The Birth of Lucy, Part 2: Early Labor (or, the one with no pictures)

11:00pm

After Justin left for work, I took my nightly dose of Unisom and Vitamin B6 (a combination used to combat Hyperemesis Gravidarum). I even “treated” myself to a whole tab of Unisom in hopes I might get a good night's sleep so I could feel rested for the intense labor I expected would come in the morning. I then enjoyed a warm bath and slipped into bed.

1:00am

I woke just a few hours later to contractions so strong I could no longer sleep through them. They finally seemed patterned, so I began timing them, and texted Justin to let him know they were approximately 8 mins apart. (I later learned he did not have any cell service in the area of the hospital he was working that night and never received any of my texts. Luckily my sister was still living in Kuwait at the time, and it was mid-morning there, so she kept me company during my frequent "OMG it's happening" texts)

Hoping warm water might offer me some relief, I attempted to take another bath, but quickly found that to be more frustrating than helpful as my body insisted on standing for each contraction (no small feat with my giant belly in a slippery tub).

4:00am

Things were getting intense and I finally decided I no longer wanted to be alone. I called Justin at work and asked if he could please come home. It wasn’t possible for him to leave since they were already so short-staffed, but he offered me an obligatory, "Call me if anything changes." I rather maturely held back from snapping, "Why the hell do you think I just called you?" (because really, it wasn't his fault), put on my bathrobe, re-did my hair (which is just so laughable to me now because, you guys, LABOR COMPLETELY UNDOES YOU), and made my way downstairs.

Luckily, he was able to come home for a long lunch break and found me huffing and puffing around the guest room, making the most of my two-and-a-half-minute breaks in between contractions as I attempted to organize our home birth supplies and prep the space for Lucy's arrival. Together we put the plastic mattress protector on the bed and rearranged some of the furniture to make room for the birthing tub (which we still did not have in our possession).

5:00am

As he left the house to return to work, he encouraged me to text Mirra (our midwife) an update. I hadn’t yet said anything to her because I was terrified of crying wolf, but finally agreed to send her a screenshot of my contraction timer. It showed my contractions had been less than three minutes apart for over an hour. Ummm, surprise?

I noted that I was still cracking jokes and knew we had some time, so I tried to recall all the things we'd learned in our childbirth education class. I put on an episode of Modern Family for distraction, and attempted to bounce on a yoga ball to give my legs a rest from my compulsive need to stand for every.single.contraction.

6:30am

Just as I was starting to feel sorry for myself for being all alone during labor, my husband burst through the front door at full speed and gasped, "We're having a baby!"  

Apparently he was able to finagle his way out of work early (I'm pretty sure he didn't realize how serious I was about being in labor until he saw me on his lunch break, rocking back and forth and horse-lip breathing like it was my job). I was equal parts thrilled that he was home, and worried that he was yawning. I promptly sent him to bed.

This is the part of my labor story that is the most hazy. The Unisom (plus the fact I had only a few hours sleep) was still working hard to make me nice and drowsy, but my body was still working even harder to move Lucy into position, and I still felt compelled to take a vertical stance for each contraction (which were still coming faster and faster together). That's a whole lotta "still" - which is just kinda labor in general. Things don't go away only to be replaced by new things. Instead, everything just builds on top of itself until - one intensely beautiful way or another - your offspring ejects.

I abandoned the yoga ball and began to pace. I remember "waking up" at one point to a strong contraction, only to discover I was actually standing with one arm leaning against our kitchen island and had no recollection of how long I had been there.

8:00am

After another unsuccessful attempt at a bath, I felt pretty exhausted, but laying down was the absolute last position my body wanted to be in. Trying to be creative, I knelt in front of the couch and collapsed my body against it for respite. Lucy finally got the hint and my contractions slowed back down to 8-10mins apart. I did my best to rest, knowing more hard work was coming.

10:00am

By the time Mirra arrived to deliver the birth tub, my contractions had picked back up, and I resumed my pacing around the house in my bathrobe, alternately wrapping it around me for warmth and throwing it open because I felt like my skin was on fire (hello heat-fluctuating hormones). She watched me endure a few contractions and confirmed it was the “real deal,” but then reminded me that my ability to still talk and laugh through them likely meant I had some work to do.  She dropped some birth supplies in the guest room and said she would be back in a few hours, “unless something changes.”

She must've seen my hesitation as she moved towards the door because she gently suggested I wake Justin, noting, "it seems like you don't really want to be alone right now."

I quickly thought through any other options, not wanting to disturb my husband after just 4 hours of sleep, but Lucy chose an extraordinarily inconvenient day to make her Grand Entrance as everyone I had intended to be present for her birth was otherwise occupied.

10:30 am
I struggled up the stairs to wake Justin.