I started having contractions around 3:30 am on Saturday, August 7th. I hadn't really had any contractions in previous weeks and assumed that these weren't the real thing as I wasn't due for another two and a half weeks (August 24th), and I'd been told that first babies are often late. However, I was sort of alarmed that I was also bleeding, which then made me think that maybe this was the real thing...I tried to go back to bed but couldn't sleep through the contractions (or the worry) and got up to surf the internet about signs of early labor. I'd also found a contraction timer online to start recording the length and duration. A little before 5 am, after realizing my contractions were consistently five minutes apart, I decided to call my provider's emergency line to figure out if I should go to the hospital. Kenny woke up around this time, alarmed to find me missing pre-dawn. I informed him that I might be in labor but that we'd been advised to try laboring a while longer at home since I'd be most comfortable there and didn't want any medical intervention anyway.
Fairly calmly, we finished packing our hospital bags and Kenny finished installing the car seat. I still wasn't convinced that we were really going to have a baby that day though, but texted my friend Sara to be on standby should we actually be admitted to the hospital and require her services for babysitting Cash, our dog.We ended up driving to the hospital around 8:30 am as the contractions had intensified somewhat and seemed more frequent, and well, we weren't sure what else to do.
Got to the hospital, was checked out and it was confirmed that I was indeed in early labor, and two centimeters dilated. The nurse proposed that we go back home to continue my labor progress with 8 cm to go, since I'd be able to walk around and eat if I wanted, etc, and to return when the contractions had gotten really severe. So, we drove the quick 15 minutes back home.
Not too long after arriving home, the contraction pain did significantly worsen and I tried walking, rocking and bending to no real relief. Sara showed up sometime after 10 am to pick up Cash and we were on our way back to the hospital shortly after she'd left. The contractions were rather intense, though I struggled with how subjective pain determination was, and even though we'd only been home for an hour, decided to go back to the hospital. We called our moms on the way and got to the hospital shortly thereafter. I still couldn't comprehend that we were going to have a baby that day - we weren't ready!
We were admitted to the hospital within minutes as I'd called the nurse ahead of time to let her know we were coming back, and was already registered. As it was a quiet Saturday morning, we had our pick of labor rooms and got one of the bigger ones. I was outfitted with a wireless baby/contraction monitor thing and was free to pace the room. Thankfully, my Group Beta Strep culture had come back negative so I was to be 100% IV free. As the contractions came, I'd lean over the bed with my butt in the air, or kneel, or hang my arms around Kenny's neck as he supported my weight; I was even in the bathtub for a while. Didn't matter what I did, it didn't seem to lessen the pain of the contractions, which ultimately was fine as the bright side of contractions is that they are fleeting!
The nurse checked me when we'd first gotten situated in the labor room and I was five cm. About the time my midwife showed up an hour later, I was 7 cm dilated and they asked if I was ready to take it to the next level (I'm paraphrasing...). They broke my water (which is SUCH a strange sensation, like you've wet yourself 10 x over, but without moving a muscle) and the pain got a LOT worse as there was no longer any cushion inside.
Our friend Katie showed up about that time as Kenny'd made a last minute call and had to make another call to cancel our afternoon plans with another friend (we were so unprepared!!) I'm grateful Katie was there because I was starting to feel badly for Kenny as he couldn't really help me and was just miserable watching me be miserable. At least the two could be miserable together not being able to ease my pain :)
After my water broke, it was pretty much game on. Maybe ten minutes afterward, I was ready to push. And ready for drugs...pushing was ridiculously painful. I suppose it's what I'd envisioned labor pain to be, but being there in the moment, and not being able to focus on anything but the sharp, burning pain in my groin (couldn't meditate and my iPod zen mix wasn't working), was rough. I'd take a day of contractions over that because you get a reprieve in between the contractions, no matter how painful they are. Anyway, I pushed for 20-30 minutes (so I'm told) and tried to give up several times: I was ready to call a time out, get some drugs in me, and do this the blissfully medicated way. Unfortunately, I was past that as the baby was already crowning. But MAN is it hard to will yourself to do something that is causing an INCREASE in your pain. It's counter to every primal instinct we've got. And yet, my wonderful brain can rationalize that a brief increase in pain will end the pain, and that's the incentive. As additional motivation, the nurse was telling me to feel the baby's head, or just look down and see his head, and I wanted NO part of that. No thanks; I'm sure it's a wonderful, awe-inspiring moment for some, but not me. Just get it out and then we'll talk!
Thank goodness Katie and Kenny were there since I was twitching and kicking and they were instructed to participate in holding me down...I think at one point I almost kicked the midwife and might even have screamed at her a few times, apologizing profusely in between pushes (Kenny and Katie laugh about my delivery-room politeness). Jett's head finally emerged, and then I still had to push to pass his shoulders, which was only slightly less painful and then, miraculously and brilliantly, it was done. And there was Jett, born at 1:39 pm, 5 lbs, 12 oz... not that I could believe that I'd really just had a baby and that this baby was mine. It was so very surreal!! I think I probably looked shocked for a while. And then exhausted.
If I had to do it all again the same way, of course I would. I'm told my memory of the pain of labor will fade, which will be about the time I want to start this process again....The best thing about the natural child birth was that pretty much after Jett was delivered, I felt pretty okay. I could walk (after eating something) and felt rather normal. And really, for 20-30 minutes of the worst pain of my life, to produce a child...it was worth it. Kenny, on the other hand, will not be attending a second performance. He felt so terrible for me, screaming and about to lose my mind, that I doubt he'll be sticking it out for the pushing segment of kid #2's delivery. I wouldn't hold it against him either.
Though we were unprepared for his early arrival (hadn't bought diapers, still haven't finished decorating his room), I'm glad he's here. And if he'd been on time, he'd only be 3 weeks old now instead of going on 6. And though he was tiny for being early, it was a godsend during delivery :) I'll blog again when Jett gives me the chance!
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