On Monday June 13th my midwife called me because she hadn't heard from me over the weekend yet again. She asked for me to come in that afternoon so that she could check me. After my husband got off work we went in. While the midwife was checking the heartbeat with the Doppler she was getting low heart tones. At first she wanted to send me over to L&D to be monitored for a while but I didn't have anything with me and I was afraid they would keep me and I would end up with interventions I didn't want. She checked my cervix and "stirred the pot" which is a nice way of saying that she stripped my membranes. Before deciding if she was sending me to L & D or not she had me lay on my left side and rechecked the baby's heartbeat. While laying on my side they got better and the baby was being active so she let me go home. She did say that if labor didn't start that night I was to come in the next morning (Tuesday) after she got to the office.
Well her "stirring the pot" got contractions going in a more regular pattern. I spent the evening managing my discomfort by using my exercise ball. I had lots more mucus during the evening but nothing that alarmed me. I made sure that the kids packed their bags for Grandma's house and got all my things stacked by the door so they were ready to go. My husband thought it was all in my head and that I was being silly. I had a feeling that the next day would be "baby day” and I wanted stuff ready. I spoke with my mom before I went to bed and told her I would call if anything changed in the middle of the night. I was still able to fall asleep and stay asleep during the contractions, so I woke up Tuesday morning and prepared to have a baby that day.
My husband on the other hand didn't even want to wake up! I got up at my normal time and got ready for work and he was staying home with the older kids. I woke him up before I left and reminded him that a few things needed done in case I was having the baby that day. He brushed it off yet again, but got out of bed because our oldest son was already awake. I went into the office for a few hours getting things ready for my absence, then went over to my midwife's office at about 10am. When she checked me she said there was a lot more fluid and mucus and that I had dilated a little more. Even though my cervix was still high and only about 60-70% she said she was sending me over to L&D and would be over at lunch to break my water.
I called my husband to tell him as I left her office to drive over to the hospital and he still didn't believe me. I managed to convince him to at least grab my stuff and the older kids bags, but he still wouldn't pack himself a bag. In fact he wouldn't even shave!
When I got to Labor and Delivery I was standing at the front desk waiting for them to tell me my room was ready when I felt a gush. I knew what that meant! I sent a text to a few friends, it was 11:30 am. I then realized that I forgot my birth plan in the van so I walked back out to get it before they called my name. As I was walking out DH & the kids got there. DH asked if I was going home already because it was false labor. I laughed at him and said no I just forgot something in the car. I told him I thought my water broke, but he said he couldn't see anything on my jeans. As we walked back in I felt more and more gushes. When we got back to the desk I asked if my room was ready, and it was.
I had to go back alone, and I also forgot to have my husband give me my bag so I didn't have my own gown to change into. I changed into the hospital gown and got cleaned up. They did all the check in stuff, I had to get a 20 min strip on the monitor so I was in the bed answering questions. They took my blood and didn't place an IV! After they were done with everything they let me get out of bed and my DH & kids came back.
I was having contractions at this point that came every 5-7 minutes but I was still able to talk through them. I knew it was going to be a little while until my midwife came up and the kids were already very excited. While I was getting checked in my husband had taken them to the cafe to get something to eat. The kids were very excited ... a little too excited. My husband and I decided to have the friends go over and play with some family friends. My mom showed up about this time with flowers and I got changed into my own gown! It was while I changed my gown there was green on the toilet paper when I went to the bathroom.
My mom had not had lunch so we sent my husband to go to the bakery/deli down the street to get soup for me and sandwiches for them. I got some of the soup down between the contractions and a little bit if bread, it was my first real (and only) meal of the day. I stayed out of the hospital bed and was mainly on my birth ball or walking around the room. I was still able to use my iPhone to text friends and check Facebook, but the contractions started coming more frequently and started getting stronger. Each time I tried to relax and not focus on the pain.
The next time I went to the bathroom there was more green, and I knew it was meconium, so I told the nurse. I thought my midwife was coming over at lunch, but since my water fully broke on it's own there was no reason for her too. The nurse told my midwife I had meconium staining. My midwife ok'd the nurse to do hourly checks with the doppler instead of having to be on the monitors, so that was nice. The nurse said my midwife would be over after office hours unless I needed her sooner.
to be continued …
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