My pregnancy with Margaret was a bit different than previous
pregnancies in that I had a LOT of “practice” (Braxton-Hicks) contractions in
the weeks leading up to her birth.
Often they were painful and regular enough for me to believe that labor
had started, and as a result Joe and I had our bags packed and ready to load in
the car as early as 36 weeks. We
had so many early trial runs that I began to believe that there was no way this
baby was going to make it until her due date. I was a bit surprised then when July 15th finally
came and went, although it wasn’t a total shock since both Siena and Libby were
born 4 days after their due dates.
So we waited…
… and waited.
July 19th came and went. So much for the 4-day-past rule. 41 weeks came and went. By that time I was starting to feel increasingly
frustrated. The waiting was
getting more and more difficult with each passing day. I felt like I couldn’t get out and
about like I wanted in the chance that I’d go into labor far from home, plus it
was just plain HOT outside and any extended time I spent in the sun would
completely drain my energy. I was
getting sick of nesting at home, tired of having the house “baby ready” every
night when I went to bed only to wake up morning after morning with no
baby. The false alarms didn’t help
either, as many mornings I’d get my hopes up that labor was finally starting,
only to be disappointed hours later when my contractions would stop. Still, I had no choice but to wait.
I had my last scheduled OB appointment on Monday, July 23rd,
8 days past my due date. My cervix
still hadn’t made much change (I’d been 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced for 4
weeks). Results of a non-stress
test and ultrasound to measure fluid levels showed that the baby was doing just
beautifully. Clearly she was
enjoying her in-utero home! By
that point it was time to put an induction date on the calendar since there is
an increased risk of stillbirth after 42 weeks. I’m a big fan of natural birth and letting babies arrive
when they’re ready, so the idea of induction didn’t thrill me. Still, I knew we were running out of
options. For a number of reasons,
we decided to schedule an induction for 5am on Thursday, July 26th. The doctor stripped my membranes in the
hopes of getting things going, and I was sent on my way. I felt increasingly crampy for the rest
of the afternoon, and when I began to lose my mucus plug on Tuesday I felt like
things were finally starting to happen.
I woke up at 4am on Wednesday, the day before my scheduled induction,
with fairly regular contractions.
Although they were still easy to manage and didn’t seem that different
from my previous false-alarm contractions, I decided to head to the hospital
anyway. I figured there was at
least a chance that labor was actually starting given how I’d been feeling for
the past couple of days, and if nothing progressed then at least I’d already be
at the hospital for my induction.
Plus, since I’m GBS positive I needed to receive at least 2 doses of penicillin
before giving birth, which meant timing my arrival at least 5 hours prior to
delivery (not the easiest thing to plan on your third pregnancy when things
could move quickly!). We called my
mom, said goodbye to the girls, and promised them that we weren’t coming home
without a baby!
Upon arrival at the hospital around 11am, I was checked and
found to be 2cm dilated, 70% effaced.
Not huge progress, and I began to think that coming in was the wrong
decision. So we waited in the room
while they checked my contractions (which had pretty much stopped by that
point) and administered my first dose of penicillin. Imagine my surprise when I was checked again at 1pm and was
4cm! I had literally done nothing
to move things along since arriving and hadn’t had many contractions, so I felt
this was a minor miracle and that I really must be in labor. Joe shifted into coaching mode and we
hit the hallways walking. We walked
and walked and walked, only stopping for another dose of penicillin and
occasional fetal checks. I was
feeling pressure while walking and an occasional contraction, so I hoped that
some progress was being made. When
the doctor stopped by around 7pm to check me I was… 4cm. Ugh. No progress.
Clearly I wasn’t in labor.
I was crushed and felt like the entire day had been a waste of
time. I was given the choice of
staying overnight until my induction the next morning, or going home to sleep
and coming back. After talking it
over with Joe I decided to go home – I’d get better sleep there (I’d have to be
monitored and receive penicillin treatments throughout the night at the
hospital) and would be more rested for labor in the morning. So we grabbed our bags and headed home…
without a baby. We greeted the
girls and my mom, whom we advised to spend the night at our house just in case
we needed to leave in the middle of the night (in hindsight, a GREAT decision
on our part!). I went to bed
shortly after arriving home, around 9pm, ready for a good night’s sleep before
our morning induction.
Well, the good night’s sleep never came, as I was waking
every hour or so (not unusual at this point in my pregnancy!). Around 1:30am I woke up to use the
bathroom and was generally feeling uncomfortable and unwell (again, not
unusual). In the bathroom I
noticed some leaking of fluid and thought it possible that my water may have
broken. I also felt a strong
contraction of sorts around this time, though it was more like heavy pressure
than pain, and I woke Joe to tell him that we might want to head back to the
hospital. At this point I was
feeling no huge sense of urgency.
A few minutes later another contraction came that I definitely had to
focus my way through, and I called out to Joe that we needed to leave for the
hospital NOW. We both changed quickly
and headed for the car, getting on the road around 1:55am. I called the doctor and explained that
I was having some “different,” more intense contractions and that we were
heading back to the hospital. I
had maybe 3-4 more contractions on the drive that required a lot of
concentration, but overall the drive was fairly quiet and uneventful. We arrived at the hospital around
2:25am and Joe dropped me off at the emergency entrance to be wheeled up while
he parked the car. I remember
chatting with the woman wheeling me to the elevator about how long overdue I
was, etc. Again, still no huge
sense of urgency at this point. We
got to labor and delivery, the nurses brought me into a room to change into a
gown, and I sat on the toilet to change.
At this point Joe arrived and I was having some more intense
contractions, telling him that I wasn’t able to move from the toilet. The nurses were running around in the
room like crazy, and Joe was pleading with me to get to the bed. Finally there was a break in the
contraction action, I moved to the bed, and immediately pushed the baby
out! Just like that – it was
crazy. Obviously my doctor didn’t
make it for the birth, and at the time of delivery I figured a nurse was
catching the baby (though we later learned that there was an on-call doctor
present). 2:31am. I gave birth literally within 5 minutes
or so of arriving at the hospital, 2 1/2 hours before her scheduled induction (like her mom, Margaret clearly needed a hard deadline to get the job done!). Joe and I estimated that I probably had fewer than 12 contractions from
start to finish… definitely the
way to have a baby! Needless to
say if we ever are in this position again I may have to prepare myself to give
birth in the car! After such a
long wait and dramatic entrance, Margaret Rose was born just perfect, weighing
7lbs 13oz and measuring 20 inches long.
We are so blessed to have this miraculous addition to our family. Welcome, little Margaret!
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