Here Comes the {newest} Girl

It’s time to get started on the story about how our newest girls life on the outside began.  And what better place to start, then from the beginning?

39 weeks photo credit: my iPhone

For about a week I had a form of prodromal labor – an annoying and frustrating thing that happens sometimes where you have regular contractions all day in my case, only for them to stop when I went to sleep at night.  I woke up on Monday 1.28 and thought, I can not work until “it happens” – I was miserable, uncomfortable, my clothes didn’t fit and I was just done.  Wednesday 1.30 was going to be my last day, it WAS my due date after all. 

goofing around with my cool chick

I actually went in to the office for a cervical check at 39w6d because I wasn’t convinced what was happening was “normal”.  This was totally out of character for me, because I had declined all cervical checks since 37 weeks – we knew they weren’t going to tell us anything and figured we might as well minimize the risk of infection by not doing them.  But, I was encouraged to find out I was 3cm, 80% effaced at that appt. 

On Thursday 1.31, I started my maternity leave with a threenager who didn’t want to get dressed for school, it was less than ideal.  My last appointment was in the afternoon that day and my mom wanted to come with me.  Before we left, Gianna was really upset and did not want me to go (or rather, she was begging to come with me) – which is totally out of character for her.  I saw my favorite midwife who was as surprised to see me as I was that I made it to that appointment.  She checked me again and I was at 4cm, still 80% effaced and she stripped my membranes in hopes it would do the trick to get REAL labor started.  Otherwise, we set up an induction date (& plan that fit our birth plan) for the next week, because, let’s be honest - I was over it.

My mom thought it would be a good idea to take Gianna overnight “for when I went into labor”. I was sure she was being ridiculous, but went along with it.  Mike and I went and walked some laps around the mall and the contractions started up again – their usual annoying pattern.  We went to dinner and ran to target to get a few random things I figured I would need after the baby came.  We got home, and the contractions were still there but I figured once I went to bed they would stop.

Except I woke up at 1am with, without question, what is referred to as “bloody show” and contractions that were significantly stronger. And five minutes apart.  I timed them for an hour and then I woke Mike up.  We hung out, me bouncing on the exercise ball, cleaning big sister’s room, doing all kinds of random stuff to make SURE those contractions weren’t going to stop! And the didn’t.  I called the midwife to find out which hospital she was at and we decided to go to the hospital around 3:15am after calling my mom and my sister – we were kind of anxious.  We got there, things were noticeable, but I was really feeling okay. Nothing I couldn’t handle, really.  We were prepared for what was coming next, thanks to our Bradley classes.

We went through triage, the resident on call wasn’t convinced I should stay (he also thought my water broke. but really, I just peed myself apparently.) so I walked for 2 hours – and let me tell you, I literally walked the entire 2 hours – the contractions were getting stronger and I was never so happy to feel uncomfortable in my life!  Although,that same resident told me that I didn’t look like a women in labor and not to plan on sticking around. The L&D unit was hopping that night – every room was full and every triage bay was too – they were serious about making sure you were in active labor before letting you stay!  When I was finally checked again – I was 6cm and earned my labor room!

photo credit: Bella Rose Photography

We got back to our room around 9am, did all the things we needed to do to get checked in and went over part of my birth plan with the nurse while we waited for the midwife to come in.  I only wanted a hep-lock and no fluids (I stayed hydrated with lots of water, popsicles and ice chips!), and that was fine with them.  I also only wanted intermittent monitoring – again, this was okay. 

yay! baby day! photo credit: my mom!

She got me a birthing ball and the games continued!  slow and steady contractions.

photo credit: Bella Rose Photography

I walked.

photo credit: Bella Rose Photography

And bounced.

photo credit: Bella Rose Photography

And walked.

photo credit: Bella Rose Photography

And changed positions.

photo credit: Bella Rose Photography

The contractions continued on, I would need to stop and breathe through them, but when they were over I just went about my business and pretty much laughed a lot. 

photo credit: Bella Rose Photography

I wouldn’t have known I was in labor if I wasn’t the one feeling it!

Mike was by my side the entire time, encouraging me to do something different, try a new position, breathe and focus when I needed too. 

photo credit: Bella Rose Photography

My mom was there too, she hung out and let Mike handle things but she made me laugh a lot! And she snuck me chips.  My midwife, Molly, let me do my thing – she came and checked on me but like I said, things were BUSY in the L&D ward that day – but I knew if I needed her she would be there.

Around 1, I wanted her to check me because things were picking up and I was feeling a migraine coming on.  I was 7cm.  She offered to break my water if I wanted her too, but Mike and I didn’t want to do that yet, and Molly thought it would be better to try and get the migraine pain in order before things got more intense.

So I opted for some fioricet for my headache and a quiet room with some meditation music. 

photo credit: Bella Rose Photography

I slept off and on for about an hour and !woke up feeling slightly better.  And stronger contractions.  Which was encouraging, actually – I knew things were moving in the right direction

photo credit: Bella Rose Photography

Until I had to puke!  I actually felt a lot better after that, headache wise. 

photo credit: Bella Rose Photography

The contractions were MUCH stronger now, but still only about 3 minutes apart on average.  This gave me a good recovery period between them even if they were about a minute long or more.  I had some double-peeking, or one contraction right after another - I needed Mike to really help me focus and breath through them.  But they weren’t PAINFUL as much as just a lot of pressure.  It’s hard to explain – but it was just like a muscle cramp (which, really, is all that is happening!) in my stomach – contractions don’t HURT like you are getting your arm cut off, they feel more like a charlie horse.

We tried some other positions to use gravity to help move baby down.

photo credit: Bella Rose Photography

The next step, was to have Molly check me one more time for progress and then possibly break my water.

photo credit: Bella Rose Photography