For my first week home, I wasn’t feeling impatient about the baby coming in the least. I enjoyed spending time with Adam, going out for lunches and dinners, and just getting some R&R before the big day. In fact, part of me was relieved that the baby hadn’t come, because I wanted that time with Adam, just the two of us.
By Friday night, though, I felt much more ready to have the baby. And maybe that made a difference, because I started having contractions Saturday night. They started coming every 20 minutes, then 15, then 10, and after about 6 hours (at 3am-ish), they were 7 minutes apart. For a good part of the night I couldn’t sleep as I was so excited (it was like that “night before the first day of school” feeling you get when you’re little), but I tried to force myself to sleep around 4am, figuring that I needed as much rest as possible, and as the contractions became more intense, they’d wake me up. When I woke up around 8am, I was still having the occasional contraction, but they were random, less intense, and much more sporadic. Boo. 
Flash forward to Sunday evening, when I started having much more intense contractions, 15 minutes apart, for over 3 hours. These were so painful that sometimes I couldn’t even stand up during them. I figured, ok, these really hurt, this must be the real deal. Adam and I decided to try and sleep around 10:30, since we figured we’d end up needing to go to the hospital in the early morning hours. When I woke up to use the bathroom around 2am, I was having some contractions, but they were really mild and randomly spaced; nothing like the ones before. Sigh…
I don’t mind waiting for Reed to come. I can be patient. But this is driving me nuts. To get all revved up and excited, thinking this is it!, only to find that it isn’t, is incredibly frustrating. I know the contractions are doing something in that they’re making my cervix more dilated and effaced, but it’s definitely a let-down when it doesn’t progress beyond that. I won’t get my hopes up tonight if I have more contractions. Probably when I’m really in labor, I’m not even going to believe it. It’ll be like the boy who cried wolf. Until my water breaks or we see Reed’s head, I’m not going to buy into the contractions.
I’ve tried most of the things people suggest you try to stimulate labor (though nothing will make me go near castor oil) and the “baby chicken” was apparently a bust as well. I think I’m just going to focus now on relaxing, eating healthy, and not worrying about going into labor (or not going into labor). Reed will come when he’s ready to come and if he doesn’t in the time-span my midwives say is acceptable, I’ll just have to accept the medical interventions I did not want. Again, it’s not in my hands, and I feel like all of these old wives tales about what stimulates labor only have the effect of making people feel like there’s something they can do, which consequently makes them feel like failures when those things don’t work (or they believe they worked when really, their labor would have started then either way). Every legitimate scientific thing I read tells me that something the baby does stimulates labor, so the ball is completely in Reed’s court, and I’m just going to make myself as comfortable and relaxed as possible until he decides he’s ready to make his appearance.
April 13th, 2009 at 10:36 am
Reading your post caused me to have flashbacks to May 2008 – my little guy was born 10 days after his estimated arrival date. I began having practice surges/contractions the Wednesday before he was born and they continued every evening. The duration and intensity varied, but there were plenty of times that they were strong enough that I had to stop what I was doing and breath. Mostly it just meant that I didn’t sleep much at night. Oddly enough, on his birthday, I woke up at 6 am due to surges/contractions and immediately knew that a. these suckers were really different and that b. there was no question at all that this was it! (He was born 12.5 hours later).
I totally agree with you that the babies are in charge at this point and that they do come when they are ready. Good luck!
April 13th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
I am thinking about you and I keep checking back here. I have not experienced this yet, but I agree it does make sense that the baby will come when he is ready. In the meantime, try to relax and store up your sleep. You are in my thoughts and prayers and I am sending you love and good wishes. Good Luck!! Noelle
April 13th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Hi, Meredith. One of the most annoying things (especially when you are short and pregnant and look larger than those tall pregnant women do) is people asking, “Have you had that baby yet?” So I won’t ask.
I have had two kids, and never went into labor (scheduled c-sections, due to “complications”), so I can’t offer any advice on labor. But I can tell you that it is okay to be impatient, and it is okay for you to accept the help and caring of others.
*sending you a virtual blessingway*
April 15th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
I was about to tell a story about my birth, and then I thought, you know, I bet Meredith is really, really sick of hearing stories. So instead I’ll just hope that it all goes well when the time comes, whenever that time is.