Really, things went pretty close (but faster!) to what I hoped and expected given Adlee's birth story.
Long story short, I dilate a lot and early. I have contractions daily for a long time. I don't know whether to call these Braxton Hicks, pre-labor, or early labor. Whatever. It doesn't matter. When the event arrives, it's short.
So, around 28 weeks those pretty hard contractions showed up again. I waited a few weeks before I started mentioning this to my midwives. Nobody (including me) was overly concerned since the contractions always stopped after an hour or so.
At 35 weeks I had hard contractions all day. There's something about that week! See Adlee's story. I called in, but didn't go in. In fact, I didn't even tell the receptionist that I thought I might be in labor, so the nurse didn't call me until an hour or more later. The nurse I talked to was very concerned and wanted me to come in the next day to be checked. So I did. Like I expected, I was 5 cm dilated.
That same night I started having terrible back pain and contractions. I finally decided to go to the hospital. Ryan was out of town, so I called a neighbor to watch Adlee. It turned out that I was in so much pain that she picked us up, took Adlee to her house for her husband to care for, and took me to the hospital. Praise God for friends like this! She picked us up after 10 pm and stayed with me at the hospital until 2 am. By the time we were on our way to the hospital, I was pretty sure I was having a kidney stone and not a baby (unless the pain caused me to go into early labor). I spent less than 24 hours in the hospital and passed the stone when I got home the next day.After my kidney stone, I had fewer contractions and felt great!
After that, I went to a couple of weekly appointments with the midwives. With Adlee, they were checking my dilation weekly, but this time they weren't. At my 38 week appointment, I explained to my midwife, I was already dilated to 5 cm three weeks ago, I was 7 cm dilated by 38 weeks with my last baby, I live a ways away from the hospital, and once my water was broken with my last one, labor was only 2-3 hours. She said, "Yeah, I'd be a little scared, too." I was SO relieved to hear her say that! She said she would set up an induction for the next week. Hospital policy says a woman has to be 39 weeks before she can be induced. A great policy for the average woman! So, the induction plan was just to break my water again if I was dilated enough and the baby was low enough. She checked me, and I was 7 cm. She asked if I wanted her to strip my membranes. I said yes. I left with orders to go in to the hospital if I had any contractions at all that afternoon or over the weekend, and with a scheduled induction for December 16.
So, I called my mom to ask her to come stay with us, and I went grocery shopping. That afternoon, I did have contractions. Some strong. Some not. Some consistently 5 minutes apart. Some spaced out to 10-15 minutes. Some painful. Some not. I put off going in until Mom was here to watch Adlee.
When my mom arrived, we visited for a bit, and I called in to the midwife on call at around 5:30 pm. She suggested I come in and get checked, but she reminded me that she really couldn't do much at 38 weeks because of the hospital policy. She said maybe if I was at 8 cm, she could make the case that I was in labor. So, Ryan took me in. They put me right in a delivery room and a gown. The midwife came to check, and I was indeed at 8 cm. Contractions were picking up a little. She and the nurse decided it would be best to break my water. She went to get the doctor's approval. Once she had it, I was officially checked in to the hospital.
My midwife broke my water at 7:20 pm. I remember looking at the clock at 7:23 pm. At that time, contractions got REAL. Thankfully, I only had four or five before I propped myself up on my elbows and pushed. My midwife told Ryan he had a minute to put on his gloves, then almost instantly afterwards told him to hurry to put on his gloves. My baby came down the birth canal still curled in a ball (I could feel it). My midwife told me to reach down and feel my baby, and I did rub that fuzzy little head. She said later that the look on my face at that point was beautiful. Baby's head came out but not the rest of her. Her shoulder was stuck, and I needed to push more. It was hard and painful and not the natural reaction of my body like the pushing up to that point. But that too was short. My sweet second girl was born at 7:38 pm on December 11. Yes, only 18 minutes after my water was broken. Although super FAST, it was peaceful and beautiful...
and, thankfully, at the hospital! What would have happened if I had waited for my water to break at home? I guess I would have had a baby at home!
