Earlier that afternoon, I remember feeling a little “wetness” in my nether region. I even remember going to the bathroom to check and wondering if maybe I had just peed myself a bit (that happened at times later in my pregnancy whenever I would sneeze, cough, or laugh). Anyways, since it was just a little bit of wetness, I just assumed it was nothing and went on with my day. That evening, once I got home, I continued to have some “dribble” but didn’t really think it was anything to be worried about. I remember putting a maxi pad on just to be more comfortable.
By this time in my pregnancy, I was sleeping in the guest room due to many factors – I was very uncomfortable and moving around a lot (which was keeping Keith awake), I was snoring really loudly when I was able to fall asleep (which was keeping Keith awake) and my full body pregnancy pillow was taking up most of the bed (which was keeping Keith awake). All in all, neither of us was getting much rest, so I started sleeping in the guest room around 36 weeks. I remember waking up numerous times that night to pee, which was nothing new. The odd part was that the maxi pad that I had on had become really wet throughout the night, so I put a new one on. When I woke up around 6:30am to pee again and my pad was really wet & I even had to change my underwear, I knew something was not normal. [Honestly, I probably knew something was up around 3am but I was so tired, I just wanted to sleep and deal with it in the morning!]
I woke Keith up around 7am and told him I thought my water had maybe broken, but I wasn’t positive since it was like a “slow leak” instead of a “ big rush” like I had always pictured it would be. I was hesitant to call the doctor’s office for fear that I was jumping the gun, but I finally called around 7:30am. The on-call doctor, Dr. Montgomery, told me that I should come to the hospital if I thought something was going on. I remember saying, “If my water has indeed broken, I am going to be there for the long haul, right?” His reply, “Yes, you will be here until you return home with a baby. So, bring everything you will need.” I asked him if we had time to take showers and pack our things [I was going to be packing my hospital bag and finishing up organizing the nursery that weekend!]. He said that we could take our time, but should get to the hospital in a few hours. Needless to say, I was very anxious and a bit overwhelmed. I felt very unprepared and my mind seemed to go blank as to what I needed to bring with me. One of the funny things (that I can look back and laugh about now!) is that Keith took the carseat straight out of the box and put it in the car. We had just had three showers in the two weeks preceding and we hadn’t opened a lot of things! We really thought we had more time!
We got to the hospital around 10:15am and went straight to the Labor & Delivery floor. I remember thinking that this was very different than I had pictured it in my mind. I was feeling fine - no contractions, no heavy breathing, no “real” labor – I guess I pictured myself arriving in a different fashion! Once we checked in, the nurse took me to a labor & delivery room and started asking me a lot of questions. She asked me to change into a hospital gown and asked if I was still “leaking”. I said that I was but that I didn’t know if it was really my water that had broke or something else that was going on. When she looked at the soaked maxi pad (sorry for the gross details!) that I had just put on an hour before, she said “Oh yes, I am pretty sure that your water has broken. But we can test it to see if it is indeed amniotic fluid.” Well, you guessed it – the test came back positive. The nurse said, “Yes, your water has broken and chances are good that you will be having a baby sometime today.” I remember thinking OH MY GOSH! I am SO not ready for this!!
Dr. Montgomery came in and did an internal exam. He said that unfortunately I was not dilated at all and was only about 50% effaced. He then explained to me the protocol for the next few hours and what they were going to do. Since I was having no contractions or pain, it was clear that my body was going to need some help progressing into labor. They hooked me up to a fetal monitor to keep track of Jacob’s heartbeat and they also put a monitor on me to measure my contractions. They started me on a pitocin drip around 11am and said that they would be increasing it as the day went on. I remember the nurses would come in throughout the day and ask “Are you feeling any contractions or pain?” and when I would say “No”, they seemed a little disappointed. Once the pain did start, they seemed more pleased. I guess there is no such thing as a painless labor!
Around 2:30pm, my friends Dee & Lisa came to visit me. I was not aware that they were coming from Richmond to visit, but I was glad to have a distraction and really enjoyed their company. While they were there, I wasn’t really feeling any pain and was able to sit up in a chair. I was continuously "leaking" though so I had to have a rolled up towel stuffed between my legs - fun! Dr. Montgomery came in around 5:30pm and did another internal exam. He said that I was about 1 ½ cm dilated and said that was good. I remember being really disappointed and was hoping for more, but he said that it was good progression. I still wasn’t feeling much pain at that point (which was both good and bad) but around 6:15pm, when Dee and Lisa left, I started to feel some discomfort.
The contractions started coming and feeling stronger around 7pm. It was at this point that an angel walked into my room. Her name was Liz and she was going to be my nurse from 7pm-7am. She was the sweetest, most kind and caring person that I think I have ever met. She was also very funny and personable and we hit it off from the very beginning. I was so glad to have a wonderful nurse by my side and I remember thanking God that He had given me Liz to help me through this journey. Unfortunately for her, about the time she arrived was the time that I started experiencing some pretty bad pain, so she never got to see me “at my best”.
Knowing that I was in a bit of discomfort, Liz asked me what my birth plan was – did I want a pain-medicine free experience? Was I going to have an epidural as soon as I could? Or was I just going to go with the flow and see what I could handle? I told her that I was not by any means going to go pain-med free! [I know there are women out there that do it – my two sisters included! – but I was not interested in trying that!] I told her I wasn’t ruling out an epidural, but I did want to see how long I could go without it. She suggested that I get a dose of fentanyl, which is a narcotic that is used to “take the edge off”. Liz explained that I could get a “full” dose of fentanyl (which would take away most of my pain but I would only be able to get it every hour and it would wear off before the hour was up) or I could get a “half” dose every 30 minutes. I opted, at first, for the half dose to see how it helped me manage the pain I was feeling. I remember feeling some relief for a short time, but the pain seemed to come back pretty quickly. That 30 minutes until the next dose seemed like forever!! At 7:30pm I got the second "half" dose and then at 8:30pm, Liz administered a “full” dose of the fentanyl and that seemed to help a little longer, but then the pain returned. At 8:45pm, Dr. Montgomery came in to do an internal exam and he said I was progressing nicely but I was only at 3 cm! I remember him saying that he thought it might be a long night!
To be continued…
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