Perfect Pregnancy, Not So Perfect Labor & Delivery- Part 1

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Part 1: Pre-Labor | Part 2: Labor | Part 3: Delivery | Part 4: Post Delivery

Our pregnancy was wonderful! Almost perfect really. All our checkups were accompanied by the doctor saying my belly measured perfectly and all my vitals were good. I felt healthy all of the pregnancy. The only not so fun symptom I had was pregnancy induced carpel tunnel that made my hands go numb, but I could deal with that. I continued working out until the day we went into labor. Ryan and I kept affirming that the pregnancy was a sign of how labor and deliver would be as well.

 

On Wednesday, July 2^nd I saw my doctor for my 39 week checkup. I was dilated between and 1 and 2 and was 80% effaced. We scheduled my next appointment for the following Wednesday on our due date July 9^th. The doctor said that if I made it to the appointment we would have to talk about possible induction as she only allows patients to go a week over their due date. Needless to say, I did not want to make it to that next appointment!

The next day on the 3^rd I was very anxious about the baby’s arrival. I just didn’t know what to do while I waited for her to come. All the to-do’s were done and I was supposed to be resting. I opted to clean the house a little. Not that I felt the nesting urge but just because I hadn’t cleaned in a while. I took a nap, painted my nails and watched Hulu. Throughout the day I had the sensation that my cervix was ripening. It just kind of felt achey.

The next day Friday, July 4^th we mostly hung out around the house. Again I cleaned a little, napped and watched Hulu. Since Ryan and I go to bed early we don’t typically stay up for fireworks. His mom invited us over to her house for dinner and a movie. We headed over there about 4pm. I ate some dried mango in the car on the way there. I felt kind of weird once we arrived so I asked if I could have a protein bar thinking that the mango made my blood sugar do something funny. I felt a little better. We were sitting around looking at Ryan’s and his sisters baby pictures trying to decide what our little girl would look like. A wave of grossness came over me. I just felt really weird. Throughout the day and while looking at the pictures I felt like my cervix was preparing for our little girls arrival. I knew labor was coming soon I just didn’t know how soon!

We ate dinner. Then, I talked Ryan into going to get ice cream which we really hadn’t done much in our pregnancy. Next, we watched the movie. I didn’t seem to be having any contractions more than normal and the strange feelings from earlier had went away. My mom had texted me at some point asking how I was doing. I told her she had motherly instincts because I hadn’t been feeling that well, but all was good now. We finished up the movie and was getting around to leave.

I went to the bathroom. When I looked in the toilet after using it (pregnant women do this) I noticed particles floating around. It looked like toilet paper had gotten stuck and disintegrated from the last time someone had used the bathroom. “Interesting,” I thought and went on my way. I went back to the living room and sat down on the couch. Literally less than thirty seconds later I felt a small gush. I stood up quickly to head back to the bathroom, but then slowed down because I didn’t want Ryan or his mom to catch on. I mean I go to the bathroom often but that was a little too soon 😉

On the toilet I yell at Ryan. I tell him I think my water just broke. I thought there might be meconium in my water, but I dismissed the thought. He grabbed some towels and gathered our things. It was time to head home, grab our hospital bags and get to the hospital. I was about 98% sure my water had broken so I figured we would be there to stay. I also knew that put a 24 hour time limit on our labor. Although our plan was to labor at home for a while (assuming contractions started before water broke) I was not too worried about our labor not going as planned. We left Ryan’s mom’s house at about 9pm. As we drove home we saw some fireworks and called my mom. We took showers and threw in the last minute things we needed in our bags.

My dad’s birthday and my great-great grandmother’s birthday are July 4^th so we had some people pulling for our little one to be born on that day as well. We were pretty certain she was not going to make her arrival in the next 3 hours! We headed to the hospital with only light contractions happening. We arrived at about 10:15 to start our 19 hour labor journey!

Continue reading to find out how our almost perfect pregnancy turned into a not so perfect labor and delivery.

Part 1: Pre-Labor | Part 2: Labor | Part 3: Delivery | Part 4: Post Delivery

Until Next Time- Truly Love,

Cassie