this to pretend I'm farther along in the labor process than I really am?"  Funny what thoughts go through your head, huh?  I actually spent time analyzing whether my thoughts were real or fake.  Ha, ha.  I then began to just sense that I needed to go to the hospital.   I can't explain why, but I just had this instinct.  I was actually thinking I needed to go to the hospital 30 minutes prior to when I actually said something though.  I delayed speaking up because I didn't want them to think I was a wimp about pain, and surely labor was going to be hours and hours long, right?

It seemed liked the contractions started coming closer and closer together where I hardly had a break between them, yet they were still at pretty irregular intervals and still in my back.  It finally got to the point where I couldn't imagine sitting in the car for 10 minutes, so we agreed to head to the hospital.  Right before we left for the hospital, I had to use the restroom again.  I passed a big, red mucusy strand thingy (maybe my mucus plug?  Still unsure on that one).  I told the doula and she said it was time to go.

Originally, DH and I had a plan to let friends and family know we were on our way to the hospital, so they could be praying, but everything happened so quickly we didn't have time to do that at home!  I had even planned to update my blog before heading to the hospital, but that just seemed like too much work with DH and the doula there.  I didn't even have the energy or focus to turn on the computer.

Our doula had to run home and get her overnight bag, and DH drove me to the hospital, in what quickly became the most uncomfortable car ride ever.  At one point, I unbuckled my seat belt because I just couldn't get comfortable, and DH thought for sure I was jumping out of the car.  ha, ha.  Uh no...that would only lengthen the amount of time it would take to get to the hospital, dear.

We parked and slowly walked into the hospital.  I had to stop a few times to get through the contractions, and I remember thinking, this is how it is in the movies!  Again, I questioned myself in my head if I was being overly dramatic.  It was 12:05pm when we got to the hospital and checked in.  Actually, DH checked me in while I walked back to a room.  They took me back to a room and started the long, slow process of asking what seemed like a million questions.  I just wanted the nurse to hurry up and check me as I was so extremely uncomfortable.  She noted my stats from the OB appointment 2 days before, that this was my 1st baby, etc.  We also made sure she had a copy of our birth plan at this point, and she was extremely receptive to following it.  (Even though the birth plan was in my file, we came prepared with extra copies:-)

Finally, the nurse could tell I was quite uncomfortable and decided to check me.  I was at a......

Stay tuned for Part 3!  Coming soon, I promise.