Part 1 – At home, Sunday October 29

1:30 am – Sunday morning I woke up and felt water trickling down my leg. Could it be? I looked at the clock – 2:30am. Or was it 1:30 am? It was daylight savings night – what time exactly do the clocks get set back? It was no time to consider the intricacies of time manipulation – I rolled over and told Ian that I thought my water had broken. He mumbled something then closed his eyes. I walked to the bathroom and the water kept dripping down my leg. I sat down on the toilet and GUSH. Water just started pouring out of me. No doubt about it anymore. My water had indeed broken.  I called out to Ian from the toilet – "My water broke- WAKE UP." More mumbles.

I got myself cleaned up a bit (though the water never stopped flowing throughout labor) and put in a call to the doctor since she had told me to call if my water broke.  My doctor wasn’t on call, but the doctor who was told me to take my time, but to come into the hospital "sooner than later." I then got on the internet (what else would I do at a time like this?) to see what to expect now that my water broke and to check out the doctor on call since she’d probably be delivering my baby. I should expect contractions soon and the hospital was going to want me to deliver within 24 hours to reduce the risk of infection.  Hopefully my body would cooperate because I didn’t want to be induced. Oh, and the doc on call went to Johns Hopkins, which sounded good to me. I sent a few emails, updated my blog, and then the fun started. Oh, and somewhere in here Ian woke up and realized what was going on and frantically started packing his bag for the hospital.

There was no mistaking that these contractions were the real deal. The pain started in my back and wrapped around my stomach. They were 8 minutes apart and fairly intense at the go. Between contractions my back killed. The back pain was intense and relentless. Funnily enough we had just had a big discussion about back labor in my yoga class on Saturday. About how painful it is. How horrible it is. How lucky I was to get to experience this phenomenon! I had planned to wait awhile and work though the contractions with Ian before calling Trish, but they were already so intense that I called her within an hour. She said she’d be there shortly. In the meantime, Ian made me a special drink that she suggested to keep me hydrated (water, lemon juice, salt, and honey) and I put in The Office DVD and tried to distract myself while I lay draped over the birth ball trying to get some relief for my back.

3:30 am – Trish arrived soon and got to work immediately. She brought a bag of tricks and was like Mary Poppins all day, pulling all kinds of things out of it. She had me get down on my knees and forearms and wrapped a scarf around my belly and pulled up on the scarf, trying to get the baby to turn and give me some relief. It didn’t really work, but I appreciated having something to concentrate on besides the pain. During contractions I leaned over the ball and either Trish or Ian applied counterpressure to my back and hips.  After a bit, contractions seemed to have stalled – they weren’t getting any closer together., but there intensity hadn’t diminished either. Trish suggested we try to go to bed and get some rest.

We tried to rest. But with each contraction, I sat up straight in bed. The pain wasn’t something I could sleep through and it was getting more intense. And so it was back to the ball. Trish pulled out a few more tricks – some scented oil on a wash cloth to breath during contractions and a rollerball for my back. Finally she said I could try getting in the shower and spraying hot water on my back. The water could potentially slow down labor, but she thought I was far enough along that we could try it. We put the birth ball in the shower, along with some kneepads (like the kind you use to garden) and I draped myself over the ball while Ian held the water sprayer from the shower and pointed it on my lower back. This was heaven – the back pain went away and the contractions got closer together, but were much less intense. All was bearable again. Trish said this position is sometimes called a "midwife’s epidural." Deservedly so. I spent a blissful hour in this position and was able to relax a bit and collect myself for what was to come.

7:30 am As soon as I got out of the shower, the pain returned to its full intensity. I started feeling nauseous during the contractions. It was now light out. I decided I wanted to go for a walk to buy some baking soda to add to my drink to give it some bubbles and help calm my nausea. I made it only 2 blocks then sent Ian to finish the errand. I had to stop every half block and lean over something to manage the contractions. Trish and I headed back home.  On the way, she taught me a visualization technique to use during contractions. She would say – “seeing”, “hearing”, or “touching” – and I would just take notice of that sense and start silently listing everything I was seeing, hearing or touching. Simple, but hugely effective as the day went on.

8:00 am – The contractions seemed to be coming right on top of one another now. When Ian got back with the baking soda (which we never did use), Trish presented us with our options – we could continue what we were doing, I could get back in the shower, or we could head to the hospital. I chose the hospital. I felt like things were getting too intense and I was very nervous about the car ride. I only seemed to manage my contractions by bending over so I didn’t know how I could ever ride in the car and sit upright through the pain. We would soon find out…

Ian went to get the car, which was parked a few blocks away and I continued to labor. He got back, loaded the car and soon we were off. Well, almost. As I was getting in the car, I noticed the back tire was FLAT. Too flat to try to drive to the hospital on. We were going to have to stop and get air. I was freaked out because I was already so scared of the car ride and now it was going to be even longer. But, what choice did I have? So, we detoured to a gas station then headed to Manhattan. The car ride is really a blur for me. Luckily there was no traffic. But, I was in so much pain that I was really in another zone. Trish was giving me the visualization cues and I was repeating her words  and rocking like Rainman as we sped up the West Side Highway – "Seeing, seeing, seeing, seeing, hearing, hearing, hearing, hearing."