Last Friday night my husband & I decided we would drive to Hastings Point the following morning. This is a beach/inlet some 60 minutes south of us but we were determined to take the dogs to the beach for a run before baby arrived as we would not get a chance for a long time. We packed my miniature kite, a fossiking bucket (which had been used throughout my entire pregnancy as a spew vessel) & some snacks for the road...
The best laid plans of mice & men.
At 4am the day of our hopeful little family outing I put myself in a bath. Since 27 weeks pregnant I had had issues with an "irritable uterus" & constant urinary tract infections. It felt similar, if a little more painful. There were contractions or "tightenings" as some of the medical world prefer you to call them when you're not having an "active" labour.
At this point, with the warm water over my belly, usually things ease off. Being 39+4 weeks pregnant at this point & told for so long how I could not possibly go to term, I was now a non-believer. Every time this kind of thing happened I rolled my eyes & waited for it to pass - "just another day harbouring the she-beast" I would tell myself & those around me. The pains didn't ease this time but stayed steadily at the same level of pain, although very irregular. I called my Mum about mid-morning who said "This could be it!" I didn't really want to hope after all of the disappointing hospital trips & days of sitting around in the same situation. Mum suggested a walk to move things along.
After our sudden change in plans we hadn't gotten our mutts out for their run at the beach so Jake harnessed them up & on a walk we went. It was cute, my Husband leaning way back to counter the pull of our ferociously strong Maggie, me bumbling a pace or so short of them with what felt like a beach ball packed to bursting with cement under my dress. Nelson, usually quite idiotic & excitable, still crazy happy but stopping to look back on me every few steps, as if I was going to disappear...
One successful walk & a shower later... I lay down, noting it was almost midday. I sat bolt upright in the middle of trying to have a rest. It had been almost 8 hours since i had first gotten in the bath... I had not felt movement from Charli that whole time & could not for the life of me recall if there had been activity in the nighttime hours. I rang the hospital & was advised to come in immediately to check on bub.
By the time we made it to the hospital, my belly was so tight the midwife had trouble feeling where Charli was laying. For the past 12 weeks every time they checked Charli's heart rate, she was in the exact same spot so I directed the midwife to where I knew she would be. Monitor in place & I heard nothing... The midwife checked the opposite side to find my daughters heart beating strong & regular as ever. A flurry of tears escaped me as I released a tension & dread I hadn't realised had built up so strong.
Things happened very quickly from there... We stayed on the monitor, Charli remained very quiet with her movements. An ultrasound & some discussion later they wanted to examine the cervix & see whether there was activity there. The head doctor wanted to do this examination himself & proceeded to on the spot. Much to Jake & my disbelief, he announced that I was 3cm dilated. Before we had time to comprehend, he then conducted a surprise "stretching" to this part of my anatomy which made my eyes water. While I was blinking myself back into the world he casually stripped off his gloves and stated "We will admit you overnight & see what happens. We may have to send you home in the morning if things don't progress, but I'd say baby will be born in the next 24 hours..."
Under the impression this would just be another false alarm we had brought nothing to the hospital with us. This meant a run home for Jake to grab everything. With the possibility of having no further activity we told only a few people about the situation as it unfolded. Jake stayed with me until after visiting hours finished & left for home at something like 9pm. There had been no changes in the pains or frequency since 4am, so I was fairly certain I would be sent home the next morning to wait things out...
11:22pm - Jake & I say goodnight via messages after I say that my pain is uncomfortable & I might ask the nurses for something so that I at least get some sleep. I do this, the beautiful nurse that was on could see how uncomfortable I was & even tucked me in to bed with heat packs in all the right places. By this time it's midnight & I drift off to sleep on what would be my last day as just me. Tomorrow I would become a Mum.
Part 2 soon to follow...
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