By Samantha Harrison
I decided I would stop working right before my due date, enjoy a few days of relaxing and anticipation and then somehow begin labor “on time”. Meanwhile, lurking in my mind was the nagging dread of the suspected long, difficult car ride through traffic to the birth center while laboring. As it turned out, neither of these ideas were true.
I was convinced I would not have much time waiting at home, especially because Sabrina had “dropped,” and I was having regular Braxton-Hicks contractions. I worked all the way up to three days before my due date of June 20th and had been enjoying the days prior to her due date relaxing and nesting at home with family. It was a sweet, peaceful time. For days leading up to her due date, I was getting contractions that felt different than the Braxton-Hicks I’d experienced before, happening nightly around 10 PM. I would have a few contractions and then they would fizzle away. On Sabrina’s due date, I had a massage scheduled just in case I wasn’t in labor. The time came and I was still pregnant, so I went to my massage appointment and felt great. We spent the rest of the day buying a kiddie pool and floating around, not realizing that we still had eleven days yet to float.
The next day we had our 40-week appointment. We talked about all the things I could do at home to get labor going. We scheduled our 41-week appointment just in case I still hadn’t had Sabrina, but I remained sure though that we would. Days kept passing and my patience began growing thin. I was anxious and ready to meet my baby. I’d been doing all the things to get things going including eating 6 dates a day (for the last 28 days), drinking lots of red raspberry leaf tea, eating spicy pineapple, taking evening primrose oil, walking, sex, yoga, squats, etc. Nevertheless, at 41 weeks I was still pregnant.
Our 41 week visit on June 27th included an ultrasound to make sure Sabrina had enough amniotic fluid, followed by a non-stress test. Everything was well. Sabrina declared she was perfectly content right where she was for now. At 42 weeks, I would not be permitted to give birth at the birth center, so we discussed with our midwife how we would proceed getting into labor before our time ran out. I was now beginning to feel disheartened and discouraged. I wanted to have Sabrina at the birth center and wanted to avoid a medical induction, both of which were threatening now. We decided that we would come in on Saturday, June 30th for my first cervical check and a possible membrane sweep, provided my cervix had ripened. I was still hoping that labor would start before Saturday, but was happy we had a plan.
Saturday arrived and we travelled to the birth center for our 1:00 PM appointment, worried that we only had three days left before we would be transferred to the hospital. Our midwife that afternoon, Lydia, administered another non-stress test which came out perfect again then performed a cervical check and sweep. I had heard the checks and sweeps were very uncomfortable and was prepared for a bit of pain. I realize it may sound cliché, however I was able to use deep breathing techniques that I have practiced for years in yoga. This enabled me to relax into it rather than resist. I was 3 centimeters dilated! This was encouraging news for me indeed, as I had been afraid I would not be dilated at all despite the mild contractions. Lydia also noticed that Sabrina’s position was transverse. Even though she was head down, her body was to the side instead of lining up with the birth canal. Lydia wrapped a blanket around my belly tightly and told me to wear it until I gave birth. She then suggested we head home and come back the next day for another sweep if things had not progressed.
Cautiously optimistic, we began the two-hour drive home, unaware that we would be driving right back the same day. On the way home (4:30 PM) I began having consistent contractions. Brian had a contraction timer app that we started using which indicated that they were just 30 seconds each and happening about every 9-10 minutes. We updated our doula and she told us to keep her posted and look for contractions to start lasting one minute. By the time we got home around 6:30 PM, they were getting closer to lasting 45-50 seconds and happening anywhere between 5-10 minutes apart. Thinking that we would be staying home for a while, we went to visit my in-laws to give them an update.
The contractions persisted there so we decided to go home and were eager to try to get things going even more. I was excited, but at the same time knew I needed to rest so I started the Miles Circuit. I began to set-up for the first two positions in the Miles Circuit, which are passive, static positions held for 30 minutes each that help with positioning the baby optimally. I set-up to watch Friends on my computer while holding the positions and wearing my TENS unit. The TENS unit had electrical leads on my low back and bra-strap area that I would just turn it up a little during a contraction, providing a distraction to redirect my attention away from the discomfort. This diminutive electrical device remained with me for the remainder and was a very powerful tool for my entire labor.
While doing the Miles Circuit/watching Friends, Brian was cooking me a carb-heavy dinner of homemade spaghetti and meatballs. Our doula had recommended that I carb load when I was in early labor to give my body plenty of energy for the labor marathon ahead. I am so glad I did!
Just after finishing the second position, I paused to eat dinner and use the bathroom. I was surprised to find that my mucus plug came out (later I realized this was only part of it and the rest was to come). I will spare you the details on that but I knew it was a sign active labor was starting. At 7:30 PM, I updated our doula and called the midwife. Lydia knew we were almost 2 hours away and I had been 3 cm dilated earlier that day so she recommended we go ahead and come back to the birth center.
I had always envisioned that we would begin labor and be at home for hours before driving into the birth center. We had also hired a doula that would come to our house in early labor and help us decide when to go to the birth center. All of this was happening quickly though and we updated our doula and told her to just meet us at the birth center.
Throughout my pregnancy, I had dreaded the drive into the birth center during early labor. I was afraid I would be miserable. I was so excited, though, and still in early enough labor that the drive in was not bad at all. I was still using my TENS unit and contractions were getting stronger, but the combination of Brian playing my birth playlist and the excitement were enough to distract me. Based on how things were going, I was feeling very optimistic that I would be meeting my baby very soon.
Almost two weeks of waiting at home for labor to begin coupled with a very pleasant drive to the birth center is the reverse of what we expected. Arriving at the birth center at 10 PM, we believed that labor could perhaps be not be as much work as we had expected and that Sabrina would be born soon. Both of these ideas also proved to be reversed.