Anna's Birth Day - Part 1

John and I before we left on our midnight walk- still smiling ( :

What a whirlwind! After occasional false labor for weeks, and watching my due date come and go, I was feeling just a wee bit discouraged. Sunday night I slept poorly- awake from 2-5 am for no good reason. Strange. I went to my midwife appt. on the afternoon of Monday, May 16 hoping to ask for a stretch and sweep- an intervention, but a pretty natural one. I was pleased to hear that I was at a 3-4 afterwards, and went home with the intent to do everything I could to help things along. I arranged to go walking with a friend that evening. At 5 pm I noticed the cramping I'd felt that afternoon begin to shift to contractions that were timeable. At 7, I was beginning to suspect that these contractions MIGHT be the real thing. I called Ann Carter to tell her to come over here for a walk so I'd be closer to home, and called the midwives to give them a heads up that I may be needing them later that evening.

We enjoyed a chatty walk through the neighborhood, walking a few miles as John put the kids in bed. When we got back I was feeling more like this was the real thing. After killing some time at home, and telling John that, yes, I think this is it, we called the midwife and birth assistant a little after 9 pm. I took a shower, so grateful for the shower chair we purchased- it was a soothing way to pass some labor time, and the assistant and midwife arrived. After making some initial notes and such they began the IV antibiotics for the Group B Strep. It took 3 tries to get a vein, which the midwife was terribly apologetic about, but while in active labor a few needle sticks are the least of my worries. The IV didn't finish infusing until 10:50 pm or so, and at that point I was thinking the baby would probably arrive before the 4 hour window they liked to see pass for effectiveness. We continued to work through contractions, and I enjoyed the attention of both John and Ann- who were such terrific labor coaches. The quiet intimacy with John was lovely, despite a houseful of people, there were moments where I would forget and just enjoy sharing the experience with my partner. Around midnight the midwives suggested that perhaps we should try to get some sleep between contractions. After laying down for a while I realized that between the strength of the contractions and my excitement I wouldn't be getting any sleep. So as soon as John's breathing slowed I left the bed to join the others in the living room to rock on the birthing ball and chat with Ann. The contractions picked up a bit while sitting, compared to laying down, but were still quite manageable. After a while carrying on like this John wandered out of the room wondering where his laboring wife was, and the midwife suggested that perhaps a walk would help things along. That's how we found ourselves walking around our circle in the still of the night at 1:00 am.