I'M A MOMMY!!!
Here's my story...
Now I can't be sure but I think things started on Monday June 14th. I was confident that I'd lost my mucus plug and for two days I'd been experiencing inconsistent back pain but, I never put two and two together. Since I had reached 40 weeks I knew the midwives would be expecting me to form some sort of idea on what I'd want to do if I needed to be induced. Then, on Wednesday I went to see the midwives. We talked about induction and came up with a plan... just in case. She checked my vitals and I was happy to know that everything was still good. Then came the million dollar question... "did you want us to check you?" Before my due date I hadn't wanted to know my progress but since I was a couple of days overdue, I changed my mind.
To my surprise I was already 2cm dilated and about 40% effaced. At that moment I was so happy and wanted to celebrate! I know that sounds a little weird but I really didn't want to be the woman who needed to be induced. It would have been so much more stressful for me if things hadn't progressed naturally. Anyways, I went home happy that day and decided to email Jody so she'd be updated on my progress.
On Thursday the back pain was still there but there was no pattern to it yet. That all changed in the evening. At around 6pm I started to notice that the pain was coming more often and it did seem to last for a short while and then go away. I thought it might be contractions but wasn't sure. Either way, I started to pay attention to it and by 10pm I was sure I was in early labor. It didn't hurt but I was getting more uncomfortable and, a pattern was definitely forming. I didn't want to worry Paul so I decided to wait for him to get home to tell him.
An hour later, I felt the pain. It wasn't bad but, I was beginning to be more than just uncomfortable. I realized that I hadn't eaten anything since lunchtime and since I really wasn't in the cooking mood, I quickly came up with a plan. I waited until 11:15pm and then called Paul on his cell. I asked him if he could do me a favour before he came home and he agreed. I told him, in detail, what he had to do. "You need to go to the bank and get some money. Then go to Tim Hortons and buy me a Chicken Salad Sandwich because I haven't eaten since lunch and this baby is on his way." I can't remember what he said but he did exactly what I'd asked him to do.
At about 1am Paul started timing the contractions just to be sure, and they weren't anywhere near 5 minutes apart. I decided to take a bath to help with the pain and to relax a little. Paul called Jody to let her know how things were going. At about 2:30am (I think) things were starting to escalate and the contractions were hurting. I'd been sick and knew it wasn't going to be good having an empty stomach but I didn't feel like eating anything. I needed Jody there. So Paul made the phone call and I decided it was time to try another bath. As I made my way into the bathroom I had a sneaking suspicion that my bag of waters was leaking. I wanted Paul to call the midwives and ask them if we needed to go to the hospital or if we could stay home. After describing the situation the midwife told us it was OK to stay because she didn't think it was my water. We found out later that it actually was amniotic fluid leaking from a small tear.
When Jody got here she suggested that I try to sleep, or at least rest between contractions. As I drifted in and out of sleep, I really thought things were going well. It really hurt but I seemed to be handling it well. Breathing and the quietness of the house was really helping. Until 6am that is. Thats when the contractions were getting pretty strong and I couldn't sleep through them anymore. I couldn't find a comfortable position and finally decided to get up. I left Paul sleeping and joined Jody in the living room. As I sat there breathing through my contractions, things started to get worse. Jody suggested getting back in the tub, which I did. The pain didn't pass as well as before but any relief was better than none.
Paul awoke shortly after and then the real work started. The back labour was starting to get really bad and the only thing I was concentrating on was getting through the contractions. Things start to blur at this point. I don't know how long it was before Paul called the midwives again but when I talked to them, I had a hard time speaking through the contractions. They asked if I wanted them to come to the house to check me but, I figured that I was going to end up at the hospital eventually and decided to meet them there. So, we put all our stuff into the truck and headed for Guelph General.
The hospital is about 20 minutes from our house and I can honestly say the last 10 hours of labour was nothing compared to the ride to the hospital. The worst part of it was not being able to move around because of the seatbelt. But, life goes on and we eventually pulled into emergency and went in. Once we got to the Family Birthing Unit, Cindy was waiting to assess me. I was about 4-5cm dilated and during the exam my bag of waters accidentally broke. She found that there was meconium in the fluid but it was nothing to worry about just then. Once we got to our room I found it most comfortable to sit on the edge of the bed. I can't really remember what was going on around me but I do remember thinking that my birthing plan wasn't going as I had hoped. I knew things might not go as planned but the one thing I had really hoped for was to use the Jacuzzi for pain relief. Now that my water was broken, that wasn't going to happen. Instead I relied on Paul's counter pressure and breathing to get through the contractions. That worked for a while but the back labour was really getting to me. It was so painful and of course I was tired and hadn't eaten anything since the day before.
At about 1:30pm I asked for an epidural. It started working pretty fast but the pain wasn't completely gone. It was bearable. I was trying to get some sleep, but couldn't. I had gotten the shakes and between that and what I could feel of the contractions, I was only able to rest. For the next four hours I enjoyed the conversations I was having and the rest I was getting. Then at 5:30pm it was time to push.
It didn't take long before the midwife asked to have the epidural drip turned down. The reason behind it was that they suspected the baby was turned sideways instead of the usual anterior position and I needed to be able to feel the contractions in order to push effectively. Well... they could have just turned it off because I felt everything from then on. And it still didn't hurt as bad as the back labour. The epidural wore off pretty fast and after 3 hours of pushing, Paul James Romanelli was born.
The paediatricians checked him out and after a few minutes I finally got to meet my son. He was beautiful. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect little boy.
And that is how my pregnancy ended, and a new journey begins. I'm really enjoying being a mom and although my labour wasn't what I had expected, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. It's totally worth it.
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