Joel's Birth Story: From the Mom's Perspective (Part I, Early Labor)

Many people had told me that on the day they gave birth, they woke up feeling that something big was going to happen that day--that they just intuitively knew that was labor day. Every day from 37 weeks on, I would wake up and think, "Do I feel different? Is today the day?" And every day a tiny bit of disappointment would trickle in when I didn't feel different. I had everything prepared at school so that if I went into labor over the winter break, it would be ready for the sub. Winter break came and went. I went to school day after day trying to keep a polite smile on my face when I got asked over and over and over again, "You haven't had that baby yet!?" I'd look down at my big belly. All signs pointed to no.

I love my job, but it was getting more and more difficult to go and there were stressors that were not helpful to me, the baby, or the labor process. Justin and I decided that I would start my leave on Tuesday, January 21st whether the baby had come or not. That weekend we tried some "natural" ways to induce labor. All old wives' tales with no proof that they actually work, but it was worth a shot--I did exercises, walked, ate spicy Mexican food, etc. On Tuesday, we had an appointment with Shannon at 5:00. The week before I had dilated to 1 cm. At this appointment I was dilated to 2 cm and I chose to have my membranes swept in an attempt to get labor moving. Shannon said if it was going to help, things would start moving within 24 to 48 hours. Afterward I felt very crampy. Justin and I went to dinner and enjoyed what we thought would be the last evening with just the two of us. I thought for sure I would go into labor during the night. But I woke up the next morning with no apparent change. Shannon and Hunter (my doula) had told me to let them know if my mucus plug came out. Around 9 on Wednesday, it did. I texted them both, but at that point I had no regular contractions. Losing the mucus plug does not necessarily mean labor will happen immediately. It could be days up to weeks, so I tried not to get too excited. Around 10, contractions did start coming every 15 minutes or so, but were very manageable.

My glasses had broken in half the night before and I needed to go get new ones. Time was of the essence since it seemed baby might be coming soon and I was thinking it would be nice to be able to see him! Justin had gone to work so I asked him to come home so that he could go with me to get glasses. I wanted his help tracking contractions and didn't want to be away from home by myself if labor picked up. He got home soon after and we went to Willowbrook Mall. I needed my eye doctor to fax the prescription to the eye glass place. Of course we got there around noon and the doctor was closed from 12 to 1, so we had to wait for them to reopen. We walked around the mall, ate lunch, ordered a birthday cookie cake for Joel in hopes that we would be celebrating soon, and finally got to pick out glasses. Contractions were coming every 10 minutes or so. When one came on, we would stop walking and wait for it to pass, but they were still manageable. We used an app to track them that we were able to e-mail to Shannon. We sent it to her around 12:45. I wanted to know if I should tell my parents to start their 5 hour trip down. At that time, contractions were still inconsistent and weren't lasting terribly long. Shannon was very kind and encouraging, but I kind of felt like she was thinking, "Oh, how adorable...Kacy thinks this is labor..." :) It wasn't hard labor, to be sure, but I was hopeful it was the real deal.

I picked out new glasses frames, but it would be several hours before they were ready so we headed home and my mother-in-law picked them up later. At 2:45ish, we arrived home and decided to rest for a little bit before going to the chiropractor when he opened at 3:30. By that time, contractions were coming every 5-6 minutes. We walked into the chiropractor and the line was sooo long. The receptionist said (tongue-in-cheek) that she was disappointed to see us that day because she was hoping we'd be having a baby. I said, "We're about to! Contractions are about 5 minutes apart." Some people in the line heard me say that and insisted that we go ahead of them. We gladly accepted their offer! I felt really good after getting adjusted. My neck, spine, and hips were lined up, which would help make sure baby was in the right position, ultimately helping me during labor.

After the chiropractor, we went to Shannon's house because I wanted to be checked to see if any progress had been made. During the check-up I had a little mini-meltdown. I blame hormones and being tired, but for some reason everything just hit me and I started doubting my ability to labor without medication. I had a little cry session, Shannon & Justin gave me some words of encouragement and I felt better.

When she checked me around 5 o'clock, I had moved from 2 cm to 3 cm. She swept my membranes again in hopes of getting things moving. And boy did things get moving!

To be continued in Part II, found here.