One Damn Thing

It’s been nearly five and a half years since I had a baby, so I really can’t remember what labor’s like. It’s true. I think your body generates some awesome chemicals to help you forget the worst of it, but truth be told my labor and delivery with Tommy was pretty damn quick and easy.

Tommy’s due date was Valentine’s Day and on February 7 I said to my body, “OK I’m ready to have this baby.” The next morning, I went into work, made it through the rush (I managed a coffee shop at the time) and then said, “I don’t feel so well, maybe I’m in labor.” I went home, took a shower, called my doctor, and and she told me to come in and see her in the office.

She checked me out, said I was in labor – didn’t I notice the contractions? (Oh, those things? Those are contractions? Hmm I guess so. ) They were too far apart to admit me, so she told me and my husband to go for a walk, have lunch, and come back in a couple of hours. We came back, my water broke in the office, and then she sent me downstairs (office conveniently located within my hospital) to admit myself. By the time we rode the elevator down two floors and filled out my paperwork, I was in active labor with OH YEAH THOSE ARE CONTRACTIONS. The anesthesiologist deftly administered my epidural. I slept for 2-3 hours. I chatted with my parents for an hour. They went out for sandwiches. I called the nurse in and told her I needed to push. Moments later we had Tommy. Total L&D time from when my water broke: 4 hours and 17 minutes.

Because I was a little early with Tommy and my delivery was so quick, when I measured 2.5 cm at my Friday appointment, my doctor told me to be “diligent” of early warning signs of labor. Those might include: nesting instinct, Braxton Hicks contractions, dropping/ lightening, spotting/bleeding, ruptured membranes or actual contractions.

Saturday, after spending the day shopping for some last minute baby items, Rick and I went out to dinner (by ourselves!) and I noticed I was having some cramping in my lower pelvic area. Ladies, think bad menstrual cramps. Guys, think mild leg cramp, except in your groin. The cramping wasn’t affecting the amount of food I could stuff in my body, so I figured they were just Braxton Hicks. They were so mild that even when Rick stopped to change my flat tire 200 feet away from the hospital, I didn’t think twice about calling my doctor.

Six hours later, the cramping was still hanging around, even after drinking a bunch of water, taking a hot shower and relaxing. That’s not very consistent with Braxton Hicks. So I called my doc’s office, got a hold of the on-call, and we all agreed it would be best for me to come in and get checked out. At 12:30 AM. So happy we had a sitter.

They hooked me up to the monitor, and indeed I was having contractions! Every four minutes. Then every 12 minutes. Then every 6 minutes. Then every 20 minutes. Ends up that the contractions weren’t strong enough or frequent enough to progress my labor, as was confirmed after several internals (human dipstick), so they sent me home. As the nurse handed me my discharge papers, she said that maybe 50% of patients come back the next day and have a baby, 50% end up delivering closer to their due date.

So why am I telling you all this? The lovely Michelle from Burgh Baby has opened up a baby pool for you bettin’ folk. To increase your odds in winning, I thought I’d be nice and provide you a bit of back story on my L&D.

So again, here are the facts, in a neat little list:

1. I was about a week early with Tommy. Total L&D time 4 hr, 17 min

2. Tommy was 8 lbs, 0 oz, 20.5 inches
3. We are having another little boy
4. My actual due date is 8/20
5. I’ll be 37 weeks (full term in the eyes of the medical community) this coming Friday, July 30
6. I had Tommy on my MIL’s birthday. My FIL’s birthday is 8/1.
7. I’ve already had one bout of preterm contractions
8. I may be having some more right now. Maybe they’ll subside after a full night’s sleep, maybe they won’t.

Happy gaming!