Last night I dreamt that McDreamy was the OB delivering my baby (and he was very polite and friendly!). I was so nervous until a nurse gave me a quick pep talk and then I rolled over to my left side and started to deliver that way. He was crowning - and there was absolutely no pain at all. Just the sensation of my body doing what it's made to do. And then everything stopped; I was so shocked that it was so easy and so painless that I froze in disbelief. McDreamy then started talking to me and the baby, gently saying, "Come on, you can do it, quickly now" and there was a sense of calm urgency in the room. I knew I had to relax totally and work with my baby in order for him to come out naturally. I looked up at the wall calendar and it was January 27 (which is my due date). Then I woke up.
Hmmmm.
I'm not sleeping again. I get about 3 or 4 hours a night, then wake up for 3, then sleep again for 3 or so. I think I'm nervous about labor and delivery. Not so much for the actual birth as much as just the whole experience. I mean, I've never done it before. I have no point of reference (which I quite like. I'm much better at things when I don't know what I'm getting into.) and I know that each person's experience is different, so even when people are telling me what they went through I know that mine will be different. It will be my own. Which I love as well! And I'll be in a weird place, physically, that I'm not familiar with: the hospital. Full of people I don't know in scrubs and uniforms. I just want to make sure I can be as comfortable as I want to be. Make my room "my own" so to speak. I'll have to fill it with "Stephi energy" to be comfortable - but that's easy enough I suppose. I have this thing where I want everyone else to be ok and I put myself last. I never want to step on anyone's toes (Come on... who wants to piss off somebody that will be poking around your vagina for the better part of their day?!).
I'll just have to focus on putting myself first - after all, it's about the healthy delivery of my little guy and my own safety and joyful experience as well!
Also, he's just so active that he keeps me awake. Seriously, like an alien is inside of me, poking and prodding me from the inside. It's the most bizarre feeling. I love it! And yet it's still very bizarre to have a little creature inside of you living it's own little life right now. It won't be long until I get to see those movements up close and in person! Which brings me to....
...early signs of labour. What are they? My OB said that I'd definitely know, and I'm sure I will, but what are the signs? (Besides water breaking.) Let me know if I'm on the right track here. Knowing me I'll want to be alone and go somewhere by myself (must tell Donald to be aware of that, because in the midst of it all I probably won't realize it!).
- Contractions that are regular and last for "x"- seconds instead of just here and there, and getting longer and stronger and closer together.
That's the only one I know of as a sure sign of labor. Anyone have any other tips for me?
As for my body getting ready to give birth, I've been told and/or have experienced a few of the following:
- More frequent bowel movement(s)/diarrhea
- Increased vaginal discharge - which is already happening
- Baby slows down movements
- Baby has "dropped" (but will I notice this? I hear that alot of the breathlessness will be gone (finally!), but other than that, will I know that he has dropped lower into my pelvis (or wherever they drop to?) Will I feel it? How can you not feel a baby pushing against your cervix, or wherever he lands...even if it is just the tip of his head!)
- Increase in boob size? Or is this after birth and when your milk is coming in?
- Wanting to nest. Yes, this has is happening too. I just want to stay at home with my husband and enjoy time with him.
So much stuff on the go! I'm so loving this whole experience. My pregnancy has been a dream, just so easy and uncomplicated. I'm so grateful for that. I've only got a few more weeks to go, let's focus on it staying that way!
All for now.
s.
Last night I dreamt that McDreamy was the OB delivering my baby (and he was very polite and friendly!). I was so nervous until a nurse gave me a quick pep talk and then I rolled over to my left side and started to deliver that way. He was crowning - and there was absolutely no pain at all. Just the sensation of my body doing what it's made to do. And then everything stopped; I was so shocked that it was so easy and so painless that I froze in disbelief. McDreamy then started talking to me and the baby, gently saying, "Come on, you can do it, quickly now" and there was a sense of calm urgency in the room. I knew I had to relax totally and work with my baby in order for him to come out naturally. I looked up at the wall calendar and it was January 27 (which is my due date). Then I woke up.
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3 comments:
The tricky thing with 2nd & subsequent pregnancies is that those braxton-hicks contractions can start early and feel a lot like "the real thing", even to the point of getting longer, stronger & closer together. I've had four babies and was "tricked" with pregnancies 2, 3 and 4 by thinking I was in labor when I wasn't (though of course, even those early contractions are doing something...they just may not indicate that your baby will be born very soon). All three times, as soon as it was "the real thing" I thought OH YEAH! and wondered how I could possibly have forgotten what those active contractions felt like!
The one thing that was constant, at least for me, was bloody show/mucus plug. Each time I lost that I had a baby within 24 hours. But even that isn't a sure thing, since some women lose the plug days or weeks before going into labor. Sometimes it "grows" back!
If you are planning to have a low-intervention birth the thing to keep in mind is that there's no huge emergency. If you aren't sure whether it's "the real thing" then it likely either isn't, or it's so early that you have plenty of time to get to the hospital. So take a nice warm bath, try to relax and get some sleep and take heart that when you are getting close enough to worry about heading in, you'll almost definitely know it!
I just woke up at 4:16am realizing that there was "something" going on. I spoke out loud, "I'm going to have a baby today" and then at about 5:00am, started calling some people in different time zones to have a chat. I was very excited. My water didn't break, there was no mucus plug, there was just a knowingness and funny feelings - not painful at all.
Then the feelings became more crampy and they became more regular. Then they got faster and faster but were shorter in length.
You want the contractions to be close together but you need them to last at least 45-60 seconds long or nothing is happening. If the contractions get closer together but are like 20-30 seconds long, lie down.
When things finally got to the point where I was feeling things were getting painful, Alix and I called Rheja - then the midwife. They arrived and my midwife said, "hmmm... you're 6 cm dialated" Yay
and my water hadn't even broken. So she told me to sit on the toilet and visualize it breaking - so I did!
Then contract, contract, push, push... out came Ruby!
Okay - it wasn't quite that quick - but roughly 7 hours in all from the time I was actually in labour (about 2pm) to her birth at 8:55pm.
BTW, I didn't notice any of the things in that list.
That pic of you by the fire is awesome! Next year you should get a picture in the same place with your little guy on your lap!
Love you, Nicola
That dream was a real gift!
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