Matthew's Birth Story, Part One: Prelude to A Baby

I guess the true beginning of this story took place on New Year's Eve/New Year's Day. I was feeling extremely uncomfortable that evening, and Nathan and I were just chilling on the couch, watching a movie together. I was having consistent Braxton Hicks contractions that were getting intense, so I started walking around and changing positions to see if they would stop. They didn't. I went into the bedroom, lay down on my side, and started timing them. They seemed very regular, so after a couple of hours, I told Nathan that I would feel better if we went into Austin. My last labor was so quick that I was afraid to be at home much longer, as I knew things could progress very, very quickly.

So, we started the trip into Austin just as the New Year came in, watching fireworks explode in the sky as we were driving down the highway. We checked into L&D, I was hooked up to monitors, and we just waited.

For seven hours we watched as I had regular contractions, and I was starting to have pain. Despite all the discomfort and despite what we saw on the monitors, however, I just wasn't making any more progress. I walked the hallways of L&D with my poor, sleep-deprived husband, wondering what was going on in all the other rooms, and feeling pangs of sadness whenever I would hear a baby cry. When I felt the contractions easing up after the fifth or sixth lap, I realized that it just wasn't going to happen that day. Finally, I made the decision to go home, knowing that I would risk a homebirth if something suddenly happened. I didn't want to sit on the uncomfortable triage bed anymore, and I couldn't be admitted to L&D without making more progress. Also, because I was only just past 37 weeks, the nurses and the on-call OB couldn't do any sort of intervention to help labor progress without medical authorization from my doctor or without some kind of emergency. Truth be told, I didn't want them to intervene. I didn't want anything resembling an induction at all. No, thank you! I knew that the baby would come whenever he was ready to come, and that it would be unmistakeable at that point that I was in labor. They told me that I was in prodromal labor, which can be just as painful as the real thing, and can last for hours (or even days!) without helping things to progress. Fun stuff. So, we went home.

The next day, I had some pretty sore muscles, but I really felt great! It was nice to have an end to the pain, but I have to admit that I was a little disappointed to have gone through all that without getting a baby in the end. I focused on finishing the last few things that needed to be done before the baby was born, because something was telling me that we didn't have much longer to wait. I made plans for one last trek to the store for some stocking up so we didn't have to worry about any essentials afterward. Since the kids were going to be at my parents on Friday night, I thought it would be good to go early Saturday morning, without having to take four kids along and before it got really busy in town. It was a good idea, but that's not exactly how the weekend ultimately played out!

38 weeks

I had originally written this post earlier in the week, and then we had an unexpected night spent in Labor & Delivery. Ugh. Obviously, we did not come home with a baby. However, I feel confident in saying that it's going to be soon. I also feel confident in saying that prodromal labor seriously SUCKS. Update at the end.

How far along? 38 weeks 
Baby's what? As long as a leek (about 19.5-ish inches or so), or about the size of a pumpkin, weighing in at around 7-8 pounds.

Total weight gain? About 25 pounds now. Give or take a thousand. I've lost track.

Maternity clothes? Yeah, the ones that still fit. Ugh.

Sleep? Sometimes I cave and take a Benadryl. Sleep is getting much harder to come by these days, and I desperately need the rest!

Best moment this week? The official end of the holidays, and the beginning of a brand new year! I love Christmas so much, but all the stress and running around almost makes it awful. It will be nice to get back to "normal" around here and finish getting ready for this little guy to show up.

Miss anything? Oh, so many things. Belly sleeping (any kind of sleeping, actually), eating a meal, walking without pain, wearing normal clothing, not having to pee every 30 seconds, not spending half the day wondering if every little pain is the beginning of labor...

Movement? Yes. He's currently in the process of rearranging my intestines.

Food cravings? Nothing specific. I don't really get hungry anymore, because there isn't any space for the food!

Anything making you queasy or sick? Not really, but I always have acid reflux and I feel totally full and bloated all the time.

Symptoms? Major heartburn, increased anxiety, killer leg cramps, tons of Braxton Hicks contractions, and really bad hip and sciatic pain.

Happy or moody? I think my family is ready to sell me. Or kill me. I might let them.

Looking forward to? Baby Day! Whenever that might be...

Next appointment? January 10th.

Our final ultrasound at 36 weeks was on December 20, and we learned that Baby is head down (good boy!) and that everything was just fine! He was measuring a week ahead of his due date and was already estimated to be close to 7 pounds. If we go all the way to 40 weeks, it's possible that this boy will be around 8.5-9 pounds. We weren't surprised by that, since Ethan and Nicky were both 8.5 pounds and born at 40 weeks. I don't think I'll make my due date, but my official guess for Baby is 8 pounds, 2 ounces and 20 inches. We'll see how close I am!

I also learned that I was dilated to 2 cm. and effaced to 50%, and that hasn't changed yet (as far as I know). We'll get another check at the next appointment (if Baby isn't here by then). 


***UPDATE***

Nathan and I headed to the hospital on New Year's Eve, right about midnight, to ring in 2013 the right way - in a horribly uncomfortable L&D triage bed, hooked up to monitors and waiting for something to happen. 

Two hours earlier, at around 10:30, I started to have extremely frequent, extremely consistent Braxton Hicks contractions. I've had a lot of them over the past few weeks, and I was used to them, but these weren't stopping or easing up at all. In fact, they were getting closer together and I was starting to have pain. We called my mom to come over and stay with all the sleeping kiddos, and decided to head to Austin.

After six very long hours of watching the contractions on the monitor, walking the halls of the L&D unit, and crying lots of frustrated tears because of pain with no obvious progress, we determined that I was not in true, active labor. I couldn't be admitted to the hospital unless something started to change, and I was stuck at 3.5 cm. with no budging, despite lots of painful contractions that were coming every 3 minutes or so. Ultimately, Nathan and I chose to go home and wait it out. It wasn't an easy decision to make. I was concerned that my labor would suddenly turn a corner and things would progress at an extremely rapid pace, and I didn't want to be in the car or at home when that happened. Eventually, though, everything slowed down and eased up. We went home, completely exhausted from getting absolutely NO sleep for the entire night.

Now, I'm sore and frustrated, not to mention extremely embarrassed at having to do the "walk of shame" out of L&D, still very pregnant  (and in my polka dot pajama pants, no less). I'm still contracting periodically, and now they really hurt. Prodromal labor, I have learned, is basically unproductive labor. It can last for hours and hours and come and go, despite all efforts to stop it (movement, hydration, etc.), and can be just as uncomfortable as true labor in the beginning stages. The only defining characteristic is that you don't end up with a baby in your arms. BOO!

So, say some prayers for us, as we're still waiting for Baby. Now it really seems that we won't have to wait long, because I think all of this has only helped to better prepare my body for Baby Day, which probably isn't too far off. We just need to make it to the hospital on time!