The last two weeks have been blissful heaven for me. After an extremely difficult nine months, I finally felt healthy, excited, and energized--and I got more done than I ever imagined I would! It was wonderful in every way, but it was short-lived.
As of yesterday, I'm down to a week until my due date, which is Sunday, September 11. By Saturday she had dropped about four inches, causing the to-be-expected discomforts that come along with that.
Thursday night I woke up twice with sharp abdominal and lower back contractions, Friday night I didn't have any. Saturday night I had them every 30-60 minutes, getting more painful each time. Sunday night they were every 7-20 minutes. It's false labor, of course, because they aren't consistent enough. But these are no normal Braxton-Hicks. The pain and intensity is every bit as real as the early stages of true labor, I'm just not actually in labor. I've tried everything to slow them in the middle of the night, including warm baths, drinking liquids, walking, changing positions,etc. Jake's been working with me on my breathing and relaxation techniques, which have definitely helped. But nothing has eased the bludgeoning pain that has been constantly awaking me.
I'm in no real rush, to be honest. So what's the problem? Well, that last night, for example, I only slept a total of about two, maybe three hours. Night after night of this is taking its toll on my body, and I'm afraid that this physical exhaustion could jeopardize my VBAC. I'm not about to give that goal up without a fight!
So my doc told me to take a sleeping aid, which I did this morning. My wonderful husband, Jake, found relaxing music for me to listen to, covered the bedroom windows with blankets, and took Grant all day so I could sleep from 9 until almost 4. I feel almost human again!
Luckily this is a sign that my body is starting the process, at least. I'll be interested to see at my appointment tomorrow if any of this has been doing any good with dilation or effacement. Either way, it's a sign that perhaps I won't be being pregnant too much longer. :)
Naptime
16 years ago
Posts
2 comments:
I'm so excited! Isn't it kind of rotten though that the time when your body needs the most rest to gear up for the big event of labor, that is the time when your body won't allow you to get any rest? I'm not sure how structurally sound that sentence was, but you get the idea. I just hope she comes by Thursday! :) We're hoping to pop down there to see you for a few hours after we fly in. I'll give you a call about it.
So excited for you. I am praying hard that everything goes well with your VBAC. Contractions stink, but they do get things going...most of the time.
Just sitting here, waiting for a call :)
Post a Comment