Actually, Tess has been here for almost a week so I figured I should finally post!
Last Saturday night I was up quite a bit, not feeling particularly well. I didn't think much of it at the time. Sunday morning when I woke up I lost my mucus plug - again I didn't think much of it because I knew labor could still be a long way off. I went about my day as usual and became increasingly less comfortable. In the late afternoon I actually fell asleep (I never nap!) and slept for three hours. Once I woke up I had some minor cramping going on.
DH came home from work and was fighting off a head cold. He went to bed early and, since I had napped and figured I'd be awake for awhile, I decided to sleep in the extra room. My cramps gradually turned into contractions, though I still wasn't feeling like I was in labor. I was still two weeks from my due date and had been feeling so good that I thought I would be pregnant well into June!
Throughout the night my contractions became more noticeable and more frequent. I tried to time them but I don't think I was very accurate. It got to the point where I couldn't sit still so I just paced the house the whole night. It went by so fast!
At about 4 in the morning I was exhausted from walking and not sleeping. I woke up DH to let him know what was going on. We waited until about 5:30 to call the midwife. (She was so confused when she got the call - I had just seen her on Saturday and she agreed that it would probably be awhile before I went into labor!) She had us check in with her about every hour for a few hours. My contractions became much more frequent and I spent them either in the bathroom or on the birth ball.
The midwife arrived around 9:30 or 10 (I really wasn't keeping track of the time!) While waiting for her to arrive DH had set up the birth tub (still quite uncomfortable with his head cold, poor thing.) She checked on my progress and got a strange look on her face. She said she needed to check me during a contraction (NOT fun.) I was already at a 9! I couldn't believe it - my labor had not really been difficult at all!
I spent most of the next two hours in the birth tub. Things kind of stalled and I was SO sleepy. The midwife checked me again and found that I had a cervical lip that was preventing the baby's head from moving down. It took a few hours to get past that, but the time went by so fast!
Tess was born in the water on Memorial Day at 4 in the afternoon. I can honestly say that the only part that really hurt was when her head was coming out and I had to wait for a contraction in order to push. Everything else was so much easier than I had expected!
She weighed 6 pounds 10 ounces and measured 20 inches long. She had tons of vernix on account of being two weeks early. I had a hard time holding her up in the water because the cord was so short, but luckily I birthed the placenta fairly quickly.
I was quite lightheaded once I got up, which is typical with my low blood pressure. Luckily I didn't pass out! I ate some yogurt and honey and the midwife gave me oxygen just to be safe. I felt better relatively soon.
I had no tears or swelling so recovery is going very well. Tess is doing great! She's nursing well, though she does get a little mad that she has to work for her food!
Good luck to those of you still waiting! I still can't believe that my June baby came in May!
Last Saturday night I was up quite a bit, not feeling particularly well. I didn't think much of it at the time. Sunday morning when I woke up I lost my mucus plug - again I didn't think much of it because I knew labor could still be a long way off. I went about my day as usual and became increasingly less comfortable. In the late afternoon I actually fell asleep (I never nap!) and slept for three hours. Once I woke up I had some minor cramping going on.
DH came home from work and was fighting off a head cold. He went to bed early and, since I had napped and figured I'd be awake for awhile, I decided to sleep in the extra room. My cramps gradually turned into contractions, though I still wasn't feeling like I was in labor. I was still two weeks from my due date and had been feeling so good that I thought I would be pregnant well into June!
Throughout the night my contractions became more noticeable and more frequent. I tried to time them but I don't think I was very accurate. It got to the point where I couldn't sit still so I just paced the house the whole night. It went by so fast!
At about 4 in the morning I was exhausted from walking and not sleeping. I woke up DH to let him know what was going on. We waited until about 5:30 to call the midwife. (She was so confused when she got the call - I had just seen her on Saturday and she agreed that it would probably be awhile before I went into labor!) She had us check in with her about every hour for a few hours. My contractions became much more frequent and I spent them either in the bathroom or on the birth ball.
The midwife arrived around 9:30 or 10 (I really wasn't keeping track of the time!) While waiting for her to arrive DH had set up the birth tub (still quite uncomfortable with his head cold, poor thing.) She checked on my progress and got a strange look on her face. She said she needed to check me during a contraction (NOT fun.) I was already at a 9! I couldn't believe it - my labor had not really been difficult at all!
I spent most of the next two hours in the birth tub. Things kind of stalled and I was SO sleepy. The midwife checked me again and found that I had a cervical lip that was preventing the baby's head from moving down. It took a few hours to get past that, but the time went by so fast!
Tess was born in the water on Memorial Day at 4 in the afternoon. I can honestly say that the only part that really hurt was when her head was coming out and I had to wait for a contraction in order to push. Everything else was so much easier than I had expected!
She weighed 6 pounds 10 ounces and measured 20 inches long. She had tons of vernix on account of being two weeks early. I had a hard time holding her up in the water because the cord was so short, but luckily I birthed the placenta fairly quickly.
I was quite lightheaded once I got up, which is typical with my low blood pressure. Luckily I didn't pass out! I ate some yogurt and honey and the midwife gave me oxygen just to be safe. I felt better relatively soon.
I had no tears or swelling so recovery is going very well. Tess is doing great! She's nursing well, though she does get a little mad that she has to work for her food!
Good luck to those of you still waiting! I still can't believe that my June baby came in May!
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miss Tess!
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