It was 3:30 am and I had to pee. This was nothing new. I had gotten up a couple hours before to pee. This time was different though. There was my mucus plug, also known as bloody show. I tried not to get excited. A woman could loose her mucus plug up to a week before going into labor. Sure, I'd been wishing for labor to start all week. Henry was due in three days and had run out of room. So back to bed I went. An hour later, I woke again with mild discomfort in the uterine area. Just wishful thinking, go back to sleep. This continued until 7am, waking with discomfort then going back to sleep. Finally, I decided I really was in labor.
"Honey, I'm pretty sure I'm in labor."
"I'm not surprised."
Lawrence tried to get me to go back to sleep so I could get as much rest as possible while in early labor but laying down was getting uncomfortable. I got up and started pacing our little living room. I heard Maria getting ready for work in the other part of the house. I debated weather or not to let her know what was going on but decided against it since I still wasn't sure I really was in labor. At 8, though, I decided it was the real thing and time to let the world know that things were getting real. I called my mom who had a doctor's appointment but would come over afterwards. I texted the midwife and my sister. I also told Facebook and Lawrence let his mom know. The midwife texted back that she wanted me to come in to check my blood pressure because it had been high over the past week. So, with Lawrence up, he and I headed over to the midwife's office. It was fun, trying to give Lawrence driving directions in between contractions.
The midwife checked my blood pressure and it was down from the week before. Hurray! That meant we could still try a home birth. She also did a cervical check; 4.5 cm. I was also most half way there. She sent us back home with instructions to call her when the contractions got to 411, four minutes apart, one minute long, for one hour.
Back at home, I turned on Friends, as it had been my plan to marathon the show through early labor. Both my mom and Maria arrived. I delegated communication with my sister to my mom while Maria began cleaning the house. All the while, my contractions got stronger and stronger. I tried to time them myself but that began to get difficult. Lawrence then took over timing contractions. What felt like was very quickly, we got to the 411 point and called the midwife. She sent over her midwifery student, Katrina, since she had an appointment. What I remember about Katrina's arrival was her advice as to how to deal with the contractions. I had been making very high pitched noises during each contractions up until that point. Katrina reminded me to make low and loose noises to help keep other thing loose.
The contractions continued to get worse and closer together. I labored on the toilet, while leaning on a yoga ball, lounging on our love seat and pacing the living room. I don't really remember a lot of labor. I do remember being really mean to Lawrence, not letting him soothe me or even talk to me during a contractions. Evening approached and the midwife arrived. It seemed to me that everyone sat around as I labored. Unbeknownst to me, part of our bedroom had flooded and everyone took care of it without me really noticing.
Eventually, the midwife did another cervical check. After many hours of labor, I was only 7 cm. It was time for some interventions. They broke my water and gave me some herbs that were supposed to help. The contractions got worse, near unbearable because of the pressure of Henry's head on my cervix. The pain radiated to my back and down my legs. All I could do during each contraction was breath. In between, I just wanted to sleep. I had been laboring for over 15 hours after not getting a full night's sleep, I was exhausted. This went on for a couple hours. The midwife tried to get me in bed for another cervical check several times but I refused. Finally, I was coaxed into my bed only to find nothing had changed. The midwife and Katrina conferred and came back with a suggestion; we go to the hospital. I was stalled, exhausted and my blood pressure was on the rise so they thought an epidural would help me get some rest before I got Henry out. They left Lawrence and I to discuss this. At this point, going to the hospital had crossed my mind several time and now the midwife was telling me she thought it was a good idea. There was no discussion, we were going to the hospital.
We announced our decision and everyone started getting ready to move out. Lawrence and my mom helped me pack a bag, the midwife loaded her gear in her car and made some phone calls and we decided who was driving with who. I insisted that someone drive Lawrence and me so he could continue to get his hands squeezed every contraction. So Lawrence and I got in my mom's car, the midwife got in her car and Katrina and Maria got into Katrina's car. We all pulled out and headed to St Joesph's Hospital.
No comments:
Post a Comment