Ok, I think I'm finally ready to write my son's birth story...I'm only 2 weeks late :) anyway, I think this will probably be in two parts because I want to make sure I document everything. Bradley was born 8 days after his due date so there was a lot of anxiousness and impatience for his pending arrival.
November 25 was the day before my due date. I woke up around 4:30am with contractions that started in my back and wrapped around my stomach. They really just felt like period cramps, not very painful and I could talk through them, but they were pretty consistent so I decided to time them. I timed them until 5:30am and realized they were about 6-7 minutes apart then they'd become 3-4 minutes apart, but were still not painful. I woke up Jordan and we decided to call my doctor. He told me to time them for another 2 hours and if they stayed consistent then to go get checked out in labor and delivery. I decided to take a shower to help with my back pain. Jordan checked in on me and we realized that the contractions were not letting up, but not getting worse either. Around 7:45am we decided to head over to the hospital to get checked out. I obviously have never been in labor so I didn't know exactly what I should be feeling. I went to labor and delivery and got hooked up to the monitors and a resident checked me. I was 3cm dilated and 80% effaced. The monitors showed contractions, but they would be 7 minutes apart, then 13 minutes apart, then 4 minutes, etc. So, very inconsistent. They told us to walk the halls for an hour and then get checked again for an progress. I was beginning to become less hopeful that this was the "real deal" because I could feel the contractions tapering off. When I was checked for dilation an hour later, I hadn't made any progress and was told that I was in the early stages of labor. They told me to go home and rest because I could go into "real labor" at any time, but there was no way to tell exactly when. I was devastated and embarrassed! So, we headed back home. I sulked the rest of the day because I had gotten my hopes up so high. I just wanted to meet my baby!
My doctor called me later that evening and told me to come in the office the next day (my due date) and we could do a Membrane Sweep to see if that would help jump start labor. I was very hopeful it would work..my hair dresser and sister both had it done which put them into labor naturally. I will be honest, the sweep was painful! I started bleeding immediately and my doctor told me he was able to "stretch" me to 4cm. He was hopeful it would work as well, but if it didn't, then I was supposed to call the office on Wednesday (2 days later) and they would schedule an induction for either Thursday or Friday. Afterwards, Jordan and I went to walk around Target to see if that would help things along too, but I was in a lot of discomfort. The next day, I did end up going to work and staying all day which was a mistake! I was achey and just very uncomfortable sitting at my desk..grumpy, too! I decided that day would be my last day before maternity leave. Luckily, I have a very understanding boss who had no problem with that.
The membrane sweep is supposed to work within 48 hours. Well, my 48 hours came and went and no change except consistent back pain. I was upset, again, because I knew an induction was next. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against inductions..but it's not what I envisioned for my son's birth. I had wanted a completely natural labor. My doctor's office called and told me the earliest they could schedule the induction was Tuesday, December 4th. What?! December?! I was devastated again. Turns out, my doctor told me that he picked December 4th because that is the longest he'd let me go overdue. By choosing 12-4-12, I still had that weekend to be given a chance to go into labor naturally like I had wanted. Again, I was hopeful that I would go into labor on my own that weekend. I wasn't even really telling family about the scheduled induction because I just knew for sure my water would break and we'd go to the hospital and have a completely unmedicated birth like I had planned my whole pregnancy.
Until...the weekend came and went and still no baby...
Part 2 on its way!!
November 25 was the day before my due date. I woke up around 4:30am with contractions that started in my back and wrapped around my stomach. They really just felt like period cramps, not very painful and I could talk through them, but they were pretty consistent so I decided to time them. I timed them until 5:30am and realized they were about 6-7 minutes apart then they'd become 3-4 minutes apart, but were still not painful. I woke up Jordan and we decided to call my doctor. He told me to time them for another 2 hours and if they stayed consistent then to go get checked out in labor and delivery. I decided to take a shower to help with my back pain. Jordan checked in on me and we realized that the contractions were not letting up, but not getting worse either. Around 7:45am we decided to head over to the hospital to get checked out. I obviously have never been in labor so I didn't know exactly what I should be feeling. I went to labor and delivery and got hooked up to the monitors and a resident checked me. I was 3cm dilated and 80% effaced. The monitors showed contractions, but they would be 7 minutes apart, then 13 minutes apart, then 4 minutes, etc. So, very inconsistent. They told us to walk the halls for an hour and then get checked again for an progress. I was beginning to become less hopeful that this was the "real deal" because I could feel the contractions tapering off. When I was checked for dilation an hour later, I hadn't made any progress and was told that I was in the early stages of labor. They told me to go home and rest because I could go into "real labor" at any time, but there was no way to tell exactly when. I was devastated and embarrassed! So, we headed back home. I sulked the rest of the day because I had gotten my hopes up so high. I just wanted to meet my baby!
My doctor called me later that evening and told me to come in the office the next day (my due date) and we could do a Membrane Sweep to see if that would help jump start labor. I was very hopeful it would work..my hair dresser and sister both had it done which put them into labor naturally. I will be honest, the sweep was painful! I started bleeding immediately and my doctor told me he was able to "stretch" me to 4cm. He was hopeful it would work as well, but if it didn't, then I was supposed to call the office on Wednesday (2 days later) and they would schedule an induction for either Thursday or Friday. Afterwards, Jordan and I went to walk around Target to see if that would help things along too, but I was in a lot of discomfort. The next day, I did end up going to work and staying all day which was a mistake! I was achey and just very uncomfortable sitting at my desk..grumpy, too! I decided that day would be my last day before maternity leave. Luckily, I have a very understanding boss who had no problem with that.
The membrane sweep is supposed to work within 48 hours. Well, my 48 hours came and went and no change except consistent back pain. I was upset, again, because I knew an induction was next. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against inductions..but it's not what I envisioned for my son's birth. I had wanted a completely natural labor. My doctor's office called and told me the earliest they could schedule the induction was Tuesday, December 4th. What?! December?! I was devastated again. Turns out, my doctor told me that he picked December 4th because that is the longest he'd let me go overdue. By choosing 12-4-12, I still had that weekend to be given a chance to go into labor naturally like I had wanted. Again, I was hopeful that I would go into labor on my own that weekend. I wasn't even really telling family about the scheduled induction because I just knew for sure my water would break and we'd go to the hospital and have a completely unmedicated birth like I had planned my whole pregnancy.
Until...the weekend came and went and still no baby...
Part 2 on its way!!
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