Labor Story: Part I

Note: Gushing fluids, bodily functions, goop, pain, more gushing fluid, more pain, tender moments, football and love are discussed in this series of posts. After all it is a labor story :-)

The week before James was born had been really busy! Lots of fun activities for Quinn which we both enjoyed but when Friday came around it was time to have Mommy and Quinn time! I also had a feeling that James would be here really soon and I wanted to make sure I snuck in those last few precious one-on-one moments which I knew were going to be more rare in the up coming weeks. We had a fun relaxing day which was sorely needed. I was so big and tired it felt good just to lay on the floor and play. I had been having intense Braxton Hicks contractions for the past couple of nights and a couple false alarms and was feeling a little emotional as well as physical exhausted.

Saturday I felt pretty sick. Just nauseas and weird. I spent a lot of the afternoon sleeping. I remembered that the day before I had Quinn I had felt sick also and wondered if this was a sign James would be here soon. And maybe this is TMI, but as this is a true story I will mention that I had to go #2 a lot. something that I knew could happen before labor starts. That, the nasueas and the feeling that labor was coming made me sure it would be within the next couple of days but after feeling like I had been going into labor for a week I definitely did not think it would be that night. Especially since I still had two more weeks to go!

Around 5:30pm I was standing in the living room talking with Peter when all of a sudden I felt a little gush of fluid. I said "uh-oh!" and raced to the bathroom. Peter came running behind me. "What is it?"

"I think my water just broke" I replied but I felt stupid even as I said it. There was barely any fluid. It was probably just some lost bladder control, which made me feel even more stupid. I had been thinking I was going to labor so many times that week that I was jumping on every little thing. Yet at the same time it had felt a little different. I wasn't sure what had happened.

We discussed calling the midwives and decided that maybe we would wait a little just to be sure. We were supposed to be babysitting our friends' kids in about a half hour and I wasn't sure whether we should call and cancel. I would have hated to have called and said that we couldn't come to find out it really wasn't my water that had broken and that they had missed out on their date because I had no bladder control.

I decided to take a quick shower and as I was getting dressed noticed that there was a little more fluid. I ran, well waddled into the living room and told Peter I was pretty sure that it was my water that had broken. We called to cancel babysitting and worked on making some dinner. Bangers and Mash! I know England doesn't have a great culinary reputation but you can't beat bangers and mash, its awesome! Almost as good as fish and chips and probably just about as good for you.

After dinner I noticed, well ...nothing! We put Quinn to bed and turned on a movie. It was a great distraction but after it was over I was feeling really foolish. I wasn't in labor, I wasn't even feeling crampy like I had constantly all week. I went to the bathroom again because at 38 weeks pregnant thats pretty much all you ever do. This time however I noticed a lot more fluid. I was so relieved that I wasn't crazy and felt a lot more confident that it was my water that had broken. We called the midwife who was on call, Nancy. Yay for Nancy, she was one of the midwives I felt very comfortable with. The call was slightly discouraging though. She said that it sound a little suspicious that it really was my water that had broken as there was so little fluid but we should come in and be checked. She said we could come in that night or wait until morning. We opted to wait until the morning. We still had Quinn at home, and while Nancy had put a little doubt in my mind that my water had broken I was still sure that that was what was going on and was pretty sure I would go into labor if I just gave it a little time.

We were both getting pretty excited. Our little Jimmy bean would be here soon! We started putting some last minute things into the hospital bag, packed a bag for Quinn, put the last of the dishes in the dishwasher and tried to get things as ready as possible. I found our cell phones so we could charge them and I noticed we had missed a call from Jodee, the friend we were supposed to be babysitting for that night, offering to take Quinn for the night in case I did go into labor. We decided this was a good idea and took Quinn downstairs to their apartment. (Note to self: Always live in an apartment building with awesome friends with awesome kids that you trade babysitting with. Its fantastic!) I felt sad as I gave Quinn a hug goodbye. I was so unsure of how our family dynamic was going to change. I felt worried that I wouldn't be able to give Quinn the time and attention he needed. Even though its hard to stay home sometimes I wouldn't trade it for anything and I loved him and me just hanging out doing our thing. I was going to miss that, even if I was excited for another little son. I also didn't want this to be the last time I held him. It sounds so pessimistic but even with modern medicine things can go wrong in labor. It is one of the hardest things your body can do and even though the possibility is small women still lose their lives giving birth. I let myself be sad until Peter got back from taking him downstairs and they told my self to snap out of it. Everything was going to be fine. We were ready for another baby, we could do this! We went to bed feeling calm and excited, me still a little sad but happy at the same time and convinced that in a few hours I would be in labor.