After I published my 37 week post last Wednesday, things started to get interesting!
Let’s rewind to last week for a moment. Last Thursday, I woke up in the middle of the night with a very strong pain that wrapped around my entire lower back and front. I’ve read about real contractions feeling like a “ring of fire” (among other things) and this was exactly what it felt like. I also had this weird shooting nerve pain that made it difficult to walk. I thought this could be the start of early labour. I stayed in bed and monitored what was happening for a bit. The pain wasn’t cyclic, coming in intervals, or getting more intense with time, so ultimately I figured it was just another “test run”. I was probably awake for an hour or two (while Eric slept in blissful ignorance) and then I eventually fell back asleep. I woke up in the morning and the pain was gone, but I continued to have a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions and menstrual-like cramps for the next 3 days. Things settled down after that and I’ve had barely any prelabour symptoms at all, aside from just more frequent Braxtons. The body is a mysterious thing at times!
As it turned out, I had my weekly appointment with the OB the next morning, so I told him all about my experience on Thursday night. As usual, he didn’t think it was anything out of the ordinary, but he seemed excited that things were getting ready. I also found out that my Strep B test came back negative so I won’t need to be hooked up to antibiotics. He ended up checking my cervix and found that I was 50% effaced with no dilation. At this week’s appointment, I was 60-70% effaced and still not dilated. Nothing surprising at this stage in the game, but interesting nonetheless. The doc says things can change in a matter of hours, so while baby girl might be cozy in here for another week or two, our guess is as good as any when she will come.
We had a lot of baby-related events over the past week and a half! The first was a meeting with our doula where she went over natural pain relief techniques with us. I’m skeptical as to how much these techniques will help when the pain is really severe, but we’ll see. I’ll try to keep an open mind about the whole experience. We were talking about contractions and I said something to the effect of “when the contractions get worse” and she encouraged me to re-frame the way I think about contractions. Rather than calling them something negative, why not use the word “stronger” rather than “worse”, or “expansions” rather than “contractions”. I like it. She also said to think about each contraction as one contraction closer to getting to meet our baby. Wise words!
Our car seat inspection was last Saturday and we also pre-registered at the hospital. I’m not a big hospital person (is anyone?) so when we were walking through the maternity ward I started to feel quite nervous! It felt much more real. I couldn’t believe that our big day would be here so soon and I would be occupying one of the L+D rooms. Total butterflies. Anyway, it was good to see it in person before the big day because I can mentally prepare myself a bit more. It’s the same hospital my sister delivered in too – although when I was there last it was under much difference circumstances!
We also met with our lactation consultant for a breastfeeding session this week. It was super informative, and also a bit overwhelming if I’m going to be perfectly honest. The package with our doula includes 2 visits from the lactation consultant after the baby comes too, so she stressed that I didn’t have to remember everything on the first go and she can come to the hospital if I need extra support. I’m so thankful that we have both of them. As my due date approaches, I’ve started to feel more anxious about taking care of a newborn, but I try to remind myself that we will take it one day (or one hour) at a time. People have been doing this for a LONG ass time. hah.
On the work front, I’m keeping myself very busy preparing blog posts and working on the new business. I’m also freezing soups and meals whenever I have a spare moment. The freezer is officially bursting at the seams! It feels good after 2 months of many lackluster, renovation “meals”. This weekend, we’re moving everything back into the kitchen (finally!!) and things are slowly but surely coming together after a long 2 months. I can’t wait to have the house back in order.
I’m still going on my daily hour-long walks and I hope to keep walking right up until labour! And hey, even during early labour if I can. =)
Food: Two words – Honeycrisp apples. Oh my gahhhh. Baby is a huge fan and gives little kicks of joy when I eat one. I’m also craving sweet, comfort-food baked goods like crazy this week. In case you couldn’t tell by my recent recipes! It must be fall, the end of pregnancy, and the joys of having an oven again. Other foods I can’t get enough of: pepita seeds, almond butter, cereal (2 bowls a day), homemade almond or hemp milk. No nausea to speak of right now and my appetite is very strong….whohoo.
Aside from the increase in BH contractions and menstrual-like cramps, I’m feeling great and have no other signs of impending labour right now. I’ve been a lot more emotional over the past couple weeks though – must be another shift in hormones. I’m reading birth stories every night (obsessed) and also a lot of “how labour started” stories. I find it so fascinating!! I seem to be retaining a bit more water than usual. Everything just looks a bit puffier. My nails continue to grow at a breakneck speed. I can’t believe how much I’m trimming my nails each week!
Well, that’s all to report this week. It’s crazy to think that baby could come before my next weekly update or that she might even be here by this time next weekend.
Speaking of labour starting, if you’d like to share your own “how labour started” story, feel free to do so below!
I made the delicious raspberry chia oat squares and thought of you this morning!! :)
Glad you tried them out! I have 2 left in the freezer….will be sad when they are gone!
I’m getting so excited for you! With our first, I was induced at 41 weeks 3 days. I mention this only because I was terrified of induction, scared it would lead to a C section, and it did not. It was a relatively routine labor (though maybe not as it was all back labor) which culminated in the greatest joy of my life. Best of luck to you as you prepare to meet your little one – I predict that you will surprise even yourself with your ability to handle labor. The female body and mind are quite powerful!
I’m so glad to hear your labour was quite routine even with the induction. :)
Thanks for your well wishes!
My first was induced at 42 weeks and was a wonderful labor/delivery. My second pregnancy, my water broke at 37 weeks (at work, in front of two police officers!) and my third was another induction at 42 weeks. I agree with everything your doula said about reframing your perception of contractions–that is so powerful! I am so excited for you–it will be a beautiful experience for you, your husband, and baby :)
Just curious what kind of cereal are you eating? I am a huge cereal fan and i couldnt stand it while i was pregnant. What an exciting time for you!! Cant wait to hear your labour experience!
This is probably going to sound weird, but I’m obsessed with this little combo:
any type of puffed cereal (rice, millet, buckwheat, etc) + a spoonful of carob powder + sprinkle of cinnamon + super cold almond milk. Stir it all up. The carob powder gives it sweetness and a chocolate milk-like consistency. Strange, but delicious!
I also love to throw in my homemade vanilla cinnamon buckwheat crispies (need to make more!) http://ohsheglows.com/2012/05/31/vanilla-cinnamon-buckwheat-crispies-inspired-by-one-lucky-duck/
I had those exciting moments in the weeks leading up to labor, too. I believe I read that it’s called prodromal labor… exciting, yet frustrating! Anyways, I finally went into labor at 40w 3d (my second baby) and for the most part, I had that “feeling” it was finally the real thing. My menstrual type cramps changed to contractions and they were very different from the BH contractions I had been having. I started timing them when I was having to breathe through them and not long after, I was on my way to the hospital. 5 hours after arriving, I had my baby girl! She’s a week and a half old today! Sleep while you can, Angela! ;)
ohhh you said those magic words – HONEYCRISP APPLES! ‘Tis the season! Glad to hear you are feeling well!
Angela,
I am very excited for you!!! I only experienced Braxton hicks a few times. My husband and I were on our daily weekend 4 mile walk when my water broke two blocks from the house. We went to the hospital and my contractions were 2 min apart but I was not feeling them. It took 12 hours before I felt them and then had 6 hours of intense labor. I did do it naturally with no pain medication. The only words I have for you are, at the time you may feel like you can’t do it but you can!!! It is amazing what the body can indure. Once your baby arrives all pain goes away and you then have this precious little person.
Good luck with your impending labor and delivery. With my first my water broke in the morning, but my doctor still allowed me to labor at home for up to 24 hours and told me to still go to my previously scheduled appointment with her that afternoon. That day I had contractions, but I felt no pain and so I thought they weren’t productive. I walked into her office almost six centimeters dilated and had my first painful contraction while she was examining me. She sent me straight to the hospital, I started transitioning soon after and my baby was born about six hours later with no pain medication. Labor was painful, but the trick is to take it one contraction at a time. I kept telling myself that I could get the epidural after the next one if things were unbearable. The pain did seem unbearable, but somehow I managed to make it to the end. Other things that helped were: 1) my hospital allowing intermittent monitoring so I was only on my back for 10 mins of every hour; 2) turning off the lights; and 3) turning the sound off the fetal monitor when it was in use. I don’t think I used one thing that I learned in my childbirthing class. I just needed to focus on the contraction and the pain so that I could deal with it and I needed absolute silence to do so.
My labor started before they could induce me. Great thing. I had no labor pains with my daughter (2nd birth)…just like with my son (1st birth ). I prayed to God to let me feel labor with my daughter. I felt one mild cramp. Dilated to 4 and they put me in birthing room. Within 7 minutes she was born. Yes! From being dilated to 4 to birth. She came so fast it took my breath away. And…the doctor made me postpone bearing down. #lovemybabies
Forgot to mention…only 2 percent of the population gives birth with no child birth pains. Rare if your 2nd one comes that way too.
I have two children. With both of them, the first sign of real labor was my water breaking. Once when I was at work and once at home on my front porch. It’s not as dramatic as what they show in the movies, but was an interesting (and messy) experience. I read that only about 15% of women actually have that happen.
Fun fact: both times I drove myself to the hospital. I don’t recommend that, although it worked out ok for us…
BTW, love your cookbook!
My last child (3rd – only girl) we call our budda boom budda bing baby. I met my doctor for my weekly appt. (5:30 pm) and I told her I was leaking fluid all day or peeing myself LOL and she said I was 3 cm dilated. She said to go home and have dinner and then head to the hospital to have them check the fluid. My hubby was nervous since I was due in 2 days and last time I went from 3 – 10 in quick time and we don’t live in the city I would deliver in so we instead headed to East Side Mario’s for dinner. We arrived at the restaurant at around 6:40. We sat down and said that we were probably in labour so please bring drinks, food and bill to the table at once as we already knew what we wanted. Mine was chicken caesar salad and I took 3 or 4 bites and felt a slight gush. I told hubby I was going to the bathroom. I proceeded to hobble to the bathroom in pain and releasing short bursts of fluid. I made it to the ladies room into a stall and let out a bloody show and gasped. A woman had followed me in to the ladies room and asked if I needed anything. I said “my water just broke but I’m on my way to the hospital”. I cleaned up as best as I could and hurried out asking a waitress for something like a garbage bag to sit on in the car and she panicked when she heard the words “in labour” and gave me a table cloth. I hurried back to the table loudly saying “let’s go” to hubby who had been wise enough to pay while I was in the bathroom. We got to the hospital at about 7:20 and by then the pain was horrific and I knew she was coming fast. They put us right into a room and I begged for an epidural. They knew I wouldn’t have time but were humouring me as they prepped me with my I.V but all the while were telling me I had done it before with no pain meds and I could do it again. They said the doctor (anesthesiologist) would try to come soon but was in surgery so I’d have to wait. Our little one was born at 8:25 with no drugs weighing in at a whopping 10 lbs 4 oz. It was so incredibly fast so we joke that she is the budda boom budda bing baby.
very exciting time for you! Curious….you mentioned a new business? what is it?
Hey Paula,
We haven’t announced it yet, but I will on the blog as soon as we are ready to launch!
Your Doula is really amazing! You will do great! I didn’t have much mental preparation before my first labor, but my midwife was very helpful when I was already in labor. I don’t remember much, duh… but I remembered one thing she said, “Love the contractions, embrace them, they are good, they are very good, they are helping your baby to be born.” It helped me get through my first 27 hour labor. Nothing to fear! You’re very strong! Its our first purpose in life, and nature carved us for that purpose! Good luck!!
And thank you for the amazing recipes. Hoping, that you stored a lot up your sleeve for when the baby girl is here, so we don’t starve :)
My baby Lucy was overdue..I mean REALLY overdue? Like 16 days overdue. Leading up to her birth, I would furiously clean our house before bed, in case I would awake in labour, and didn’t want to have the midwives arrive with a messy house (I had 2 older kids as well). So every evening I would clean and then go to be.
After 16 days of this, I quit. I was mad and half expected to never go into labour, I went to bed discouraged and tired.
with a messy house at that.
I woke up with horrendous cramps at 2 am that night. Half asleep and half dumb, I couldn’t figure out what I had eaten to cause such cramps (this was a 3 rd pregnancy..I should have known) I shot up in bed, realizing it was labour…and what a mess my home was!!!
I cleaned and tidied for the next 5 hours…labour ing on hands and knees, cleaning and washing dishes, floors etc. This was the BEST labour encourager ever. My midwife showed up at 7 am to check on me, and I was 9 cm ready to deliver soon…with a clean house I might add.
You will do fabulous. Remember, in labour you will always have a break. So take those breaks, close your eyes and rest. You are going to be such a wonderful Mom and this baby girl is so immensely blessed to have you and Eric as parents…
Good luck! I finally delivered my little boy on Wednesday (sept 10) at 39 weeks and 6 days. Up at 3:30 AM nursing him at the moment…my labor started at 12:40 AM on Wed morning and I ended up at the hospital at 4AM that morning – they told me I was 2 cm dilated/70% effaced and sent me home. Came back around 11AM because the contractions were too painful. I had only dilated another half cm but they felt bad for me and kept me! They broke my water and Logan James was born at 5:36 PM after what my husband tells me was a couple hours of pushing but I was oblivious to time at that point. So far it has been awesome and exhausting :-) I hope you go earlier than I did, is the worst part! And what they tell you about labor seeming like no big deal after you have the baby is totally true…during I told my husband “we are adopting from now on” and after I had him in my arms I was like “maybe I can do this one more time”. :-)
Thank you so much for sharing your experience. It’s so fun to hear how things are going and I am so excited for you to very soon meet your little girl! I was like you, reading everything I could get my hands on to get ready for labor. I was adamant about having a natural birth and did just that with my three boys. The first labor was very hard and I coped with the pain by retreating to a dark, quiet room and trying to summon the strength and support of my female ancestors and all of the mothers in the world past and present who had done this before. Like you said, humans have been doing this for quite a while. Still, I was surprised that no one told me it could be so hard. I think people are afraid to scare pregnant mothers, but honestly, I felt a little betrayed. Having said that, the whole experience was akin to running a marathon or climbing a mountain. So many times I wanted to give up and felt I couldn’t go on, but the view and feeling at the end was totally worth it… When I felt the weight of my baby in my arms and looked at his precious face for the first time…that feeling was pure euphoria. I have never, never experienced anything like that. It was the highest high of my life.
For what it’s worth, I did get really good at labor eventually. By my third, I knew just what to expect and just what to do. Here are some things that really helped me:
1. Sitting and gently bouncing on an exercise/yoga ball during contractions
2. Taking a shower at the beginning of transition (labor 2 and 3) and having my husband direct the water onto my belly. It was the LAST thing I wanted to do, but my midwife firmly told me it was a good idea and it was. I was ready to push by the time I got out.
3. I figured this out with my last labor and it was the most helpful thing I did. I brought my ipad with a soothing album I had never heard before. For me it was Sarah MacLauchlan. It has to be something new, so your brain is distracted and delighted by the novelty. It was crazy how well this worked for me. It was very, very calming.
Oh and my labors all started with regular, but comfortable contractions that I believe could have gone on for days and days. In every instance, my midwife broke the waters to get things moving.
I wish you the very, very best. Even though it’s the most natural, ordinary thing in the world, I still think every birth is a miracle. Life is just amazing. You will have your own, unique story and it will be a beautiful one!
My (prenatal) yoga teacher told me to think of contractions like waves. You have periods of ebb and flow. A tip I have been given is to your my back massaged by your partner during strong ‘waves’. Supposedly it’s really nice when pressure is applied to your lower back. I still have some time to go. Before this pregnancy I miscarried and had really bad back and leg contractions for which I was not prepared at all. I have learned so much this pregnancy, I feel quite confident and prepared for the whole experience.
If you think your nails are growing fast now… wait till you see your baby’s nails, hah! I swear I clip hers every other day, they get so long so fast! (Speaking of which, make sure you have a pair of baby nail clippers and that you throw them into your hospital bag so you can clip them before she starts scratching up her face)
Angela,
I just had to pop in and give you some encouragement! Natural childbirth is amazing! Your body was MADE to have babies (the baby even kicks against the uterus to help push herself out)!….I actually looked forward to labor with both of my kids (even more with my second because I knew how awesome it was)! If you haven’t yet, check out the Bradley method…working with our body instead of fighting against it during labor. I can honestly say that while giving birth is uncomfortable, I wouldn’t say it was painful. You’ve been staying active and keeping healthy so you will do great! I had two very different labors, my daughter was born 14 minutes after we arrived at the hospital, while I was in labor with my son for two days! No matter how your sweet girl decides to come into the world it will be amazing. Enjoy it!!!!!! :)