I'll start with Monday - yes, last Monday the 5th. I started having noticable contractions and lost a lot of mucus plug starting at noon. It was great timing, as we were scheduled to see Nancy at 3:00 that day. We reported the news and when she checked me I was at 1.5 cm dilated - that was more that I ever dilated with Emmett without having Nancy strip my membranes! She offered to do the same this time, and I took a deep breath and said, "Yes please!" She did this twice with Emmett and it was painful both times, but I also had a baby within 24 hours of her help. However, his head wasn't quite in position so she said to come back on Wednesday in the evening.
Wednesday came and I got a phone call that she had another mother there in labor, so we would need to come Thursday morning. I wasn't dilated any more than Monday, and I hadn't had any noteworthy contractions since then. He gave us such a tease and it was making me impatient! But by this time I resigned myself to the fact that I could very well be pregnant another week, and to just let him come when he was ready.
Friday night came and I started having strong enough contractions that I didn't sleep at all, but rather laid on the couch binge watching shows and deep breathing through each contraction. They were managable, and I labored like that from midnight to about 6AM. I dozed off and got a two-hour nap before we started our weekend. It was a BEAUTIFUL Saturday here in the PNW, so we ate it up! We played with Emmett in our cul de sac and at the park across the street. I had Jusitn take a picture of how big I was - which I'm glad I thought to do as I would be having a baby within the next day! I was having contractions this whole time, but because we were busy it was easy to go about our day while they were doing their work. That night I actually had two MK parties booked that I had planned to give to other consultants in my unit, but because I was feeling good I decided "What the heck!" So I went ahead and did them, and thank goodness I did because 1.) I sold lots of product and gained some new customers and 2.) it really helped take my mind off the contractions that started coming stronger.
When I got home at 8:30 I took an epsom salt bath and spent time with Justin until he went to bed. There would be no sleep for me for the second night in a row. I wasn't due to see Nancy again until Monday, but I decided that I would call her the next morning and ask if she could check me and strip my membranes if the baby's head was in good position so I wouldn't have to go through another sleepless night.
So! At this point little did I know that my contractions were doing great work. In my mind they weren't coming nearly strong enough yet, and not consistend enough to start worrying about timing. This is based on my first experience where I had similar - but even more difficult - contractions all night long only to go in and my cervix hadn't budged AT ALL! So here was me, thinking what a pain it was to be having all these stupid contractions that were stong enough to keep me from sleeping but not strong enough to be doing anything to my cervix. Ha!
Well, I was one happy momma to have the time spring forward an hour. I labored in the tub from 1-4 and then transitioned to the couch. From 4 - 6 I worked through contractions that would start out managable, but then the infamous shooting leg pain started. So back to the tub I went to let gravity take the pressure off whatever was causing that in my legs. By this time I started to feel pressure on my rectum, so I knew baby was way down. But like I said - my contractions were still so sporadic so I figured I had a long ways to go yet. Justin came down at 6:00 to be with me and from 6-8 I continued to labor in and out of the tub. At 8:00 I told Justin to call Nancy to give her an update. When he told her I was feeling pressure on my rectum she told him to have us come in right away. So we got Emmett up, Justin dropped him off at his parents, I got dressed, and we headed out the door into the beautiful spring day.
I was dreading going to be honest, because laboring in the car is the worst and she is a 30 minute drive from us. Also, I wasn't certain I'd be dilated enough so I was preparing myself for bad news. During the drive I was able to relax through most of the contraction, but toward the end I would feel that pressure on my rectum and have an urge to push, so fighting that off was tough work. "Besides," I would think, "I still have a long way to go before I push this baby out."
Well, Nancy checked me and reported that I was "almost complete" at 9cm. WHAT?! I just started crying! Oh my gosh! All I had to do now was PUSH?!?! Are you kidding me? I was completely shocked and relieved. Here I was praying to be more than 1.5 cm! Thank goodness we called and left when we did! My water hadn't broken yet, and she said it would probably break on its own with the next few contractions. When it didn't, she offered to break my water so I could start pushing - yes please! The difference in pushing this time around was that with Emmett my contractions came every 2 minutes or so but these ones were more like 4 minutes apart. After the first push Nancy said she could see his head and asked Justin to trade spots with Ingrid (Nancy's assistant) so he was ready to catch him. A few pushes later I could feel the ring of fire! One or two more pushes and I would be done! When his head was part way out, Justin said the cord was wrapped around his neck, and I felt Nancy's energy shift with a sense of urgency as she and Ingrid pushed my legs back and told me to finish on this push and get him out. Justin said he was quite purple and they worked on him after placing him on my belly to get him going and sure enough his strong little cry rang out.
So there you have it! I am thrilled to not be pregnant anymore! This recovery is also going much better than my first birth - lots less bleeding and I didn't injure my tailbone with this delivery, so I feel amazing! The only thing is I'm lacking quite a bit of sleep between two sleepless nights prior to Logan's birth and then the first night home was quite sleepless as well. But I am still riding the birth high and I'm feeling great. We saw Nancy again this morning and got Logan all checked out. He and I are both healthy as can be.
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