Status: 40w1d (Started at 39w6d, but I got distracted)
A lot has happened in the last week. Probably the best way to do this is to go day by day and catch up on what went down....
Sunday 4/19 (39w1d)
This was supposed to be my last day of work before maternity leave. J and I had some downtime before I had to leave, and we took advantage of the uninterrupted cuddle time.
Around 2:30 PM, I arrived at work. I noticed I was feeling kind of crampy, but figured nothing of it because it happens on occasion. I fully expected it would go away as I got busy with my work. (Not that work is busy....) At 3:45, I started noticing the cramping was coming and going. I decided to time things and just see what was happening. Again, fully expecting it to be nothing. The contractions (yes, that's right, I'm not in denial) were a little all over the place, but seemed mostly about 5-10 min apart and 20-40 seconds.
I'm sorry, WHAT?!?!
Yeah, that's kinda what I said in my head. They weren't bad, but were definitely not comfortable. I was sitting on my ball, rolling my hips around to help with the discomfort. Around 4:30 I messaged my doula (Kim W.) on Facebook to let her know I was feeling crampy. The weather was all over the place, so we suspected that and the cuddle time had instigated the situation. (Again, why I was sure it would soon die down.) She recommended I drink a bunch of water and see if it helped calm things down. She said she was going to make sure everything was situated on her end, in case things picked up.
I continued to time them every so often - I was bored and uncomfortable. Not much else to do since I was tethered to a phone. Around 6 PM they were starting to get a little longer and stronger. When I went to the bathroom, they were so much more intense on the toilet. I was starting to get a little nervous that maybe this WAS the real deal. I didn't want to get excited, though. Around 6:15, I couldn't sit on the ball anymore and moved to standing and swaying. I was really hoping that no one was noticing what was going on in my corner of the office. I work in a 911 call center - the last thing I need is for them to be freaking out that I might be in labor!
Around 6:15 I decided I might want to let J know what was going on. I let him know I was having contractions. He asked how intense they were (which I thought was a great question - totally unexpected from him!), and I told him. He said to keep him posted.
Kim messaged me around 6:20 and told me she was "nesting" - which she says happens a lot before her clients go into labor. I let her know that the contractions weren't going away. She asked what the contractions were doing. I was about to tell her they were mostly the same, but a little more intense, but then I had another one that moved from just my pelvis up midway through my belly. Well, that was different.....
Kim then asked if walking made them go away, but it's hard to tell when you're tethered. I told her I had to be standing, and that my coworker had asked if I was uncomfortable sitting. I tried to blow it off. I had a frequent need to change positions at other times in my pregnancy, but this person never worked with me, so she wouldn't know that. Kim recommended I let my midwife know what was going on, since they might get busy with the impending storm. She also reminded me that this could possibly go on for a couple weeks. Yay.
At 6:35 I sent Debbie this text:
I updated J with the recommendation to go home. I wasn't super thrilled about it, but seeing as how things were picking up a little, I didn't disagree either. I was planning to try to make it until at least 7 PM so I could get my 4 hours of evening pay, but I didn't make it. At 6:45 I decided I was too uncomfortable to stay anymore. I told my coworker I needed to go home. She replied, "If anything changes on your way home, pull over and call us!" So much for hiding the situation....
I talked to my BFF, Sarah, on the way home. Contractions slowed, but were still there.
As soon as I got home, I went straight to my bed and assumed my favorite position in labor - leaning over a stack of pillows on my knees. I stayed that way for an hour or so. I tried to call my mom (who is on call to come from Florida to be with the kids during the birth) around 8PM, but she didn't answer texts or phone calls to either her cell or home phone. She needs to work on her "on call" skills. LOL. I sent her a final text to just call me when she got the message.
Just after that, Debbie texted to make sure I was home (see above) and then she called to see how things were going. I told her they had slowed, but were still there. According to my timer, the few that I timed around that time were 3-5 min apart and 30-60 seconds, but the intensity had gone down quite a bit. It was just lots and lots of crampy pressure in my pelvis. Debbie told me to eat dinner, take a bath, and go to bed. Things would either pick up that night or it would be "soon".
"Soon" is such a relative term when you are 39 weeks pregnant. Yes, I can imagine it will happen in the next 3 weeks. LOL
After the kids went to bed, I finally got up and had dinner - or what I could manage to eat), took a bath, and had a few sips of wine to see if it would slow things so I could sleep. While in the bath my mom called back. I told her what was going on, but that things were chilling out and I was fine. She told me she hadn't even packed - which I laughed at. I told her I wasn't calling to have her come, but was just doing my due diligence and keeping her in the loop. I suspect that made her more crazy than if I hadn't called at all!
After that I went back to my bed, resumed my favorite position, and watched some TV and tried to get tired so I could fall asleep. The contractions spaced out, and backed off in length and intensity, although were still present enough to be timeable. I was still to uncomfortable to sleep. Around midnight, I finally decided to turn on my Hypnobabies "Relax Me" track and try to sleep.
