{Part One}
{Part Two}
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By the time A got home at 7am, things had progressed. Contractions were jumping between 6 minutes apart, 4 minutes apart and even a few 3 minute apart ones. He ran up the stairs to our bedroom, grinned at me and came to give me a kiss on the head. Soon, a contraction came upon me and he got a look on his face that clearly showed he realized this was different than the false labor I had been experiencing all week.
I told him to get changed out of his uniform and gather his stuff for the hospital. As he was doing that, I felt the urge to go to the bathroom again. Having had a bladder of steel through most of my pregnancy, I was significantly annoyed at the amount of times I was feeling the urge to make my way to the bathroom. Especially since the easiest way for me to get through contractions was to lean over my bedroom dresser - the perfect height to lean and sway my hips as I breathed through them.
After taking care of business in there, I was leaning on the sink as both my sister and A ran around calling everyone who needed to be called. My sister in law decided to call and cancel her doctor's appointment that morning so that she could jump in the car and get on her way. As I was leaning on the sink and looking up at my own reflection in the mirror, thinking "This is it! This is really happening right now...I am a woman in labor," I suddenly got the overwhelming urge to throw up. Gah. I hate throwing up, but there it went. I immediately grabbed my toothbrush to try and clean myself up. "Totally normal for a woman in labor," I thought to myself.
By 7:30 am contractions had decided to stay at 1 minute long, every 3 minutes. This was when we were supposed to call the midwife! Well, after they had been every 3 minutes for an hour. But, we were on the cusp. I decided it was time to put my makeup on. {It had always been part of my plan to apply light makeup when I went into labor. I wanted to look my best for my baby. Was I surprised it was actually still important to me while I was in real labor? Yup.}
At slightly after 8, we decided it was time to call the midwives. Contractions were starting to move towards less than 3 minutes apart, so we needed to know when to come in. A called in, left a message and within a few minutes Beth called back. A explained where we were in the process and Beth asked to speak with me.
After speaking with me briefly, and hearing me breather through a contraction, she said, "Well, you still seem pretty comfortable in between contractions, and you will inevitably be more comfortable laboring at home, so why don't we shoot for you coming in in about an hour?"
"Sounds like a plan," I replied.
The next hour passed in much of the same. Me standing and breathing through contractions. Either A or my sister rubbing my back or holding my hand as I breathed through them. In between contractions I felt great - excited and pretty calm. We essentially quit timing them at this point. They sure as heck weren't going to stop. A grabbed his left over sandwich from our brunch the day before and inhaled it. While he was eating it though, I couldn't stand the smell, so I made him go away and brush his teeth before coming back to help.
I remember feeling like there was such a flurry of activity going on around me, but sort of already being in the "labor zone". It's like in those movies where they show the main character sitting still and everyone moving at warp speed around them. Packing bags in the car, calling parents, coordinating efforts.
By 9 am I was downstairs, getting ready to head to the car. One last stop in the bathroom, just enough time to throw up one more time. Huzzah! My SIL was just coming through the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel {she made killer time - even after a small accident with a branch, more on that later} and decided to meet us at the hospital. Suddenly, something clicked for me, and it was time to go. And into the car we went. I totally meant to have someone take one last "weekly" photo before we left, but that went by the wayside when I decided it was time.to.go. We said good-bye to the pup, and left the house for the last time with baby inside.
Luckily, we only live a mile and a half from the hospital, because laboring in the car s-u-c-k-e-d. Sitting was so uncomfortable for me, and BONUS, they were also repaving all the roads between our house and the hospital, so we had detours and really rumbly roads to deal with. Fun!
We pulled into the hospital parking lot and I saw my SIL standing on the sidewalk all decked out in her photography gear. We pulled into an "Expectant Mother" spot {I finally got to use it!} and started unloading.
Just as a contraction hit.
The contractions were coming way closer together than every three minutes at this point. Things were accelerating at a good pace. From the car to the birthing center, I had to stop a few more times to breathe through the sensations.
Originally, having my sister in the birthing room with me was not part of either of our plans for the day, but I am so glad that she stuck it out with me.
A added a few items to the packing list while I was otherwise occupied.
In between contractions, we got as far as we could before needing to stop again. I remember that between contractions I felt the need to smile and desperately try to not freak out every one that I passed in the hospital. I waved at the front desk guy that always greeted me so nicely over the last 20 weeks. I also remember reflecting that of all the times I had come and go from this hospital, I had never crossed paths with a woman in active labor...and now I was that story for all these other people.
Waiting on the elevator.
I was so glad that no one else wanted to come in the same one as us.
I was very thankful that I had two people to lean on. Literally.
We were really moving that fast in between contractions.
Finally, we made it to the birthing center. I was so relieved and happy to see that homey space and all those baby feet on the wall. Again, I had another "this is really happening. right now" moments when I saw those little feet. Soon, my baby's feet would be on that wall with all the others.
As A wandered around to find the midwife, my SIL grabbed this photo of the clock and I reflected on how much I had already accomplished that morning, and how much more I would accomplish before the day was out.
Evelyn is two weeks old (today!)
...and my SIL took over 500 photos, so choosing from them is proving to be really difficult!
these segments are killllllling me!!!! :)
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