I got up the next morning to the sound of the telephone ringing for the 10th time, "No...nothing has happened yet! " This went on through the day. I wish I had something to tell them! Carl and I just went on about our business, sitting and waiting. Everyone was critical of Michelle's decision not to make me go to the hospital, seeing as how my water had been broke for over 24 hours..but she wasn't concerned, so we weren't either..I trusted her totally and if she said that it was allright, then it was. I called our Bradley instructor and asked if the induction techniques we had learned about ( thumb sucking, nipple stimulation, and walking) were supposed to work to bring on labor or just speed up things once it got started. She said the latter, and she suggested not to try yet because they could bring on false labor and that would be more nerve-wracking if it stopped. So I sat around most of the day and putzed around the house, I ended up going for a long walk anyway, it just felt good to get out of the house. Carl went to bed and I called Michelle, now I was starting to get nervous. What was taking so long? She assured me that I was fine and that when he was ready to come...he would...so I sat.....and waited...
I finally went to bed at 3 A.M., laid down, started to doze off and sure enough, here they came! I started to realize that there was a rhythm to the pains. They weren't too bad, but they were bad enough that I couldn't sleep through them, or maybe I was just too exited to sleep. Whatever the reason, I didn't sleep that night. I stayed in bed though, and rested till 6 A.M.. Finally I couldn't stand it anymore, and I got up and got Carl up, if I wasn't going to sleep, neither was he! We ate some breakfast and went for a long walk. I wasn't totally convinced that the pains were contractions, because they didn't feel like I had heard them described. I didn't feel my belly tighten up, but since there was a rhythm I took them seriously. They were about 10 minutes apart so I knew that we were in for the long haul but I had no idea how long! It stayed that way pretty much throughout the day. I picked up the house and took a shower, and Carl and I went to the grocery store to get some food for the birth team! =) Michelle came over to check on me at about 2:00, but she didn't do an internal exam. She explained to us that once you do an internal the clock starts ticking, because my water had already broken and there was a much greater chance for infection. She did check though to make sure that I had a good amount of water left. It had been the first time she had seen me since my water broke in the first place. She said that everything was fine and confirmed that I was indeed having contractions! She left and said to call her later when things started to progress.
I ate lunch, laid down and tried to get some rest at 4 P.M. I did sleep for an hour. It would be the last sleep I got till had the baby! I used my breastpump for nipple stimulation and sent Carl to the health food store for a black and blue cohosh tincture, I was anxious to get the ball rolling!
Shannon, Jenny and my mom came over at about 7:30P.M.. Shannon had told me that my 6 year old niece Lacey, was so upset that she couldn't come. There had been some discussion earlier in the pregnancy about her being there but I had decided that I couldn't deal with a child during labor. But, my mom said that she thought it would be really good for her to be at this ultimate "girls night." So I had agreed that she should be there. We decided that later someone would go and pick her up. We sat outside on the porch swing and enjoyed the cool weather. At 9:00 the contractions were 4 minutes apart and lasting 40 seconds. I was having alot of back labor, which I wasn't expecting! They say that wherever you get period cramps is where you get contraction pain, and I never get pain in my back so I was not ready for that. it was awful. We were all sitting around talking and laughing but when a contraction would come, everyone would get quiet and Shannon and Jenny would take turns timing them. I was so lucky to have so many supportive people around! Carl had laid down for some rest. We called Michelle, she said that when the contractions got closer together and I became less talkative ( meaning we were getting down to business!) to call her.
