My Birth Story- part 1

I was due Oct. 9, 2006. After a tough start to my pregnancy, I had enjoyed a lot of energy the last few months, though I was looking forward to meeting my baby. When I woke up on Mon. Oct. 2, I lost my mucus plug. I started having mild cramps a few hours later that felt a little like menstrual cramps. The midwife had just told us that losing your mucus plug wasn’t necessarily a sign that labor would be starting, and everyone kept saying that I would deliver late, so I sort of ignored what was going on for a while. I drove Paul into work at 1pm, then went to the bank and Trader Joe’s, all the while having cramps.

I took a two hour nap that afternoon, anticipating a possible long night, especially since I hadn’t slept well the night before. That was a life saver. I called my parents to let them know I might be in labor. By the time I picked up Paul at work that night, the cramps were swelling into peaks about every 15-20 minutes. We started debating whether Paul should go into work the next morning since he was supposed to open the store. We relaxed for the evening, I even took a long, warm shower to help me relax. However, when we went to bed, I had to sit up every 10 minutes to cope with the swelling of the contractions. There was no chance I could sleep. Paul got up with me and we watched two episodes of Cowboy Bebop (an anime) while I relaxed on the couch. By 3am, I told Paul he should try to get some sleep. I could tell he was exhausted and I figured at least one of us should be coherent for the day ahead.

I did the deep relaxation breathing we had learned in class. It was hard, though not painful… it was not quite what I expected labor to feel like. I spent a lot of time walking- up and down the hallway, in front of the couch, or just from side to side. I tried different positions, but walking always felt best. When I wasn’t walking I was on the toilet because I kept feeling like I needed to have a bowel movement. Later, I took a warm bath with the lavender bath salts my friend Fern had given me for my birthday while listening to Chopin’s nocturnes. It still wasn’t enough to let me sleep. I decided to watch Cinderella (I was disappointed because I was supposed to pick up The Little Mermaid on DVD at the Disney Store in the mall the next day and I was beginning to realize that I wouldn’t make it to the mall). Suddenly I was overcome with exhaustion, and despite the contractions coming 6 minutes apart, I managed to fall asleep on the couch for about an hour. I woke up around 6am.

Despite the fact that I had been grabbing little snacks all night, I was feeling hungry and decided to have some cereal. The contractions were starting to get harder, so I woke up Paul. I didn’t want to be alone anymore. After one bite of cereal, I started feeling nauseous. With the next contraction, I threw up. I threw up several times after that. I started to panic. Had I reached transition already and didn’t even realize it? At this point my contractions were 4 minutes apart, but hadn’t been for very long. We weren’t really supposed to call the midwife yet, but after vomiting I was anxious. Paul went out to install the carseat while I called The Birth Center. Betsy called back a few minutes later. After talking for a few minutes, she said she would call Holly who was about to come on duty. Apparently I didn’t really sound that far into labor because she said we could meet Holly at TBC around 9am. I finished packing the bag between contractions, and Betsy called back to say they were concerned about waiting until 9 and to come in. We would meet Denise there if Holly got caught up in traffic. I thought about taking a shower, but as I was about to get in I started shaking. I decided it wasn’t such a good idea. We left the house around 8, and I managed to remember to grab some plastic bags incase I threw up in the car.