Author’s note: This is the fifth of a ten-part series recapping and examining the birth story of my Itty Bitty. Birth is a beautiful experience, but some can find the contents of the topic a bit squeemish. In light of this, please note that these posts are neither too graphic, nor are they full of unicorns and rainbows. They’re just the unfettered, unadulterated truth. And the truth is that birth is the most amazing experience of which I have been a part. By far. So, read on – learn, cry, laugh, but most of all, enjoy.
I wasn’t hungry, I wasn’t in a chatty mood, nor was I ready. I was 38 weeks pregnant, and I was beginning to go in labor.
10 pm – I emailed our doula telling her I was having contractions. She suggested I get some sleep.
11 pm – I still wasn’t sleeping, contractions were about 12 minutes apart.
12 am – sick of waiting to sleep, I tried to watch Total Recall. The new Colin Farrell one though 🙁 I didn’t catch the plot, but instead enjoyed how flawless Kate Beckinsale’s hair was.
1 am – contractions were about 10 minutes apart, which means we had to keep pausing Total Recall every ten minutes and wait for the contraction to pass. I didn’t want to miss anything.
2 am – I gave up on the movie, and felt bad for my hubby. He wasn’t sleeping at all either. We decided to stop timing the contractions and see if we could give sleep another chance.
3 am – Yeah, that didn’t work now did it? Instead, I walked around the apartment, played on Facebook, made sure I had plenty of snacks in my bag, and started drinking some coconut water. Contractions were about 7 minutes apart.
4 am – I started watching Ghostbusters 2 – the one where they make the Statue of Liberty walk through the streets of New York to the sweet sounds of Jackie Wilson. Somehow this actually calmed me down, and my contractions lessed a bit – back to 8 minutes apart. I was able to relax for a little while.
5 am – Ghostbusters ended, the sun was rising, and my contractions kicked back into gear. They were now about 6 minutes apart, and were a bit stronger. I started to sing during each contraction – either an Aahhhhh or an Ooooo.
6 am – Our doula checked in via email to see how we were doing. We told her we were fine, and still working through the contractions. She said she would be up mid morning, unless we needed her sooner.
7 am – I emailed my doctor, who also recommended that I sleep (god I wish!) She told me to take some Benadryl – which might help me get some Zzz’s… sadly, it didn’t work. My contractions just kept coming closer to one another. I contemplated watching Ghostbusters again…
8 am – Our doula was in Providence, but wanted to wait until we needed her to come over. Hubby ran out to get some pastries for breakfast, and I finally started to realize that I was actually going to have a baby. Yeap, it took until that morning for me to know that I was about to become a mom.
9 am – I honestly don’t remember much about this hour. I know I turned on The Rhode Show, but aside from that I think I just focused on making it through my contractions. My doctor recommended that I come to the hospital for 1pm that day. I still hadn’t slept, and was guzzling coconut water like I was in a Gatorade commercial. Boy was I thirsty!
10 am – I started to feel different, and zoned out even more. I stopped talking to Hubby, aside from asking him to have our doula come over. I started walking throughout the house, still singing through contractions, which were about 5 minutes apart.
Then, at 10:30am, our doula arrived.
This is the fifth of a ten-part series recapping and examining the birth story of my Itty Bitty.
I played Nintendo.
Ooo! I wish I had – that would have been fun, and I probably could have finally had the time to beat Mario Brothers!
It's so hard to know what to expect–every birth is so different!
Oh I love this series! I remember I was watching True Blood waiting for it to happen!
So fun!!