Tristansmom
TTC #3
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2015
- Messages
- 575
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Can't believe it's already been ten days!!
I'll dive right into the story starting the day before everything happened. I had really wanted to deliver on Labour Day for a lot of reasons - logistics mostly, as my partner works out of town and my mum was in for the weekend. I just wanted the reassurance someone would be there to look after my 6yo son. So when Sunday night rolled around without the tiniest sign - no plug, no increased discharge, no increase in BH, nothing - well, considering that my dr couldn't even do a sweep the previous Wednesday because my cervix was too closed, I was feeling pretty discouraged.
Out of desperation I took one tablespoon of castor oil - I was afraid to take anymore despite reading that most women take 2 to 4 oz of the stuff! Well, I don't know if that's what did it (I never got the runs, which makes me think not) but I woke up at 2:30 am that night to use the toilet and couldn't get comfortable again. I was so tired and out of it that it took probably an hour for me to figure out that I was having contractions! I continued to try to sleep until 6, with contractions about every 10 minutes or so, and then texted my partner to tell her she should leave work at noon (she works 6 hours away from home - but I had three days of prodormal labour with my son so I figured it would be at least half that this time).
I puttered around doing laundry etc. with contractions coming about every 6-7 minutes and lasting 45-60 seconds. I figured I'd try for a nap since the contractions were still only mildly to moderately painful so I laid down at 9:30. By 9:35 I'd texted my partner to say come home NOW, do NOT wait until noon, because lying down the contractions were absolutely unbearable! So now I was stuck standing or walking to keep them manageable lol... So I continued with housework, dishes, laundry, anything that didn't involve bending over...! Meanwhile my mum was a star with Tristan; I really couldn't have done it without her, as he wanted more attention than I could spare during a pain!
My partner got home at 4:30 pm and suddenly I was much calmer and felt more in control. We had supper (I was STARVED) and a shower and then, since my pains were about every 5 minutes and lasting 75 seconds, we called L and D. I explained about my last labour and the nurse listened to me have a contraction over the phone, said she thought I was in active labour but likely still early stages and to come in about an hour. By this time it was after 7 pm so we gathered bags and so on and got ready to leave.
By the time we got into the car at 8:30 I was really struggling, and having to sit through the contractions was horrible. My partner had to stop the car for each one - and as an added bonus the fuel light went on right after we got in the car! So on top of the 30 minute drive to the hospital we also had to get fuel and stop for every pain... It took 45 minutes to get to the hospital!
Once we were there, a nurse got me a room immediately and I had another contraction as we walked through the door of the room. I must have been vocalizing a lot because when I opened my eyes there were four nurses in the room, one holding a gown out for me and telling me she needed to check me ASAP! I was so surprised to hear that I was at 8 cm already!!! She paged the dr and he broke my water on the next contraction - I was complete immediately after that.
Ruby Elizabeth was born at 10:09, less than 45 minutes after getting into a room, 7 lbs 8 oz, completely unmedicated hospital delivery.
I'll dive right into the story starting the day before everything happened. I had really wanted to deliver on Labour Day for a lot of reasons - logistics mostly, as my partner works out of town and my mum was in for the weekend. I just wanted the reassurance someone would be there to look after my 6yo son. So when Sunday night rolled around without the tiniest sign - no plug, no increased discharge, no increase in BH, nothing - well, considering that my dr couldn't even do a sweep the previous Wednesday because my cervix was too closed, I was feeling pretty discouraged.
Out of desperation I took one tablespoon of castor oil - I was afraid to take anymore despite reading that most women take 2 to 4 oz of the stuff! Well, I don't know if that's what did it (I never got the runs, which makes me think not) but I woke up at 2:30 am that night to use the toilet and couldn't get comfortable again. I was so tired and out of it that it took probably an hour for me to figure out that I was having contractions! I continued to try to sleep until 6, with contractions about every 10 minutes or so, and then texted my partner to tell her she should leave work at noon (she works 6 hours away from home - but I had three days of prodormal labour with my son so I figured it would be at least half that this time).
I puttered around doing laundry etc. with contractions coming about every 6-7 minutes and lasting 45-60 seconds. I figured I'd try for a nap since the contractions were still only mildly to moderately painful so I laid down at 9:30. By 9:35 I'd texted my partner to say come home NOW, do NOT wait until noon, because lying down the contractions were absolutely unbearable! So now I was stuck standing or walking to keep them manageable lol... So I continued with housework, dishes, laundry, anything that didn't involve bending over...! Meanwhile my mum was a star with Tristan; I really couldn't have done it without her, as he wanted more attention than I could spare during a pain!
My partner got home at 4:30 pm and suddenly I was much calmer and felt more in control. We had supper (I was STARVED) and a shower and then, since my pains were about every 5 minutes and lasting 75 seconds, we called L and D. I explained about my last labour and the nurse listened to me have a contraction over the phone, said she thought I was in active labour but likely still early stages and to come in about an hour. By this time it was after 7 pm so we gathered bags and so on and got ready to leave.
By the time we got into the car at 8:30 I was really struggling, and having to sit through the contractions was horrible. My partner had to stop the car for each one - and as an added bonus the fuel light went on right after we got in the car! So on top of the 30 minute drive to the hospital we also had to get fuel and stop for every pain... It took 45 minutes to get to the hospital!
Once we were there, a nurse got me a room immediately and I had another contraction as we walked through the door of the room. I must have been vocalizing a lot because when I opened my eyes there were four nurses in the room, one holding a gown out for me and telling me she needed to check me ASAP! I was so surprised to hear that I was at 8 cm already!!! She paged the dr and he broke my water on the next contraction - I was complete immediately after that.
Ruby Elizabeth was born at 10:09, less than 45 minutes after getting into a room, 7 lbs 8 oz, completely unmedicated hospital delivery.
