1minute each, ten min apart.
7am Been contracting all night but only the last 8-9 have been consistent. Painful like a horrible period but not enough for me to jump in the bath. Fingers are crossed.
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11:20am Contractions are about 45 minutes to an hour apart. I'm not really timing them but they are quite painful when they do happen and I assume they last about a minute each. They are really far apart but feel like they last longer than before.
Hoping they pick up again. Fingers crossed.
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6:15pm got back down to 10 mins apart and stopped again. The belly pain doesn't subside though and I'm in misery. I have been crying off and on for hours I can't help it. My body is tired and I hurt and I am feeling like ill never ever have this baby. I need to hurry up and hit active labor so I know the torture is coming to an end - even if it takes another 20 hours ill know its going somewhere.
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7pm
Intensity kicked up. I'm crying silently with each contraction but I can't get an accurate timing on them. I'm not using moaning etc because I don't want to scare Emma. I want to get in the bath tub soon and help ease my back and belly pain. I hope it helps.
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8:00pm we had some dinner and I drank a bunch of milk. Belly actually feels a little better, but I haven't had a contraction since 7:28pm. I just want this to kick into active labor already so I can be done and hold my little in my arms. Maybe this means I'll get to rest tonight... Who knows.
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8:04 just kidding. Just had another contraction.
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10pm
Bed time.
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2:07am
Ouch. Woke at 1:35 with insane contraction and baby moving like crazy. 2 contractions 10min apart, next 7 min later. Up to use restroom. Next contraction at 2:04 after that(15 min from previous). Very strong can't sleep through but able to relax in between. These hurt my back a lot. Will probably get up soon and in bath if they continue.
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4:11am got out of bath. Seems to have slowed contractions which were running over 90sec long and 11-12 min apart. They are intense when they happen, very. Last one was at 3:53 and still waiting for next one 20min later. I'm so tired that I'm dizzy. Had to get out of bath because I was falling asleep.
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5:21am
Just finished a banana. Was feeling starving. Really craving some cheddar cheese right now, too.
Contractions are most painful and last longest when baby moves during them.
Contrax are now 8-9 mins apart and lasting between 60-90 seconds each.
I've found that if I focus my attention on a fun memory or something like that during a contraction it is easier to deal with.
My vagina hurts, so does my butt. This is definitely no walk in the park.
Still trying to sleep between them but it gets harder as they get closer together.
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6:03am the previous contraction I had made me very nauseous. Danny is still asleep and his breathing is driving me crazy. He sounds like a panting dog or something.
(EDIT: When he was finally awake he asked if I could hear him in his dream. He dreamed that he had been stabbed in the chest. Yep that explains the breathing I was hearing!)
Tummy stays tight between contractions. It's very uncomfortable and very very sore.
7-8min apart.
Making progress. Hope it's not too much longer until hospital time. I'm ready to have her.
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10:08am
Sitting at 6 min apart for about 2 hours. Each is 2 mins long giving me a 4 minute break in between.
I'm very miserable and want to get this baby out now. I couldn't sit in the bath again it hurt too much. Now have heat pads on my back and lower belly. Baby not moving as much thankfully.
Hope I'm done soon. Can't even speak out loud much. Too exhausted.
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12:43pm Feb 7th She's here! Now ill fill in the in between.
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Around 11am my contractions were a little longer and more unpredictable. I had one 9 minute contraction, 2 mins later a 6 minute. Danny took Emma to the neighbor's house. Not too much later we decided to go downstairs.
I went to the bathroom and fell asleep on the couch being contraction free for about 20 minutes or so. Had Danny get me some apples and cheese, but then the contractions came blasting out of nowhere. I couldn't really talk between them or I just didn't want to I was so tired. D was timing them- 2min long, 3 min apart which means I only had about a minute to breathe in between.
Soon they were piling on top of another. I wanted to drink something because I knew I should not because I wanted to. I asked for chocolate milk, figured I could use the protein since all I had to eat all day was a banana and a PB sandwich.
Around 3:45 I was telling Danny I was done and praying that things would be over soon. Each long, unrelenting contraction was torture and I pleaded that it would be the last one. Sometimes I'd have only a few seconds to breathe, sometimes over a minute. Finally after an hour of telling me he needed to put my pants on so we could go to the hospital, I let Danny move me. I wanted to go to the hospital and get drugs. HAHAHA.
We arrived at the hospital at 5pm. The nurse, who I wanted to punch, wanted me to get on a bed to be checked. I had two back to back contractions, each over 2 minutes and she kept insisting that "Hun your contraction is over you need to get on the bed now. " then Danny politely informed her that I've had contractions that last up to 20 minutes and to give me a minute. I love him.
They checked me. I wanted the drugs. I was at a 5-6cm and thought I'd die. Danny sat stroking my hair telling me I didn't need them and I was already so close!! The nurse (who now was looking at my contractions on the monitor and could see that I wasn't exaggerating them ) said that I was already near a 6 and could go to a ten in minutes. Bless her. So anyway after an hour of being admitted I was moved to my room and hooked to monitors. Danny knew that getting me to stand in the shower would help things progress faster and continues to ask them to take me off the monitor so I can do that. They had to check me again because it had been over an hour and wanted to make sure I wasn't at a 9 before letting me stand. I was at a 7-8.
The next hour was... Really intense. These contractions were so gosh awful that all I could visualize in my mind was my uterus ripping up the middle. I stayed focused on a light over head and screamed through them. The pressure in my anus and vagina was so much that I was peeing with every contraction and I could feel the contractions pushing down. Not like pushing like when you push the baby OUT but pushing down.
In the middle of probably the worst contraction ever known to man(ok maybe. ) my waters burst, and I yelled "aghhhhh my waterrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!" Or something. It literally felt like someone had stuck a too full water balloon up between my legs and popped it. It snapped like a rubber band between my legs and definitely had a big pop sound. I had a blanket on and Danny said the blanket had an explosion under it haha!
The contraction ended and the nurse finally said let's get you in the shower to help! She said... "Are you sure you don't have to push because baby is RIGHT HERE and you are at a 10!"
Just then, the urge came. The unmistakeable urge to push. And she told me to wait and to be controlled. I had a contraction but not accompanied by the urge, so I waited. They broke down the bed and got everything in place. "When you are ready"
Here it came again. The urge. I pushed but nothing. Again. Nothing.
And Andrea's(my doula at Emma's birth, my great friend) voice came into my head as I groaned through a push, "chin down. Hold your breath in and push down. The power is there when you don't let it escape"
Again. Push. Hold it in. The head is out!
Again. Push. Shoulders are coming!!! Almost almost...
Again. Huge, concentrated. Holding my breath and shutting my eyes. Head down. Push!!!!! She's out!!!!! 7:30pm
They took off my robe and cut off my shirt and put Kari skin to skin. Left the cord on for a long time. Danny washed his hands and I wish I had a camera, he got to cut her cord when it was finally empty (clear instead of blood filled.).
I was able to hold her and nurse her for two hours uninterrupted. I got my stitches put in and chatted with the doctor and nurse while Danny picked up Emma.
She is blonde. And white. No telling what color her eyes will be- but my guess is green. <3
All in all I count 17 hours of real labor and an amazing experience. I'm so glad it's over. I don't want to do it again. Lol!
