Countdown to Macario's 1st Birthday: Early Labor

At this very moment, on this exact day last year I woke up in labor (actually I guess we're off by a day since this is a leap year, but I can't let myself fixate on that because it might crash my brain). I was 5 days past my due date and scheduled to be induced on April 19, 2011 at 5:30 p.m.

A couple days prior to this (Friday 4/15) I had my last day of work and was contracting as usual. I wasn't concerned about the contractions, however, because every time they started to come closer together they would stall out. I also didn't think that the contractions were causing any change in my cervix because at last check I was still dilated to less than 1 cm! I truly believed that the baby was not going to come willingly and that we were going to have to force him out.

During my lunch hour, on that last day of work, I headed over to WalMart (can't remember what I needed to get). As I walked across the parking lot to the store entrance, I felt something bulging between my legs. I thought to myself, "Oh my gosh his cord is coming out!" With that in mind, I walked carefully to the store, keeping my legs as close together as I could as I headed straight for the bathroom.

I knew that if his cord was coming out I'd have to get down on all fours, keeping my head low and my bottom high, but before I got down on the bathroom floor I decided I'd see if I could tell what it was I was feeling. So, I washed my hands and then went into a stall to check. I was relieved when I discovered that the bulge I felt was actually my mucus plug! I had not lost any of my plug prior to this, and since I was past my due date I was sure I was going to go into labor that day!

For the rest of that day I was very crampy and lost another big piece of my plug in the restroom at work.  I finished out my work day and headed home to rest. That night was fairly uneventful which discouraged me. I was no longer as certain I was not so sure that I was going to go into labor. I felt defeated and frustrated, but I had my induction date and I knew my baby would be here by the next week, so I decided I was just going to enjoy my last days of pregnancy.

Saturday morning was quiet too. I wasn't feeling much besides some cramps for most of the day. Even though I had decided I was going to savor every last minute of my pregnancy, I couldn't help but check the toilet paper for more of my plug every time I used the restroom. That night, I had a tiny bit of bloody show, but because it was such a small amount I decided not to read into it and went to bed.

Sunday 4/17, I woke up at 8:30 a.m. feeling some uncomfortable cramping and some "Braxton Hicks" contractions. At the time I had described them as"Braxton Hicks" because the contractions themselves were not painful, but I could tell I was having them because my stomach kept getting REALLY hard and they were slightly uncomfortable.

I was going to clean and make breakfast that day, but I decided to sit down and relax instead. I wanted to be rested for my induction. I figured the contractions would wear off as usual and when they did I'd get up and make breakfast.  Eventually I fell asleep there on the couch (it's unusual for me to nap. I may have napped twice the whole time I was pregnant). When I woke up, Aaron asked, "feel better?" I told him what had been happening and how exhausted I was feeling from it and he said, "Well your body is telling you, you need to rest. I don't think you're going to make it until the induction on Tuesday."

We had plans to go visit Aaron's mom, but he called her to tell her I needed to stay home and rest and that is what we did. I "contracted" like that the whole day. The sensations were not painful, but whenever my stomach would tense up I'd have to pause and wait for it to pass. My stomach continued to get really hard at regular intervals, but I refused to "wast time timing them". Even though it was not painful, all of the contracting was really wearing me out. I didn't think I was in labor, so I was annoyed that I was having all these contractions for no good reason.

The contractions continued all day and into the night. I remember that before bed that night I thought, "I bet I'll wake up in the morning and the contractions will have stopped," that was a frustrating thought after having contracted ALL DAY, but I wouldn't have been surprised if that had been the case. Unfortunately I did not get a very good night's sleep. I struggled to fall asleep that night and was fully awake from 3:00 a.m. on. I let Aaron sleep because I still wasn't sure if I was truly in labor since the contractions were not painful. I was still convinced that they'd eventually stall out as before.

When Aaron woke up that morning (Monday 4/18) he asked how I was feeling. I told him I had been up all night, but that I was not in any pain. He asked if he should stay home from work that day and I said no, reassuring him that the contractions would eventually quit. Though he was concerned, I insisted he go to work because I didn't think I was in labor. I told him to keep his phone handy just in case and promised that I would rest up for the next day (induction day). At that point I really felt that I was still going to need the induction and was waiting around for the contractions to fizzle.

I spent the day trying to get everything cleaned up (not that there was much to do), but mostly I was on the couch resting. I was already exhausted from the lack of sleep and from contracting all day Sunday, so I decided I really did need to rest up for the big day. 

Eventually the contractions were getting to be slightly uncomfortable, but still very tolerable. By the time Aaron got home (around 5 that evening) they were coming every 10/11 minutes. They started to come closer together as in about 7 minutes apart. They were becoming slightly more uncomfortable and I was having to close my eyes and breath through them, but still they were manageable. Aaron looked over at me as I was breathing through one contraction and he made a joke that the baby was kicking my butt. His exact words were, "Man. My son is kicking your ass!"  I laughed because it was funny, but even though they had started to become painful the contractions were still so tolerable that I couldn't believe I was in labor.

My doctor had previously told me I should call when my contractions were 5 minutes apart, lasting 1 minute each for a period of 1 hour. Since my contractions were still only about 7ish minutes apart, I didn't think I was "in labor." In the weeks leading up to this, I had several episodes of Braxton Hicks contractions which were very consistent and very close together, but every time I called into labor and delivery I was turned away by the nurses in L/D. So, when all of this was going on I didn't even bother to call. I continued to wait things out on the couch. Now that I am thinking back, I don't know what I thought being "in labor" meant. There are several stages of labor and I had not recognized that I had been in the early stages of labor since Sunday morning (4/17).

As the day went on, the pain started to become a bit more intense. Aaron kept asking, "are you sure you shouldn't call them?" and I would say, "No. They're just going to tell me to wait they always tell me to wait." Suddenly, I was hit with a big one! I tried to just breathe through it, but I needed help. I called Aaron to me and I held onto him until the contraction passed. When it was over he could see that I was crying, so he said, "You need to call them right now!"

As I called the nurses, Aaron jumped in the shower. During the many times I called before, the nurses would ask questions like "How far along are you? How many minutes apart are your contractions? How long are they lasting? On a scale of 1 to 10 how is your pain?" but this time, as I breathed through a contraction I said, "I'm 40+ weeks pregnant and I'm having a lot of contractions." the nurse said, "By the sound of your voice, I think it's safe to say you need to come in. How long will it take you to get here?" Until that point, I did not believe I was in labor. Even with all the contractions, the crying, the pain, I didn't believe it until she said, "you need to come in".

I don't remember us getting in the car, Aaron packing things in the car, the drive to the hospital, or anything. I just remember walking into the hospital with Aaron. We arrived there at about 9:30 p.m. We were both very excited and extremely anxious. I do remember us calling our families. I always told Aaron that if I went into labor at night that I didn't want to call family until morning because I wanted that last night to be just the two of us, but I wasn't sure how long we had so we called our families to come and wait with us.

I was admitted sometime around 10:00 p.m. and I took an epidural so that I could relax and get some rest. Before that day, I wasn't sure whether I would want the epidural or not, but by the time we got to the hospital the contractions were coming on top of one another (one was blending into the next with no break), so I decided to get the epidural. I was exhausted from contracting for so long (by that point it had been 37 plus hours of contractions beginning Sunday morning 8:30 a.m.) and I since I had very little sleep the day prior I didn't think I could tolerate another night without sleep. It was the smartest decision I made given that I was only dilated to 4 cm by the time we were admitted, but it was one I hoped not to have to make.

That night I slept fairly well. The only thing that kept me from getting good rest was worrying that Aaron wasn't going to get enough rest. He had given up his bed to his mom and the only chair in the room to my mom so he was sleeping on the ground, standing, and even a little bit in my bed.

Every time the nurses would come in to check on me he would be interrupted and I just felt horrible for him. We made it through the night, however. Little did we know, we still had another long day ahead of us.