birth story page 1 She's actually sleeping! By herself! On the bed, even. Not on her bed, but on mine, which is progress at any rate. There are subtle changes that happen in your brain when you become a mother. Changes that cause you to consider a banana with peanut butter a meal, and four hours a full night's sleep. I guess I should start with her birth story, if she gives me time. I started having light regular contractions on Sunday, January 4th. The weather was getting increasingly horrible and so I called my mom that afternoon, because she had to drive 3 1/2 hours over a shitty pass and through the gorge, which is also shitty. Judging by most of the birth stories I had read, I thought I might have her the next day. That's what you get for thinking. My mom did get there, only it took her like 6 hours and I was fairly sure I was going to have to name the baby after her, as she was probably dead, and it was going to be one of those heart-wrenching, poignant stories about the circle of life like you see on the local news. But she did get there, after dodging jacknifed trucks and falling boulders. I did sleep some that night, because the contractions got lighter and farther apart when I laid down. The next day, same shit. The weather was cold and crappy so we went to the mall and walked around and around and around. I actually bought a couple of things, and had an espresso thinking I could get that baby motivated. I was getting frustrated by now, because I had told my husband to stay home from work and get some sleep so he could help me through labor and now nothing was happening and he was freaking out that he would get fired. I pointed out that I was really in some sort of slow, tortuous labor and that his boss was unlikely to fire him because he took a few days off for the birth of his first, and probably only, child. I slept some Sunday night. Monday morning I went in to my midwife, still having contractions, because I wanted her to check me, dammit, to see if I was making any progress at all because I was thinking it was all a bunch of bullshit by that time. I had; I was 100% effaced and 3 cms., where I had been 50% and 1 a couple of days before the contractions started. She told me she thought my water would break soon, due to the position of the baby, and that my labor would probably go really fast after that and I should be prepared. This was sort of a freak-out because the weather was getting even worse, but I went home and waited and waited and the contractions did get a little more intense and closer together, but I was pretty convinced that I would never have this baby ever. She's awake- |