Kira's due date was December 5th, 2009. That came and went uneventfully. I didn't even have any Braxton Hicks contractions. So I was given a few suggestions on how to bring on labour and we made an appointment for a non-stress test for December 12th.
Thursday morning (December 10th) at about 3:30 am I woke up with major pain. It felt like a really bad period. It being the middle of the night, I had no idea what was going on. All I knew is that I'd get this pain, I'd sit up and it would go away so I'd lay back down again, and sure enough it would come back. I went on like this for about 2 hours before I finally realized that maybe these might be contractions.
My contractions were not very regular and over 1/2 an hour apart, so I decided to carry on with my day as planned. (Both Jane and Jocelyn had told me to try and ignore these for as long as possible) I went for coffee that morning and none were the wiser. (Except for my mom who I told). After coffee I decided it might be a good idea to phone Jane (Our Midwife) and Jocelyn (Our Doula) and give them a heads up on what was going on. Jane assured me that this might go on for awhile, so my mom and I went shopping.
Jane came over to our house Thursday night to see how I was doing. When she checked me I was 2 cm dilated. She also noticed something interesting about my contractions. After feeling my tummy through a few contractions, she realized I was actually only feeling about half of the contraction. She gave me some strategies on how to cope and told me to phone her if things progressed. So when I was ready to go to bed I took a long bath, which slowed down the contractions and I was able to get some sleep. I repeated this process at about 2am and got some more sleep.
Friday I laid low. Nothing was really happening. The contractions had gotten a little closer together and a little more regular, but they were still about 10 to 20 minutes apart. I spent the afternoon sleeping in 20 minute naps. I talked to both Jane and Jocelyn throughout the day. Jocelyn had told me that the contractions needed to be 5 minutes aparts and a minute long for an hour before it was considered active labour. She had also mentioned that she was going to drop by and see how we were doing at about 7:30 pm.
So that was my goal. Ryan and I started roughly timing my contractions. Sure enough, come 6:30 pm my contractions started being 5 minutes apart. Jocelyn arrived a little before 7:30 and we started writing down contractions. at about 8:00 pm Jocelyn phoned Jane to tell her where we were. Jane told her to put me in the bath. If the contractions slowed down, I wasn't in active labour yet. If the sped up or stayed the same I was in active labour. After being in the tub for about half an hour, 45 minutes, it was clear these contractions were NOT slowing down. THANK THE HEAVENS.
Jocelyn phoned Jane back and Jane decided to come and check on us. Jocelyn had to go out for just a little bit to organize her family for the night. So Ryan and I were on our own for about an hour. Both Jane and Jocelyn were back with us at about 10:00pm.
When Jane arrived she started doing her assessments. She discovered that I was severity dehydrated and needed iv fluids to prevent any complications. So before we headed to the hospital, Jane put an iv in and got the fluids going. (I remember she ended up giving me like 2 bags in about 45 minutes) They then got me into the car and off we went. From this point on things get a little cloudy. I will recount the best that I can.
We got to the hospital around midnight. Once there they got me settled as much as possible and checked me again. I was 5-6 cm dilated. My contractions were strong and steady and things seemed to be progressing well. At this point everyone (Jocelyn, Jane and Ryan) was trying to support me in what ever way they could. Holding me, supporting me as I bounced on the birthing ball, dancing with me and rubbing my back.
At one point, I was sitting on the bed and Jane was sitting in front of me. I had my hands on her hands on her lap. After a particularly strong contraction, she very calmly said to me “Michelle, I know it is very intense, but you need to relax your muscles in between contractions. I can handle a lot, but you are crushing my hand” I let go and laughed and apologized.
After a couple of hours of this, it seemed like I had sort of stalled out. I had not really made any progress. Also baby hadn't even engaged yet. Jane could feel baby's head just sitting at the top of my pelvis trying to figure out which way it wanted to go. It was about 3:30am and Jocelyn went and told my mom (who was in the waiting room) that it would probably be quite awhile yet because there hadn't been a lot of progress.
When it was apparent that I hadn't made a lot of progress, Jane and Jocelyn went into pro-active mode. They started steps to help me progress. I remember them making me squat down in the shower in hopes of dropping baby down. At one point they made me get up on the bed on my hands and knees. They then took a sheet and lifted up on my very heavy baby belly. That part felt really good. What they did next did not. They began jiggling my tummy back and forth. I was very thankful they didn't do this during a contraction because it was awful.
Lastly they made me walk. I remember hearing Jocelyn tell Jane that we were going to walk 3 laps around the ward. In my head I thought “Ya right, I am NOT walking” I protested a bit, but they forced me anyway. It was the very longest walk I have ever taken. I counted every corner and made sure we only made one lap.
At some point after our walk, the contractions became unbearable. No matter what I did I just couldn't cope. I would just cry through them. I remember whimpering that I just wanted to sleep. I was so tired. I begged Jane to give me something to help me sleep. She reminded me that I was so close and that I could get through this. Looking back, I was obviously in transition.
I asked for the laughing gas. Jane told me that it wouldn't help me sleep, it would only take the edge off the contractions. I tried it anyway. I got so dizzy after the first contraction that I had to sit down on the bed. As the second contraction came, Jocelyn handed me the mask again. I went to put it to my mouth and thought “I don't want this” and threw it. Jocelyn had to catch it and put it back on the bed.
I was doing a lot of moving back and forth from the bed to standing to try and find a position to help me cope but it just wasn't happening. At one point, I stood up and there was a huge gush of water and I couldn't help but push. I ask Jane if it was ok to push because I couldn't stop it. With every contraction I was pushing and pushing hard. Jane got me to quickly jump back up on the bed and check and sure enough I was fully dilated and baby had finally gotten in position and was on her way.
I was on the bed in a super awkward position. I was up on one hip and refused to lay flat. It was a position that was working for me and I did NOT want to move. They did wiggle me closer to the middle of the bed, but other than that, they did their best to just support my body in the position that I was in. At one point a nurse brought me a mirror so that I could see, but it was tiny and not in the right place and I told her to get rid of it because she was distracting me.
In the meantime Kira was examined and weighed and measured. 6 lb 12oz. We were all completely shocked. We were expecting a 9lb baby boy and here was our perfect little 6lb baby girl. It was love at first sight.
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