Continued from Part 1
Disclaimer: This birth story is excessively long. Apologies if you were looking for the quick summary version. But I wanted to write down as many details as I remember cause my memories are very dear to me, and I don't want to forget anything!
Disclaimer: This birth story is excessively long. Apologies if you were looking for the quick summary version. But I wanted to write down as many details as I remember cause my memories are very dear to me, and I don't want to forget anything!
The day before I gave birth to Papillon, I slept a LOT. We are talking lots of naps. At the time I didn't know why, but clearly my body knew it needed to rest up for the upcoming adventures. The same was true of Hibou's birth. Sunday night I slept like a rock! Went to bed around 9ish, and didn't wake up until around 3am. If this doesn't seem like much, just know that for many weeks leading up to this I would wake up every hour to hour and a half and have to readjust all the pillows and covers and what not in order to get comfortable enough to return to sleep. So 9 to 3 without waking up was amazing.
3am ish is officially when this birth story starts, I suppose. Though I won't even pretend to call it labor since I wasn't feeling any contractions. I woke up, felt like I had to go to the bathroom, but decided to try and ignore it - the sleep was just too good. I rolled over, then sighed as I realize the very large baby inside of me meant I didn't have the bladder control that I once had. (Or so I thought - turns out this was my water breaking. A very different experience from when my water broke in the middle of a severe contraction as we were driving to the hospital.)
After a quick trip to the bathroom - during which I had the fleeting thought "Wouldn't it be funny if that was my water breaking. I think there is some way to test that but I can't remember. Oh well. I doubt that is what it was".
Glorious sleep continued and I woke up in time to kiss Mon Amour good bye as he left for work. As I got started on my day I got increasingly frustrated at my seeming "incontinence". It was truly obnoxious and I began to wonder if it really was my water that had broken in the middle of the night. I had promised Mon Amour that I would keep him fully up to date with anything remotely possibly labor related (since last time I wouldn't acknowledge the fact that labor had started despite the 60 second contracts 2-3 minute apart). So I called him and said something nonchalant like "so, you may want to keep the bus schedule pulled up today cause there is a slight chance my water has broken".
I told him not to come home yet cause I had a regularly scheduled OB appointment shortly and we would know more then. Until then, I wasn't having contractions, so there was no rush. "Should I cancel my dentist appointment for this morning" Mon Amour asked. "No, I really doubt this is the real thing. So, just go to the dentist".
God is good. The dentist called Mon Amour shortly thereafter saying he had to reschedule as someone was out sick. Totally providential. Otherwise Mon Amour would likely have been in the dentist chair when I called him later in the morning....
Shortly thereafter a good friend arrived who was going to watch Papillon while I went to the doctor. Once again, in an attempt to be nonchalant, I opened our conversation with something eloquent like "In an interesting turn of events, it seems that my water may have broken. So would you come with me to the doctors and possibly be on Papllion-duty if I find I need to stay at the hospital"
Fortunately I have wonderful friends. This particular friend said she had no plans all day and could help out how ever was needed. Another God moment: I originally had plans to have someone else watch Papillon for this appointment, when they fell through, I almost didn't bother to find a back up. In which case it would have been just me and Papillon at the doctors when we got word that Hibou was definitely on her way. Again, praise God, He had a plan.
Off to the doctors we went. Once there, I casually informed the receptionist that I suspected my water had broken, so perhaps it would be nice to be seen promptly. After a brief moment in the waiting room, they called me back. I stood up....and no longer had any doubts that my water had broken. Oops.
Another note about the God's awesome timing: If my labor hadn't started with my water breaking, and if I hadn't had a regular appointment that morning, I would have waited until I was really uncomfortable and definitely having regular contractions before I informed anyone. And chaos would have insued (as you will later see)
Another note about the God's awesome timing: If my labor hadn't started with my water breaking, and if I hadn't had a regular appointment that morning, I would have waited until I was really uncomfortable and definitely having regular contractions before I informed anyone. And chaos would have insued (as you will later see)
The actual appointment was a comedy of errors. The doctor had a student tagging along which made it even more interesting.
Dr: So you think your water has broken
Me: Well, I thought that this morning. I now know that it has
Dr: *chuckle* Well, let's check.
*looks for appropriate medical stuff for exam. finds none. Calls for the nurse*
Dr: Well, let's check the baby's heart rate while we wait.
*looks for doppler. can't find it. exits the room to get one leaving the clearly uncomfortable student wondering what to do/say*
Dr: Found one! .... Baby's heart looks good.
*still waiting for the nurse*
Dr: So, are you ready to have a baby today? *a little awkwardly and definitely amused by the situation*
Me: I suppose so. *shrugging and trying to seem nonchalant*
After more awkward waiting, the nurse finally returns. Water is confirmed broken, I am 2, maybe 3 centimeters dilated, and I am instructed to head to the hospital and check myself in. I return to the waiting room to inform Papillon and my friend that it looks like Hibou is on her way. I would like to think I remained fairly calm and collected, but my friend informed me afterwards that she could see the news written all over my face.
I called Mon Amour and told him to catch the next possible bus - today was the day! (This was 10:10am) Then I called my mom as Papillon, my friend, and myself walked across the hospital campus to Labor and Delivery. Yes, I drove myself to the hospital and walked myself to Labor and Delivery - but no, this is not actually impressive since I wasn't having any noticeable contractions at this point.
At the security check in I informed the security lady that I was there to have a baby. She seemed surprised, but said nothing by way of congratulations and simply informed me that Papillon could not come back with me...not even to the waiting room. Weird. Since I didn't feel woman enough to check into L&D alone, I informed the lady that if that was the case, I would come back later. And we walked out leaving a rather confused security lady behind us.
After a bit of pacing around hospital grounds, and trying to figure out what my friend needed to know about caring for Papillon that day (I ended up giving her zero helpful notes...oh well. She did great without direction), and also trying to compile a rough list of what someone could put in a hospital bag for me, Mon Amour arrived (yay for co-workers willing to drive him to the hospital). I was reluctant to say goodbye to Papillon for some reason it was weird to think that that was going to be the very last time that it would be just the two of us. I didn't feel real that I was going to have a baby that day - until I had to say goodbye to my first baby. Weird. But, we said goodbye and Mon Amour returned to officially check in.
To be continued...
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