how it all went down: Monday & Tuesday

Before I start, I just want to say that when someone has been through a heavy experience, don't underestimate the power of these four words: "tell me what happened." I've sat down a million times over the last couple weeks wanting to write this down and not being able to, mostly because labor was obscenely long (56 hours?) and then I had a bunch of stuff to resolve in my own brain about how everything turned out. All that being said, I really enjoyed being in labor...call me crazy but I think there are few times in life when your brain is forced to take a back seat and all there is left is what your senses give you, and then you get to react accordingly. It was kind of like being at a really awesome concert.

So anyway.

Monday

 morning meant I was 42 weeks and 1 day and we decided to do some natural induction stuff, so I ended up drinking the castor oil smoothie, which ended up in some cramps but nothing really consistent. That was also the day of the midwife visit and the membrane stripping *shudder* and the discussion of baby positioning (less than favorable). I think I walked the mile home from my midwife's office that day. I was in touch with my doula, who spoke with my midwfe about what was going on position-wise, and she adjusted me accordingly (closed off my right hip in hopes the baby would scoot over to where it was supposed to). 

Tuesday

  about 3:30am is when we officially say that labor started. I had contractions every 15 minutes 

6:00am contractions were less regular. It was decided to do the castor oil/breast pump/walking again...on the walk I puked up all the castor oil smoothie (surprised? no?) and then by 

7:30am I had contractions between 7-15 minutes, and then by 

12:30pm I had contractions every 5-7 minutes. They were not very strong, and I was pretty much just in early labor.

2:00pm I was scheduled for another sonogram to make sure that the baby was STILL okay, still with lots of fluid and still with a good heart rate (of course she was). During that visit I was hooked up to a contraction monitor, and the technicians said, "ummmm....did you know you're having really regular contractions?" and "yeah...when are you going to the birth center?" 

4:30pm We had another scheduled visit with my midwfe, so we went over there and found out I was 2cm dilated, and she said to go home and rest. My mom drew me a bath and me and Kyle hung out, talking when suddenly...

6:30pm my water broke, which was really gross. I felt a pop and a squish and stood up in the tub, freaking out a little bit - mostly because I couldn't believe it actually happened, and also because if I had continued laying in the tub I would be laying in amniotic fluid, and it just grossed me out. For the record, SINCE the whole labor and birth thing, there's not a whole lot that grosses me out. Just sayin'. I texted my midwife and my doula, both agree that it doesn't so much change the game plan of resting and waiting for labor to pick up, and my doula said that when contractions get so bad that I can't sleep, call her. I tried to sleep for about 15 minutes and it was impossible. 

7:30pm doula came over about , when labor started to kick up. I labored around the house, walked a lot, sat in various chairs, held on to Kyle, danced around, made lots of noise.

9:30pm contractions were about 2-3 minutes apart, so my doula called my midwife so she could hear what I sounded like. Doula asked for 2 hours to labor around the house, expecting that I was about to hit transitional labor and would be about a 6 or 7.  Midwife gave us 1 hour.

10:30pm we head to the birth center (btw: being in a car while in labor SUCKS.) where we find out that I am STILL 2cm. The midwife's suggestion is to go home and help me relax.  On the way home, K, the doula, and I decide that instead of sleeping, to keep doing the labor thing if I felt good. That's about the time labor started getting a little intense.