Tuesday
Jun082010
The Labor Story: Out the Window, Part I
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 10:35AM
Yeah, I know, it's long. During my pregnancy, my favorite labor stories were the detailed ones. So, it's detailed. And sometimes the detils are a little icky. Also, I'm operating on about 20 hours of sleep in the last 6 days. I really hope this makes sense.
Listening to my Hypnobabies CDs while in early labor was the first part of the plan to go out the window.
In one of my previous posts about impending labor, I had said, “I could slam headfirst into labor at any moment,” and that’s exactly what happened.
Around 6am Wednesday morning I woke up shortly after my husband’s alarm went off. I went into the bathroom to find bloody show. (Isn’t that the worst term for anything ever? Accurate, I suppose, but just so…gross. Every time I hear it I think of some vaudeville show where everyone is dressed in black, wearing white clown makeup and the actors and every piece of the set are COVERED in blood. Yes, that is what comes to mind.) My distaste for the term aside, I was excited. I had seen some on Sunday night and then nothing but regular mucus since. Being one day past my due date, my obvious first thought was that this could be it.
My husband was excited, too, but based on everything we’ve read/heard/been told about labor, if I even WAS in labor, this was a very early stage and he might as well get ready and go to work.
Just in case, I thought I’d put on my headphones and listen to one of the Hypnobabies tracks called, “Fear Release.” Need I explain why I picked that track?
I got less than 10 minutes into the track and felt something shift suddenly in my lower abdomen and then felt a feeling like I’d never felt before. Not painful, per se, but when you’ve never had that feeling you kind of go, “Whoa.” I knew I had had my first contraction. I looked at the clock.
It was 7:45am.
Once I felt another contraction starting about 10 minutes later, I texted my doula letting her know the morning’s events. Also, I was starving. I knew the hospital (if we did have to go) wouldn’t let me have anything except the oh-so-appetizing ice chips, so I sent my husband out for something greasy and awesome – a sausage biscuit from McDonald’s! It sounded sooo good.
I had my scheduled 40-week appointment that morning at 9:40. I figured my OB would likely be seeing me in the hospital and not in her office, so I called around 8:30am to cancel my appointment saying that I was likely in labor. I told them I wasn’t headed into the hospital yet. My plan all along was to labor at home at long as possible. I figured we had a while.
By the time Tom returned from McDonald’s, I was on the phone with my doula. I hadn’t heard back from her yet via text and I was getting consistent, decent contractions, about 7-10 minutes apart. She told me what I figured she might, that I was likely in very early labor and she was interested to see what walking around did to my contractions and then wanted to see what taking a bath did. When she told me that walking around would likely intensify them, my immediate response was, “Well, why the hell would I want to walk around?”
While talking to her I had to put the phone down several times to breath through the lovely waves my uterus was sending through me.
Once we hung up, I finished eating in between contractions and told my husband the plan to walk a little. He had already called his appointments for that day and moved them all to be free for whatever might be happening with me.
I didn’t feel like I could go much further than my back yard, so he and I went outside on our deck. I called my parents and my mom got all choked up when I told her this was probably the day. As I meandered around our deck, I had to stop and either lean on the railing or lean on Tom to breathe through contractions.
And, seriously, my plan for a natural birth was walking to the nearest window and opening it. If this was EARLY labor, I wasn’t too keen on what LATE labor might entail.
After about five minutes I was ready to go back inside, and the idea of sitting on the toilet sounded good, so I went into the same bathroom where, nine months ago I saw my first positive pregnancy test, and started having a third labor indicator – poop. I know, not so pretty, but they say your body empties itself first – I like to think it’s God’s way of helping us women keep SOME MINISCULE sense of decency on the delivery table by helping to prevent pooping during labor. I also noticed quite a big loss of blood.
And then I had a contraction that almost made me throw up.
It could be that I was nervous and scared about what was ahead of me. It could have been the force in my lower abdomen. It was likely a combination of the two.
I texted my doula my new signs. She wrote back, “Great! You may not have to do this long after all. No more McDonald’s, just bland stuff now. Try a warm bath, lights off, hypno CD, stay relaxed.”
A bath didn’t sounds like something I could handle at the moment. It was a little after 9pm and my contractions were already about five minutes apart and feeling pretty strong. Let’s just say they were not awesome in any way.
I called the doctor again and told them about my bleeding – it still wasn’t stopping. The nurse reminded me that I had an appointment anyway and they required me to come in with the amount of bleeding I said I was having. That meant I’d have to leave in about 10 minutes. That wasn’t happening. Even through all the intensity I was feeling, I still really wanted to take a shower – I’d read dozens of labor stories where women said how nice a hot shower felt. Plus, I REALLY wanted to wash my hair! I did not want it all greasy like it was if I was to deliver today. You know, the important things.
The nurse also told me if I felt things were getting intense to just go to the Emergency Room and they’d admit to me to Labor & Delivery there.
I texted my doula and told her what the nurse said and that I was headed in after a shower. In response to her telling me to get in the bath and rest, I told her, “There is NO resting with these.”
Throughout all of this, my husband was furiously packing the car, checking our last-minute packing list and running around grabbing things.
In the shower, the contractions were coming faster and harder and I was losing a lot of blood. During each one I’d just put my arms up on the shower wall, rest my head and breathe. Although, at this point the breathing had turned into moaning. It felt a little better. And, shockingly, I managed to wash my hair. But, I didn’t get to dry it, which meant it would dry flat to my head. I hate that. However, it was easy to let that go at this point.
What I didn't know is that when I told my doula how much blood I was losing, she was concerned that maybe my placenta had ripped itself from my uterine wall. Or possibly something worse. But she kept those concerns to herself for the time being.
Once out of the shower, I told my husband what I had decided while in the shower:
“We’re going straight to the Emergency Room.”
It was 9:40am. The plan to labor at home was out the window.
The Labor Story: Part II
Listening to my Hypnobabies CDs while in early labor was the first part of the plan to go out the window.
In one of my previous posts about impending labor, I had said, “I could slam headfirst into labor at any moment,” and that’s exactly what happened.
Around 6am Wednesday morning I woke up shortly after my husband’s alarm went off. I went into the bathroom to find bloody show. (Isn’t that the worst term for anything ever? Accurate, I suppose, but just so…gross. Every time I hear it I think of some vaudeville show where everyone is dressed in black, wearing white clown makeup and the actors and every piece of the set are COVERED in blood. Yes, that is what comes to mind.) My distaste for the term aside, I was excited. I had seen some on Sunday night and then nothing but regular mucus since. Being one day past my due date, my obvious first thought was that this could be it.
My husband was excited, too, but based on everything we’ve read/heard/been told about labor, if I even WAS in labor, this was a very early stage and he might as well get ready and go to work.
Just in case, I thought I’d put on my headphones and listen to one of the Hypnobabies tracks called, “Fear Release.” Need I explain why I picked that track?
I got less than 10 minutes into the track and felt something shift suddenly in my lower abdomen and then felt a feeling like I’d never felt before. Not painful, per se, but when you’ve never had that feeling you kind of go, “Whoa.” I knew I had had my first contraction. I looked at the clock.
It was 7:45am.
Once I felt another contraction starting about 10 minutes later, I texted my doula letting her know the morning’s events. Also, I was starving. I knew the hospital (if we did have to go) wouldn’t let me have anything except the oh-so-appetizing ice chips, so I sent my husband out for something greasy and awesome – a sausage biscuit from McDonald’s! It sounded sooo good.
I had my scheduled 40-week appointment that morning at 9:40. I figured my OB would likely be seeing me in the hospital and not in her office, so I called around 8:30am to cancel my appointment saying that I was likely in labor. I told them I wasn’t headed into the hospital yet. My plan all along was to labor at home at long as possible. I figured we had a while.
By the time Tom returned from McDonald’s, I was on the phone with my doula. I hadn’t heard back from her yet via text and I was getting consistent, decent contractions, about 7-10 minutes apart. She told me what I figured she might, that I was likely in very early labor and she was interested to see what walking around did to my contractions and then wanted to see what taking a bath did. When she told me that walking around would likely intensify them, my immediate response was, “Well, why the hell would I want to walk around?”
While talking to her I had to put the phone down several times to breath through the lovely waves my uterus was sending through me.
Once we hung up, I finished eating in between contractions and told my husband the plan to walk a little. He had already called his appointments for that day and moved them all to be free for whatever might be happening with me.
I didn’t feel like I could go much further than my back yard, so he and I went outside on our deck. I called my parents and my mom got all choked up when I told her this was probably the day. As I meandered around our deck, I had to stop and either lean on the railing or lean on Tom to breathe through contractions.
And, seriously, my plan for a natural birth was walking to the nearest window and opening it. If this was EARLY labor, I wasn’t too keen on what LATE labor might entail.
After about five minutes I was ready to go back inside, and the idea of sitting on the toilet sounded good, so I went into the same bathroom where, nine months ago I saw my first positive pregnancy test, and started having a third labor indicator – poop. I know, not so pretty, but they say your body empties itself first – I like to think it’s God’s way of helping us women keep SOME MINISCULE sense of decency on the delivery table by helping to prevent pooping during labor. I also noticed quite a big loss of blood.
And then I had a contraction that almost made me throw up.
It could be that I was nervous and scared about what was ahead of me. It could have been the force in my lower abdomen. It was likely a combination of the two.
I texted my doula my new signs. She wrote back, “Great! You may not have to do this long after all. No more McDonald’s, just bland stuff now. Try a warm bath, lights off, hypno CD, stay relaxed.”
A bath didn’t sounds like something I could handle at the moment. It was a little after 9pm and my contractions were already about five minutes apart and feeling pretty strong. Let’s just say they were not awesome in any way.
I called the doctor again and told them about my bleeding – it still wasn’t stopping. The nurse reminded me that I had an appointment anyway and they required me to come in with the amount of bleeding I said I was having. That meant I’d have to leave in about 10 minutes. That wasn’t happening. Even through all the intensity I was feeling, I still really wanted to take a shower – I’d read dozens of labor stories where women said how nice a hot shower felt. Plus, I REALLY wanted to wash my hair! I did not want it all greasy like it was if I was to deliver today. You know, the important things.
The nurse also told me if I felt things were getting intense to just go to the Emergency Room and they’d admit to me to Labor & Delivery there.
I texted my doula and told her what the nurse said and that I was headed in after a shower. In response to her telling me to get in the bath and rest, I told her, “There is NO resting with these.”
Throughout all of this, my husband was furiously packing the car, checking our last-minute packing list and running around grabbing things.
In the shower, the contractions were coming faster and harder and I was losing a lot of blood. During each one I’d just put my arms up on the shower wall, rest my head and breathe. Although, at this point the breathing had turned into moaning. It felt a little better. And, shockingly, I managed to wash my hair. But, I didn’t get to dry it, which meant it would dry flat to my head. I hate that. However, it was easy to let that go at this point.
What I didn't know is that when I told my doula how much blood I was losing, she was concerned that maybe my placenta had ripped itself from my uterine wall. Or possibly something worse. But she kept those concerns to herself for the time being.
Once out of the shower, I told my husband what I had decided while in the shower:
“We’re going straight to the Emergency Room.”
It was 9:40am. The plan to labor at home was out the window.
The Labor Story: Part II
Copyright; 2011, Blahggy. All rights reserved.
Reader Comments (23)
I love detailed labour stories too! The gruesomer the better - it makes me feel like I'm vaccinating myself against the horrors of labour.
Keep it coming - since I know there's a beautiful little girl on the other end of the story, I can enjoy it fully.
I don't think this is long at all!! Look at mine, it took like seven entries to get the whole story (including coming home). I also love reading really detailed birth stories. I didn't get to have a vaginal delivery this time, but am hoping for one next time (assuming there's a next time) so I still read this with incredible interest. I can't wait for the next installment! (But get some sleep!!)
this is getting me excited for more:) and making me remember my experience... i don't think i did a birth story yet, i think i should...
Ooooh, a cliffhanger! I'm just dying to know if you pooed on the table or not.
I'm hooked! Can not wait to read the rest! Birth Stories are amazing because they are all so different!
Haha! I wouldn't put anything under the category of "horror." Just "I don't want to do that again. Please, God, no."
I loved all your entries, though! They were awesome! I'll probably end up with a ton, too!
Yes, the Great Poop Question!
Yes! Do a labor story! They're so great to read. Plus, it'll be awesome to look at years from now.
It's coming! Thanks, Carol Ann!
Liza! I also love labor and delivery stories so I am looking forward to hearing how the rest of yours goes. Can't wait to meet sweet baby girl next time we are in town!
I have one question and you're the perfect one to answer it: is it as painful as they say? Almost passing out painful? Please say no. ><
Also... my aunt pooped liked a volcano shooting lava when she delivered her son. My mom told me some days ago. THEY RECORDED EVERYTHING ON CAMERA. Can you believe that? LOL
Hey Gretchen! I still haven't met Bug! Let me know when you're in town!
You'll have to wait for part II!
Oh, God. That's awful.
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I couldn't comment on your sits day post but who doesn't love a good labor story, lol. Mine is any day or in 2 weeks so I'm hooked on this topic. Congrats on being featured and your rap was wack ;) one day wack will be a good thing right? You'be got to have fun and it was.