Birth Story: Part 1

Of all of my blog entries, this one was the hardest to start and I think it’s because my birth story didn’t really have a definitive starting point. 

My birth did not go as planned or predicted, but in the end, all turned out okay. Please be advised that this blog entry may be more “graphic” than other entries and if you’re turned off by words like cervix and episiotomy, you should probably stop reading here. 

***

On Sunday ,April 1^st I went to bed exhausted and yet unable to sleep. Perhaps I should think of that as Aidric’s first April Fool’s Day joke on me--that the night before I would go into labor, I wouldn’t be able to get any rest. Instead, I laid awake in bed unable to turn off my mind or get comfortable. At 2am on April 2^nd  I gave up, padded into the living room, turned on the lamp and began reading some travel guides about Ireland for Chris’s and my anniversary trip next year. I read for an hour or so, drank some tea, and attempted sleep again but between contractions and being uncomfortable it was still a pretty rough night. I fell asleep around 4am and got up before 8am on April 2^nd. 

Being a teacher, I took maternity leave two weeks before my due date--partly because I was afraid of going into labor at school, partly because of my rib pain, and partly because it was the week after spring break and that made planning and a transition to a long-term sub easier on my students. In hindsight I’m VERY glad I did it this way, because if I hadn’t, my water would have broken at school during the Iowa Assessments (formerly ITBS).  I’m guessing one or two of my kids would have been “left behind” so to speak had I been the one to give them the test that day. 

As it was, I was at home folding a load of laundry shortly before lunch when all of a sudden I felt as though I had peed my pants. Although it had never happened to me before, I read that many women experience some incontinence during the later stage of pregnancy, due to a small person sitting on their bladder. I was annoyed, but changed my underwear and tried to forget about it. Until it happened again. 5 minutes later.  

The third time that I “peed my pants” it dawned on me that my water may have broken. I’d read that when a woman’s water breaks it is often more of a slow “trickle” due to the baby’s head acting like a plug in a drain, though a woman's water breaks before the onset of active labor only 10% of the time. I decided to call Midwife Services at my hospital and let them know what happened. They insisted I come in and get checked. I emailed my husband at work to let him know what happened and to tell him that I had to go in and be checked, though I was extremely embarrassed to do so. I really didn’t want to have to confess to another person that I may have peed my pants three times in a row during a half hour—even if that person was married to me. 

It didn’t take long at the office to discover that my water was broken. After changing  and laying back on the table to be checked, both my midwife and I were surprised by a large gush of “water” all over the exam table and the floor.  Susan looked up and smiled at me, “Yup! You’re in labor. Technically I’m not supposed to let you leave—hospital protocol says you need to get into a delivery room right away. But you seem comfortable still. Call your husband. Go home and grab your things. I want to see you at the hospital in no less than two hours.”

At that moment I felt excitement, fear, and relief. I was going to have my baby soon and thank goodness I hadn’t actually peed my pants.  I called Chris at work. 

“Guess what?”

“What?”

“I was right. My water broke.  We need to be at the hospital in less than two hours.”

“Really?”

I remember that response from Chris vividly because I was a little annoyed that he assumed I had just wet my pants three times in a row. We worked out the details and agreed to meet at home ASAP.

I went and grabbed lunch at a drive-through on the way home, though by then it was almost 2:30. I came home to see Chris systematically gathering our things. Both of us were excited, yet calm, a little flighty and yet, well-planned.  I was glad that as we pulled out of the driveway I was still not experiencing much pain and that our trip down I-235 would not involve screaming. . . 

END PART ONE

(My son is crying, so you'll have to wait to hear the rest until later)

A picture of my birth bracelet and belly at 39 weeks gestation. . . the first photo we took at the hospital.