Is It Real?

No matter how much you read your mind still plays tricks on you when it comes to labor. I felt Braxton I hicks contractions during the weeks leading up to my baby's birth. Sometimes there were a couple and they went away. Other times they lasted a while but never got stronger, longer or closer together. (Yes! I retained something from birth class.) I never wanted to be that girl that showed up to the hospital thinking I was in labor for it to be a false alarm (however...better safe than sorry). 

The night before my daughter was born the BH contractions lasted a good 5 hours. I kept wondering if it real? I went to bed thinking I would sleep them off and discuss in the am with my doctor. My body must have known something big was going to happen. Just like the night before a marathon I didn't sleep much. I was up every few hours wishing and wondering. 

I was doing bi-weekly doctor visits because of the duodenal atresia. At my appointment in the am I discussed what I was experiencing the night before. My doctor informed me that I was in fact in early labor. She directed me to head to the hospital if I felt more contractions during the day. Since I was carrying a lot of extra amniotic fluid due to the duodenal atresia I was considered high risk. If my water broke at home the umbilical cord could flush out with it which is bad bad news. Excitement, anxiety and a bit of fear came over me. I was going to deliver a baby! The day I dreamed about for 9 months was finally here. 

Back at home from the doctor's office my husband and I rushed to get ready to go to the hospital. I put the finishing touches on packing and he confirmed arrangements for our first born Pug babies. By the time we left home I was having contractions every 5 minutes. Checking into the hospital was surreal. They admitted me to triage where the nurse presented me with a giant hospital gown and hooked me up to monitors. She practically laughed at me for coming into the hospital since my contractions felt like a 1 on a pain scale of 1-10. After checking with my doctor, she ordered me to walk around for an hour. Nothing like a little pre-delivery exercise to get the blood flowing. There are not many options for an hour walk around a hospital. My husband and I ended up in some creepy hallway with deserted hospital equipment. It looked like we were in the scene of a scary movie. 

After my walk the nurse checked to see how much I was dilated. For me this was the most painful part of the whole labor process. I was still at a 2 which was the same number I was at in the morning at my doctor's office. I had what the machine called a big contraction (1.3 on my scale) and my baby's heart rate dropped. Major red flag! This was an indicator that baby girl was not responding well to labor. I wasn't even in active labor yet so doctor decided to deliver C-section.