Let me begin this harrowing (yet miraculous) tale on Saturday January 19th. I was 41 weeks that day and so ready to be unpregnant. My feet were so swollen I couldn't fit into anything comfortably except my slippers, so my slippers were worn very often and to many places (like the grocery store). I stopped caring what other people thought : ) Sleeping was uncomfortable and so was moving in general. I felt weighed down by my huge stomach, massive feet, and incredibly fast growing hair. I had been having some contractions but never anything very painful or consistent so I knew it wasn't quite time yet and I was trying to take it in stride that my guess for his arrival was fast approaching. In the weeks coming up to Jan 21st, I repeatedly said, "Leo is more then welcome to arrive before the 21st but I will be VERY upset if he takes longer then that." With the 21st being in my mind since the beginning I felt that I could "make it" until then but not later. While talking to my sister Carol on Facebook that Saturday, she mentioned that my nephew Tiernan thought Leo would come on Sunday. I replied "that would be okay with me but what I would really like is to go into labor on Sunday and have Leo at 12:01 am. Carol confusedly asked... "Why not Sunday?" My response... "because then I will be right...duh!" LOL Carol quickly understood, but I couldn't help some good natured ribbing about how she should know me well enough to know I would want Leo to be born on the date I guessed so I could be right, ESPECIALLY with it being that close to my day.
Well Sunday came and around 8:00 that night I started having slightly stronger contractions (still not very painful) and they seemed to be more regular (around 15 minutes apart). I didn't get my hopes up though...no sense in driving myself crazy all night.
During the night I woke up a few times and thought that my contractions were slightly stronger but since they weren't painful enough to keep me awake I just went back to sleep. At 5:30 am, on Monday Jan. 21st, I woke up to use the bathroom and had a couple of stronger contractions as I was getting water. At this point I couldn't have gone back to sleep, what with all the 41 weeks of pregnancy uncomfort, so I made some breakfast and tried to keep track of how often my contractions were coming. It was hard to time them myself but I could tell they were fairly consistent and not very far apart. I soon felt a small gush of liquid and wondered if it was my water leaking. Since it was either my water leaking or pee (since that happens when you're pregnant) I put on a pad to see if I soaked it within an hour. After about a half an hour I had a little bit more fluid but not very much and my contractions were getting stronger. I decided to wake Evan up to see if he thought I should call the midwives and to have him help me time my contractions. Evan helped me time a couple of contractions and then I called the midwives to see what they would say. They said to watch the pad and wait a few hours as my contractions were not close enough or regular enough to go in yet (which I expected). Evan decided to go back to sleep for a little bit so that he would be ready for whatever the day brought. I surfed the web for birth and labor information and after about an hour I could tell my contractions were much closer together and stronger so I woke Evan up again and he helped me time my contractions. At around this time I also called my mom (who was staying at Emily's house) to start getting ready as I was pretty sure it was time. Evan helped me time my contractions between 7:30 and 8:30am. They were coming very regularly (about every 3-4 mins) but were only about 50 secs long or shorter. Now the standards for when to go to the hospital generally follow the 4-1-1 or 5-1-1 rule. Mins apart, mins long for an hour. So I wasn't sure what to do, being that the contractions were close enough together but not quite long enough and honestly didn't feel strong enough to me to be "active labor", not that I knew what labor felt like officially...
My mom arrived at our apartment at about 8:30 am and started helping Evan time contractions and get things together for the hospital. Between contractions I was yelling out items I had decided we might need and sometimes trying to go get them myself. By the time my contractions were a minute long they were coming every 3-4 mins and we had decided to go ahead to the hospital. Now because I wanted a natural birth I was trying to labor at home as long as possible but I didn't want my mom or Evan to actually deliver the baby so we loaded up the four or five bags we had managed to accumulate and got in the car. My contractions were painful enough to have to concentrate on them fully (not talk, breath, and relax my body) and sitting in the car was not very enjoyable. Leaving at 9:30 am on a Monday morning put us right in rush hour traffic too... FUN! I called the midwife on call to let them know I was on my way in and of course I was put on hold and had to hand off the phone as soon as the midwife came on as another contraction was starting. My mom filled her in on the basics and I talked with her once my contraction was over. Evan dropped us off at the ER so I didn't have to walk (as it is a really long walk through 3 bldgs) and went to park the car. Once he rejoined us I let the orderly take us up to labor and delivery. It was apparently a popular day to be giving birth because all of the delivery rooms were full so they moved us into a triage room. In the triage room, I discovered that I was having regular contractions but that I was only 2 cm dilated. I was disappointed but luckily they decided to keep me there due to my contractions already being so close together.
Stay tuned for Part II...
During the night I woke up a few times and thought that my contractions were slightly stronger but since they weren't painful enough to keep me awake I just went back to sleep. At 5:30 am, on Monday Jan. 21st, I woke up to use the bathroom and had a couple of stronger contractions as I was getting water. At this point I couldn't have gone back to sleep, what with all the 41 weeks of pregnancy uncomfort, so I made some breakfast and tried to keep track of how often my contractions were coming. It was hard to time them myself but I could tell they were fairly consistent and not very far apart. I soon felt a small gush of liquid and wondered if it was my water leaking. Since it was either my water leaking or pee (since that happens when you're pregnant) I put on a pad to see if I soaked it within an hour. After about a half an hour I had a little bit more fluid but not very much and my contractions were getting stronger. I decided to wake Evan up to see if he thought I should call the midwives and to have him help me time my contractions. Evan helped me time a couple of contractions and then I called the midwives to see what they would say. They said to watch the pad and wait a few hours as my contractions were not close enough or regular enough to go in yet (which I expected). Evan decided to go back to sleep for a little bit so that he would be ready for whatever the day brought. I surfed the web for birth and labor information and after about an hour I could tell my contractions were much closer together and stronger so I woke Evan up again and he helped me time my contractions. At around this time I also called my mom (who was staying at Emily's house) to start getting ready as I was pretty sure it was time. Evan helped me time my contractions between 7:30 and 8:30am. They were coming very regularly (about every 3-4 mins) but were only about 50 secs long or shorter. Now the standards for when to go to the hospital generally follow the 4-1-1 or 5-1-1 rule. Mins apart, mins long for an hour. So I wasn't sure what to do, being that the contractions were close enough together but not quite long enough and honestly didn't feel strong enough to me to be "active labor", not that I knew what labor felt like officially...
My mom arrived at our apartment at about 8:30 am and started helping Evan time contractions and get things together for the hospital. Between contractions I was yelling out items I had decided we might need and sometimes trying to go get them myself. By the time my contractions were a minute long they were coming every 3-4 mins and we had decided to go ahead to the hospital. Now because I wanted a natural birth I was trying to labor at home as long as possible but I didn't want my mom or Evan to actually deliver the baby so we loaded up the four or five bags we had managed to accumulate and got in the car. My contractions were painful enough to have to concentrate on them fully (not talk, breath, and relax my body) and sitting in the car was not very enjoyable. Leaving at 9:30 am on a Monday morning put us right in rush hour traffic too... FUN! I called the midwife on call to let them know I was on my way in and of course I was put on hold and had to hand off the phone as soon as the midwife came on as another contraction was starting. My mom filled her in on the basics and I talked with her once my contraction was over. Evan dropped us off at the ER so I didn't have to walk (as it is a really long walk through 3 bldgs) and went to park the car. Once he rejoined us I let the orderly take us up to labor and delivery. It was apparently a popular day to be giving birth because all of the delivery rooms were full so they moved us into a triage room. In the triage room, I discovered that I was having regular contractions but that I was only 2 cm dilated. I was disappointed but luckily they decided to keep me there due to my contractions already being so close together.
Stay tuned for Part II...
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