Labor Begins!

Posted On: 2011-02-02

Part II:

I continued to have contractions on the way home so at 4pm I decided to call my midwife and let her know that I was still having them. I called again at 7pm to let her know the contractions weren't getting anymore painful and she advised me to take a bath and see if that helps slow them down. I did that and they did slow down so I decided to get some sleep around 7:30pm. For the next half hour the contractions returned and got so strong and painful that there was no way I was going to be able to get any rest. I finally got up from bed at 8:00pm because I had a waive of nausea... and that's when I knew I was in labor.

I called my doula and let her know that I had had loose stool and felt sick when I was laying down, she confirmed that I was in labor and told me to call my midwife and let her know. My midwife had a birth earlier in the day (in fact they left for it right after my appointment) and were still doing clinic for the women that were able to reschedule their appointments for later in the afternoon/evening. She said that they would come by and see how I was doing after clinic unless I needed them sooner. I let he know that I was ok waiting until they left at 9pm.

The next decision was whether or not to call my doula and have her head over or wait until my midwife got here and checked to see how much I was dilated. My water still hadn't broke and I wasn't 100% convinced it was labor until I threw up five times around 8:30pm. My body was definitely trying to clear itself out... and ugh, I ate a peanut butter and honey sandwich for dinner. Around 9:10pm I realized that the contractions were getting too strong for me to handle on my own so I called my doula to request that she come over.

My midwife and her two assistants got here first around 9:30pm, I was 3.5cm. Oh the dread. Here I thought 10 hours of contractions every 5 minutes would have done more than just 2cm's worth of dilation! The assistants went to work. They removed all the blankets from our bed as well as the fitted sheet. They they put a shower curtain liner down on the mattress and put the fitted sheet back on over it. Another shower curtain liner was place on the floor along the side of the bed. See the list of supplies I purchased for my home birth here: Planning A Home Birth

My doula arrived within minutes after that and began to help me through the contractions. You can read more about her role in my birth here: IMHO: Birth Doula. For the first few hours of strong contractions I used my birthing ball and swayed side to side through the roughest parts but shortly after my doula got there though I lay on my side in bed. The contractions were more painful this way but that meant more progress!

Just a little after 10pm I began to get vocal during contractions so my husband called his mom to come pick up Dylan for the night. We also decided to wait to break my water after he left because it was holding up the labor. I didn't mind waiting through more contractions while I waited for my son to be picked up because I didn't want him scared or have any memory of me screaming in pain that night.

After Dylan left my midwife broke my water and I began to have stronger contractions. As soon as I got the urge to push she had me lay on back. I remember thinking "Wow, she is really passionate about her job" because she was up on the bed, grabbed my foot, and placed it on her shoulder! One of her assistants was helping hold my other leg. No matter what I was trying to fight the urge to push because I didn't think I was dilated enough but it turns out I went from 3.5cm to 10cm in less than 30 minutes!

Part III will be next Wednesday!

You may also be interested in reading:

Part I: Stripping Membranes After My First Contractions

Planning A Home Birth

IMHO: Birth Doula