by Terra L. Fletcher

Created on: January 26, 2009   Last Updated: October 15, 2009

Despite being given two very different due dates I knew my little man was soon to make his grand entrance. I left work Friday afternoon wondering if I'd be going back on Monday. The snow fell lightly, beautifully while I drove home. I decided to remember exactly what it was like that day. Being one who is none-to-fond of the long Wisconsin winters I thought how nice it would be to associate the early snowfalls of each winter to come with how I felt at that moment, knowing I would soon meet my son.

I had a quiet, relaxing day on Saturday. Most of the day Sunday my contractions were 10 minutes apart. They were mild and irregular. I stayed calm, not wanting to get too excited. Andrew and I did some bumming around town. It was a cold and windy, so we opted to walk stores. Then we went out to lunch, came home to watch a movie, and I tried unsuccessfully to take a nap. I cut Andrew's hair and did lots of reading. Andrew packed a hospital bag for himself and put the car seat in the car. I can't wait to meet my little man!

Things slowed down Sunday night. It seems my contractions stopped when I went to bed. I realllly didn't want to go to work on Monday. When I awoke, nothing was happening. Andrew went to work and shortly thereafter, I did too.

At about 11am my contractions resumed. They were seven minutes apart all day long. I'm glad I went to work; otherwise I think the day would've seemed much longer. I cleaned out my desk when I left late that afternoon. Monday night my contractions slowed again. I was discouraged thinking I was going to contract like this for a week before my baby decided to come.

At 2:40 Tuesday morning I awoke to what I thought was my water breaking. I discovered I was bleeding, a lot. Andrew and I ate some breakfast. At 3:30 we arrived at the hospital. Everything was fine. I was two or three centimeters and 50-60% effaced. At least all these contractions were doing something. (At this point they were five to seven minutes apart.) Gratefully they allowed us to go back home until labor had progressed.

I tried to sleep, but couldn't. I walked circles around the house, sat on the birth ball, and tried to relax. I was able to almost sleep in between contractions for about 45 minutes. I listened to some relaxing music. It was instrumental with wave sounds. The way the waves and contractions ebbed and waned together was surreal.

By 8:30am my contractions were 2 to 3-1/2 minutes apart and lasting over a minute. At 9:18 we arrived at the hospital again.

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