Tricky Business ("practice" labor & pre-delivery days)

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I think it's only appropriate to give credit where credit is due.  A friend I cheered with in high school, Molly Hoskins, recently gave birth to her beautiful little man and also blogged about her birth experience.  Reading hers made me realize how many details were already slipping from my mind.  It was just what I needed to get mine out of my head!  :)


All the movies make labor seem so fast and simple.  Like IT’S TIME FOR THE BABY, LET’S GO!  Then they show them rushing to the hospital, nearly running out of time, and the next scene there's this beautiful baby.  Nobody told me that labor in real life is way more confusing.  This is the story of my confusing labor, and next post I’ll tell you all about the day she arrived.

Monday, June 4th

My due date was on Monday, the 4^th of June.  As you may have read in other posts, I was in the unfamiliar city of San Antonio to be with Nic, so I didn’t have a set doctor there.  My doctor in Lubbock was the last person to check any progress in dilation, and that was two and a half weeks before (on the 17^th of May).  At that time, I was only dilated to a 1.  Fast forward to the 4th, and still I could feel nothing going on down there.  We were SO curious as to what the progress was, so we made up a little reason to get checked.  We decided to go in to Labor & Delivery (L&D) and just tell them “I feel pressure down there,” knowing that they would check my cervix/dilation.  We were right!  They checked, and I was dilated to a…. 1!  :-(  How disappointing right?  So we figured we’d just keep hanging out and she would come when she’s ready.

Tuesday

(WARNING: This will be way too much TMI for some of you…)  Around 6:30 Tuesday evening, I was in the bathroom, going #1 and then I was finished, but still sitting there.  Another huge gush of water came out.  I looked up and thought to myself, Did my water just break?  I told my mom what happened (well, after pulling up pants & washing hands haha), and she asked me if I wanted to go to L&D or what I wanted to do.  I decided to call L&D to just ask, but nobody answered.  I tried to call Nic at work to ask his opinion, but he didn’t answer.  I tried to call Nic’s (and my) nursing school friend who works in L&D in Lubbock, but she didn’t answer.  I was so excited but apprehensive to go in, because I didn’t feel any contractions.  Finally Nic got off work at 7:00, and called me.  I explained the situation.  He decided to just walk up to L&D since he was at the hospital anyway, and ask them.  The instructions he passed on were to put a pad in my undies, and if it was completely soaked within an hour to go in (this would indicate amniotic fluid continuing to leak out).  If the pad didn’t get soaked, then it would indicate that the baby just kicked my bladder and pushed out more pee than I thought I had.  (I found this explanation very bizarre, but I guess it’s possible.)  The pad didn’t get soaked through, and that was the end of that.  Audra had kicked my bladder.  Who knew? (And yes, kind of emburassing...)

Wednesday

By now, it was two days past my due date and I was EXTREMELY antsy.  Imagine having to sit there and kill time, knowing that at any moment, labor could start and you could be experiencing one of the hugest moments of your life.  I would give ANYTHING to know when that moment was going to be!  So we decided to go back into L&D and tell them “we think my water broke, but we’re not sure” (using Tuesday’s events as an excuse).  Even though we were pretty certain that it hadn’t broken, we knew they would check the cervix.  And we were right.  [Yes, I know, we were being that couple that keeps going in to the hospital.  I didn't care one bit!]  I was laying there, just crossing my fingers (right hand only) & praying to God that something had progressed down there.  Then we got the news: I was still only dilated to a 1.  Talk about a mood killer!  I was so sad I could almost cry. A church friend from Jeff City told me that her doctor had stripped her membranes and that her labor progressed very rapidly after that.  I decided to give that a go.  We asked the doctor who was seeing us if she’d strip my membranes.  She gave me some sort of explanation why they didn’t really believe that stripping membranes did any good, but after a little prodding from me, she finally agreed to do it.  The procedure was mildly painful for all of 15 seconds, and then it was done.  Back “home” we went to hurry up and wait.

Thursday

Nothing.  We continued to pray and wait.

Friday 

I'd been looking forward to Friday all week because Nic's sister (Abi) and brother in law (Matt) were coming to town from Fort Worth.  Of course, they were hoping to see the arrival of Audra, but if anything it'd be fun to see them for the weekend.  I'd been having contractions all day, on and off. (!!!)  They felt like Braxton Hicks, and that's what I figured they were due to their sporadic nature.  The four of us had dinner at B.J.'s Brewhouse and then we showed Matt and Abi our carseat/stroller system and hung out with them for a bit.  After we got home, the contractions started getting more frequent and my excitement level started going up.  Nic had to work Saturday, so we went about our normal bedtime routine.  When I laid down to bed, the contractions continued.  I had read if the contractions continue or get stronger when laying, they could be the real thing.  I started timing them with a contraction timer on my iPhone.  They were getting closer together.  They didn't seem to be getting more painful, but the timing was right, and they were definitely contractions.  Around 2:30, I woke Nic to tell him they were about 4 minutes apart and asked him if we should go in.  I decided to shower, just in case it was time, and see if they continued.  They did.  We called L&D and they said to come on in.  I was so excited, knowing the next time we walked in our room/home away from home, we could have our new little BABY with us!!  

We went into the hospital around 4:00am (Saturday) and explained what'd been happening.  They checked my dilation, and this time there was progress!  ...but only 1 cm of it.  I was dilated to a 2.  I couldn't believe it!  They said they only admit if dilation is at a 4 or greater.  By this time, it was about 5:45, and Nic needed to be at work around 6:30.  The doctor told me to walk around the hospital for a few hours and then they'd see if it progressed.  We all got some breakfast at the hospital, then Nic went ahead and went down a few floors to spend his day at work.  Mom and I walked around every nook and cranny that hospital had to offer. I continued to have contractions, but they were starting to get less frequent.  :-(  In my heart, I knew it wasn't time for her to come yet, but I just wanted it to be so badly!  After a few hours, we went back up and they checked the progress again.  Much to my dismay, there was no progress.

The doctor told me it was just "practice labor" and that they "weren't real contractions."  I was confused about why I would be having contractions at regular intervals, more painful than the typical Braxton Hicks, but they weren't real?  The doctor said that my uterus was practicing having contractions at regular intervals.  And that the "real" contractions would be MUCH more painful.  She said I would definitely know.  I was very discouraged, because I thought I DID know.  She said the "real" contractions would probably come very soon; either that very same day, or a few days later, but she told me to not be discouraged-- this baby would be coming before too long!  She advised me to go home and get some sleep.  

By this time, it was around 8:00 Saturday morning.  Mom and I went home to sleep.  My dad was scheduled to arrive in San Antonio later that evening.  I was excited to see him but oh.so.tired!  And sad to be going home.  :(  I wanted my baby!!!

Saturday

I finally got to bed around 9am; sleepy from timing contractions and then being in the hospital all night.  I felt bad sleeping the day away, especially since Matt & Abi were there to visit.  But they completely understood and had their own fun in S.A. that day.  I woke around 5:00pm, though I didn't really feel rested.  The contractions had continued throughout my sleep, and kept waking me up. Later that evening I greeted my dad, then he & mom went out on a date night.  (My mom was sounding like a high school girl the way she talked about how much she missed him before he arrived.  It was cute.)  Matt, Abi, Nic & I had dinner at Panera.  My stomach was still in pain, and the contractions were still coming, though not regular, but somewhat strong.  I only ordered a bowl of soup and couldn't even eat the whole thing.  

Matt asked what the contractions felt like, and the only thing I could equate it to is this:  the feeling when you've got to go #2 (haha) but there's no bathroom available and your stomach is just doing waves of pain because you've got to go.  I think it feels like that, except stuck at the peak of the pain.  That's what the "practice/fake" contractions felt like.

On the way back "home" after Panera, I felt my first "real" contraction.  It was much more intense and nearly stopped me in my tracks.  I didn't feel another like that until later that night.  We went back to the hotel and said goodnight to mom & dad, then sat out by the pool.  The 3 of them drank some beer on the nice breezy evening; I stuck with my Panera water.  :)  Around 10:00, the pool closed, and Matt & Abi went back to their hotel.  Nic and I settled in.  We talked all day about how great it would be if Audra came Sunday since Matt & Abi had to leave Sunday evening, and since my dad had finally made it to town.  We watched some TV before bed and the hard contractions started coming.  They weren't very close together, but I was excited to feel a different type of contraction than before.  I went ahead and showered before bed, just in case I had to go into the hospital later.

Nic went ahead and went to bed (his first time sleeping since before we went in on Friday night), and fell asleep instantly.  I, on the other hand, was timing contractions.  Again.  Second night in a row.  I laid there with my phone on beside me and pushed the little button as soon as one came.  This time I was squirming from the pain until it stopped and I pushed the button again.  When I was really REALLY squirming from the pain and they were 4 min. apart, I woke Nic up and told him I thought it was time FOR REAL this time.  This was about 1 am.  We called L&D and they told us to come in.  We called my parents and told them not to come just yet-- we'd call them if I got admitted.

We went to the hospital and the whole way there I was praying I'd be at a 4 or greater.  When I finally got into triage and got checked, I was elated to hear I was at a 4!  They went ahead and admitted me.  We called mom and dad... excited that we wouldn't be heading back until we had a baby!

As you can guess, she ended up coming on Sunday.  Her actual delivery is too long to include on this post, so I'll post that one next.  But it just goes to show that labor is tricky!  People kept asking me if I thought she was coming soon (the week and days before she came).  I was like, I don't know?!?  I've never had a baby before... I don't know what it feels like... I guess I was just supposed to have some motherly instinct or connection to her or something.  But no.  I had no idea what was happening down there.  Of course things felt different; but all sorts of things felt different since being pregnant!  I just couldn't tell what was actually the start of labor and what wasn't. 

I'm excited to tell you how delivery went... and more excited to have it written for myself and to show Audra someday.  

If you made it this far, thanks for reading!  I hope you're happy, healthy and well! 

Love, Stefanie