So I wake up, still as uncomfortable on December 1, and realize I am still having contractions, only now they seem more consistent then they were. I can't tell you how often I used that contraction app on my phone over the past two weeks, but it was NOTHING compared to how much I was going to use it that day. So at 6:30 I text Mark, who has gone for a run "I think I may be in labor." He heads back to find me in the bed timing them, they were 5 minutes apart and hurting more. We know there is nothing we can do but wait and see, and really don't fancy another hospital bill so he begins to get ready to head out for work. It was a tough decision but I am glad we made it because it was going to be a long day.
I went ahead and went about my normal routine, got the boys up, fed, dressed, and doing what we normally do, waiting to see if activity would take them away like it had been doing in the past. When it didn't I decided to call my doctor and they said they could work me in within the next 30 minutes so I finished getting myself dressed, got the boys out the door, and met my mom at Dr. Doerrfeld's office so she could sit with the boys. I go in, still contracting, and wait for him to come do a Group B strep test and check me. Normally I do not look forward to these appointments, but today I was ready to see if anything had changed. He came in, laughing sympathetically because I was here again with the same symptoms as the week before. He checked me and said I was only at 2, and that until it got to where I couldn't talk through contractions, they were closer together, or my water broke that there was nothing we could do but wait and see. He said it could be tomorrow, 3 days from now, or 2 weeks, there was no way to tell, but nothing would have surprised him. I walked out of there, grateful not to have a hospital bill, but just emotionally drained thinking I was going to do this with no end in sight.
So I load the boys back up in the car, cry a little bit about it, and what else is there to do but go to starbucks to make yourself feel better? Reid had also asked for donuts and with no energy left to think about making lunch I said "sure, why not?" and we drove through the donut store on our way back to the house. Contractions were still coming and still stronger than they had been but I was functioning. By this point I am usually having to stop what I am doing with some of them, but I didn't want to let the boys see me hurt or know something was up. Finally nap time came which was glorious as I was then able to lay down and labor, or get in the bath, or do whatever I needed to do. I sent Mark a text to figure out when he would be home and then just did my thing.
Poor Mark by the way because when he got home I was pretty much worth nothing. I had been contracting 10 hours or so by that point and totally left dinner and boys up to him. I don't even think I ate that night. He got them up, took them outside to ride bikes, and then took them to the grocery story to get stuff from a list I had made and thought about attempting to do that night. I was so impressed and thankful since it would give me an empty house to continue to time and work through contractions. By the time he got home I said "I think I have hit my rhythm" and it was true that I felt like I was in "actual labor" by that point and that I had just hit a stride with it (I know that doesn't make sense really). Finally the boys were in bed thanks to my hubby and he and I settled down to watch netflix while I labored. By now its around 9:30-10 and they are starting to come much closer together and are slightly stronger. But we also know that even though I was contracting every 2-3 minutes last time doesn't mean I am making progress so we stay put. I had alerted Abby that we may be calling her and Adam again to stay the night with the boys.
We go to bed around 10 and Mark stays up late with me to time contractions. They move to around 2.5 to 3 minutes apart and are pretty strong, I am having to breathe through each of them. I remember Mark praying over us at one point asking God that if this was the real thing to let us be certain, let my water break, and that Halle Kate would be ok to come then. Eventually my non-night owl succumbed to sleep and I continued to contract until around 11:30-12 when they suddenly got much further apart. I was kind of upset by this point because I felt I had labored ALL DAY LONG for it to lead no where and for me to end up exhausted. I am very blessed with great friends who had offered to keep the boys the next day if in fact this ended up being the case (thank you Shaina and Amy!).
I think I may have fell asleep for possibly 30-45 minutes, I honestly don't know, but around 1ish the contractions came back about 3 minutes apart. I remember lying there, rubbing my belly during each contraction and praying "Jesus bring her soon." I may have gotten up and walked around the bathroom some to see if they would go away, they didn't. Mark was blissfully asleep and I admit being a little upset that he was getting to sleep while I did all the hard work lol. I think around 2:30 they tapered off again at which point I got highly upset (I told you I was irritable) and had a nice chat with God asking that the contractions would actually lead somewhere and my water would break if it would be His will, but if not that they would stop. I may have dosed again only to be awoken at 3 with hard contractions. Once again I got up and went and walked the bathroom some, then went and laid down. It was during this time I thought I had a small gush, but wasn't sure if my water had broken or not. I was not getting my hopes up at all, I wanted to be very sure.
Of course I went to the bathroom and tried to access the situation, and still couldn't determine completely what had actually happen. With some some contractions I would leak very small amounts of what I now know was amniotic fluid. It got to where I would labor in our stand up shower with each contraction. Finally I did what every desperately pregnant woman does, I googled "how to tell if your water has broken?" lol. According to an article on a site I found out that if it was indeed your water breaking with a slow leak, some would gush out when you got back up after lying down for a bit. Armed with this new information I went and laid down again for a few minutes then got up and felt a small gush. I was hopeful enough that I woke up Mark and told him what I thought had happened. He said "well if it is your water your contractions will get closer together and when they do thats when we will go." He rolled over and went back to sleep for another 45 minutes, while I once again got up to go labor in the bathroom. I was standing in our shower, when I saw fluid that was pink tinged and I knew then officially that my water had broken and we needed to leave. Finally I woke Mark up saying "Mark every time I move something gushes out of me, and now it is pink tinged, it has to be my water breaking." So we get all of our stuff together, call Adam and Abby to come and stay with the boys and head to the hospital around 5:20.
Stay tuned for Part 3: The Time I Actually Have the Baby
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