Around 2:30am Monday I woke up to a painful contraction. After another followed a short time later I got up, went to the restroom and went back to bed to watch the clock. These were definitely painful compared to the BH contractions I'd been having. An hour and a half later I was still contracting every 6-8 minutes, but not for very long - maybe 30 seconds. I woke Rob and told him what was going on. I had two more, and thenEs trudged into our room. So, I left while Rob snuggled her back to sleep.
Around 6:30am contractions were still trucking along at 6-8 min apart. I got off the computer and used the restroom again. I lost a large amount of my mucus plug - I didn't know that much mucus existed in the plug - and it was a bit bloody. I went into the bedroom to grab a childbirth book and a watch so I could read up on what to expect and start timing the length of the contractions. While in the bedroom Rob asked how I was and if I needed him to get up. I said it was up to him, but he shouldn't plan on going in to work. He got up and sat in the living room with me for a few contractions, made a few calls to our doula, work, my sister, and then went to take a shower. Shortly after that E woke up.
Contractions continued to be the same until around 9am, then they became real irregular. We just puttered around here all day, finalizing a few things, making last minute arrangements. Beloved Aunt Amy arrived around lunch and kept E occupied. I took a short nap.
After dinner, Rob and I played cards while Amy played with E. We checked in with our doula again. She thought the contractions would probably pick up again in the evening, so I should try to get some rest. My sister Amy asked if she should stay the night, or if she should go home and wait for our call. I said I'd be more comfortable if she'd stay in the event things picked up through the night. She got E ready for bed and we headed downstairs to try and relax in front of the TV. Contractions were slowly becoming regular again. Another check with the doula - she suggested we try the labor tub we'd rented from her. So Rob set about to filling it. I didn't think the contractions were too terribly painful - nothing requiring the relief that the water was supposed to provide - but figured it'd be relaxing anyway.
It WAS relaxing. I found myself becoming very tired, and after an hour or so I wanted to go to bed. I tried resting on the couch downstairs. Over the baby monitor we heard E wake up and go looking for us. Soon, she and Amy were downstairs. We gently tried to encourage her to go back to bed, but she wanted to play. So, up we went. By this time I had to concentrate on relaxing and breathing through the ctx. A short time later E and Amy came upstairs. E was upset and crying, so we let her lay in bed with me after explaining that I was making noise to help the baby get ready to come out. She was okay for a while, but soon wanted to go back to her bed.
I was concerned for her - she was so upset no matter how I tried to reassure her! I was also growing frustrated. Ctx were now 10min apart, but lasting anywhere from 45-60 seconds. I had been moaning through them for some time, and finally asked Rob what our goal was. I felt like something else needed to happen and was ready to go to the hospital or SOMETHING- exasperated is the feeling that comes to mind. We talked about it, and he thought we were going to wait until the ctx were 5 min apart.
He put in another call to the doula. She suggested getting in the tub again. I didn't really feel like messing with the tub - I wanted to rest. In hindsight, I REALLY, REALLY should have rested during the day on Monday!!! So, down to the tub we went. After about 45 minutes the ctx were every 10-min lasting 60-90 seconds. I finally told Rob that I didn't think I could handle things at home, and I wanted to go to the hospital where at least we'd have Barb (doula) for more support.
Rob called Barb, let Amy know we were leaving (E was sleeping), got the last few things taken care of, then got me out of the tub, dried, and dressed. I kept wondering how I was ever going to manage getting up to the car and making the drive to the hospital without losing it, but Rob assured me we just had to go up the stairs and into the car and we'd be on our way. By the time we were backing out of the garage, ctx were 3 minutes apart!!!
4:30am -The drive to the hospital went okay - NOW Rob was nervous, realizing THIS WAS IT!
No comments:
Post a Comment