Sorry for the delay, here is Colton's birth story!
On Sunday early morning I had terrible contractions. I was timing them and they were one minute long and five minutes apart. They started at 1am but never got closer together. At 5am I decided to get up and get dressed to go to the hospital. Very curiously the contractions, which had me writhing in my bed, stopped. No more signs of labor. I was pretty upset, and a little scared because if that WASN'T labor, how bad would labor be? We went to a parade, and I walked a fair distance and stood the whole time. Still no more signs of imminent labor. Every time I went to the loo I checked for bloody show or losing my plug. Nothing. By some miracle I went to bed early, and managed to fall right to a very good, deep sleep.
At 4:30am, I woke with a very painful tightening in my stomach. I figured I just needed to pee, as that had been a very familiar feeling at just the same time every morning for the last week or so. I went pee, then had a VERY strong contraction. I made note of the time, flushed and walked back to bed. I didn't even make it to the bed and another one came on. I couldn't breathe, couldn't move. Just held the bed and tippy-toed through it. After it passed I went back to the loo to try to pee again, look for show, and generally to figure out what on earth just happened. I think my hind waters broke at that point because I sort of "leaked" into the toilet, it wasn't urine as I had just went. I went back and forth between trying to go back to bed and going back to sit on the toilet to try to have a BM (maybe it was that again?) but finally at 5am I started timing them with my phone app. One minute apart! DH got up at this point to wake my mom and get ready to go to the hospital. I was trying to hold out until 5:30am as that is when the neighbor would be waking and said she could watch DD for us. At 5:20am I sent DH over to the neighbor's house with DD even though it was early because I simply couldn't take it anymore. At 5:30am we rushed to the hospital. The car ride was one long 7 minute contraction. The main entrance was closed so we had to use the emergency entrance, but DH accidentally dropped me off at the Ambulance entrance, so I had to walk to the ER entrance. One very rushed wheelchair ride later, I was in L&D. The nurse started checking me into the computer system, and it was the most aggravating thing in the world to be asked question after question after question, having to answer in between contractions and not being able to focus on mentally controlling the pain. In the end I was laying in the bed screaming through every contraction. I was very self-conscious of the fact I was screaming. I hated it. I was already 7cm dialated, but they still called the anesthesiologist to come give me an epidural. THANK GOD. I was really struggling by then. Even after the epidural I continued to feel the contractions enough to have to yell through them, although they were significantly dulled in between.
Colton was born at 8:36am after only 5 pushes. He had the cord wrapped around his neck twice, but he was just fine. It was 4 hours from the first contraction to the last, and I was basically in transition the entire time without any build up. Despite laboring down as much as possible I still ended up tearing up the same scar line I had torn with DD. But despite it all we are both doing great.
I wonder how on earth I will cope with having a newborn again when I am struggling so much with these last few days- eek! X
