Birth Story: Part 1

*Long Post Warning*

I've been wanting to post our birth experience for a while but haven't had the energy/time to sit down and do it until now. And as you know, I'm definitely not much of a blogger which is why I've decided to write this in two parts :)

Sunday, May 25th, 4:30am...

As usual I'm taking my second trip to the bathroom in the middle of the night....but I don't quite make it. Or so I thought. I'm like "wow, am I seriously peeing my pants right now?" Even though it wouldn't have been anything new, ha, normally it happens after I cough or sneeze, not while I'm just walkin' around. So it seems a little odd and the thought crosses my mind, "is my water breaking?" I had heard that it can break all at once or in a slow trickle or not at all until the baby comes out, but since nothing else came after I went to the bathroom I figure it was probably just pee. I mention it to Dalton but after that don't really think anything of it and go back to bed. We figure we could call our doula to clarify things in the morning if it happens again.

Sunday, late morning...

So at this point the same thing is happening about every 10 minutes or so. It is actually kind of annoying so I just start wearing a pad. We call our doula and she says that it's definitely my water slowly leaking. Yeah, very slowly. Not something I had anticipated at all. And she advises us to do everything we can to get labor started because after 24 hrs. the hospital would require me to be induced if I'm not experiencing regular contractions/dilation. I'm feeling some very light cramping every once in a while but nothing regular...they just feel like light period cramps. No biggie. So we decide to go to church. But we only stay for sacrament meeting because then it feels like more of my water breaks. Also, our doula wants to come over and review some of the pain management/counter pressure techniques we had learned in our hypnobirthing class.

*side note*
I was so so glad that we hired a doula! Even though we took a class and prepared as best we could, it was comforting to be able to call someone who had only our best interest in mind. She wasn't tied down by hospital's policies or possible liabilities and could just tell us exactly what we could do before we absolutely needed to go to the hospital. If we only had our midwife to call, she would've been required to tell us to go immediately to the hospital to confirm that my water broke and I wouldn't have been able to try and get labor started on my own at home.

1:30 pm

We take a walk around the block, trying to get contractions started. But I can't really tell if the cramping is changing or progressing.

2:00 pm

Our doula, Laurel, arrives for the refresher course. She tells us this is the first time that she's had the last visit with someone after the fact that their water has broken. So it's kind of a weird situation, haha. My sister Kelsey is also at our apartment and we give her a copy of our birth plan just in case I need her there during labor. After we finish up, Laurel says she's pretty sure she'll be getting a call from us in the middle of the night to come help with labor.

Early evening

We decide to take another walk, but this time we head for the stairs south of BYU campus. We figure if there's anything that might get labor started it will be these stairs of doom. Ha...

Sure enough, after reaching the top, the cramping is getting a little stronger and seemingly more often. Now they feel like strong period cramps. However they are still irregular. So we head home and at some point we watch a chick flick and cuddle on the couch (Laurel's suggestion to get the Oxytocin flowing, lol). I also try sitting/bouncing on my exercise ball.

We eventually start to time the contractions and they are only about 10 minutes apart lasting like 20-30 seconds. But since they are regular (finally consistent for an hour), we decide to go to bed and get as much rest as we can before things get crasy.

9:00 pm-ish

So what's been going through my head all day? I've been pretty excited and nervous. It's like the jittery feelings you get before a big performance or race--you've been preparing but you don't really know what's going to happen or how you're going to feel. Except unlike running a race where I actually have run with my body before, I've never given birth before so the nervousness definitely outweighs the excitement.

I'm also thinking, "I can't believe it's happening! We finally get to meet our precious little baby, Brielle!"

Now we are lying in bed and Dalton is falling asleep and I am doing my surge breathing during each contraction and I am feeling very relaxed and surprisingly focused. I can't explain how surreal it feels...but my concept of time completely disappears and when I look at my phone it's already 3:00am! The surges are getting longer, stronger, and closer together so I time them again. They are now about 5 minutes apart lasting about a minute and things are getting more intense. I can't really call it pain per se, right now it is just like a wave of sharp achiness in the bottom half of my abdomen that feels similar to period cramps, but starts out gradually, reaches a peak, and then subsides.

I'm getting a little restless, needing to get up and move around, and I'm about to wake up Dalton so he can help me. But then, all of a sudden, the next surge is significantly less intense. And shorter. I look at the clock again and it's now 5:30am. All I can think about is how tired I am and I say to myself, "I'll wake up Dalt in a minute..."

Monday, May 26th 10:00am-ish

I wake up and notice that my contractions have completely stopped! What the heck??

**To be continued...**