Olivia's Birth Story: Part One

Olivia is now 11 weeks old and we are very happy to finally meet her! 

I don't want more weeks to go by without me recording my baby's birth story as it is still fresh in my mind. Or so I think. I would do my best to describe it. Here we go!

I had my 40th wk appointment on Wednesday October 15. During that check up, there were not many signs that I would give birth anytime soon. I was dilated 1cm and had only experienced braxton hicks contractions. I was a bit anxious since I was already entering my 40th week and just couldn't wait to meet my baby. Although the option to induce labor was made, I opted to continue to wait.

 Later that day, I began to get actual contractions! They started 30 mins apart and felt like bad cramping, but I could still walk and talk through them. By 4 am, Thursday, they gradually began to get 5-7 min apart from each other and lasted for what seemed like 40 secs. They were getting a bit more uncomfortable, and I started to concentrate more on my breathing. Moe, my husband, noticed I was in pain and suggested we go to the hospital. Although my contractions were more close in time, they had not been completely regular for a whole hour (like they are supposed to, to be in active labor). To be safe, I agreed with him and we decided to go. Even if it wasn't time yet, I was curious to know if there had been any improvement. 

 Once at the hospital, I continued feeling contractions but they were still not regular. I walked calmly to get registered and they wheeled me up to the labor unit. There they put me in a room where they monitored the baby's heart and my contractions. The doctor later came in to check me and I was stills 1cm dilated. I was so bummed since the contractions seemed promising (clearly I did not know what active labor contractions were at the time). To be safe before discharging us, the doctor asked me to walk around the hospital for an hour. The contractions were further apart and I was able to walk. The hour passed and nothing had changed, and they sent us back home. I was so upset! I had to hold back tears. The doctor cheered me up by letting me know that it wont be much longer before we meet our little girl.

 The rest of that day the contractions continued to be erregular and uncomfortable. I was able to take naps. By the next morning, Friday,  my contractions were way more painful I had to stop what I was doing for each one. I spent the day at my mother's house with the company of my grandmother and my 22 month old sister. As the contractions got much stronger I began to track them with an app, I had downloaded on my phone. They were getting so strong that I would sweat just holding in the pain. Later that evening, Moe came to pick me up. He saw that I could no longer take the pain from the contractions. But they were not regular enough for us to go to the hospital. I hated the thought of getting sent back home.

 We waited an hour, the pain just got more unbarable, and the contractions closer in time. I was in tears!! Moe then some how managed to walk me to our car and we rushed to the hospital. 

To be continued....