April 11, 2012 was almost any old day. I met up with my mom and sister for coffee at
Wilde Roast Cafe. We chatted and laughed. We wondered who was in my belly. We took a photo of the three of us - the last photo of us all while I was pregnant! Then mom dropped me off at Brian's work so that I could hitch a ride home with him while she went back to stay at my brother's house. Brian and I ran a couple errands and talked about how we should go out for dinner and have a little date. By the time we were done with errands I was so exhausted that Brian suggested we simply order a pizza and spend the night chilling at home with pizza and a movie. Although slightly disappointed at the time that we weren't going out on a date, in hindsight, I am so glad we decided to stay in instead of going out because of what was about to happen...
At 5:04 we were snuggled on the couch watching a movie and I had just finished my last piece of pizza. I felt a funky "pop" feeling and then a gush of warm liquid. I jumped up and ran to the bathroom, embarrassed that I had possibly wet my pants! I had thought maybe my water had broken, but (TMI alert!) the liquid was yellow/greenish instead of clear. Confused and embarrassed, I changed my clothes and sat on the giant yoga ball "just in case". Thirty mins later, there was a (TMI alert!) HUGE gush of liquid and I ran to the bathroom again and jumped in the tub. There was no denying it... my water had just broken! Again, it was yellow/greenish and resembled swamp water more than tap water. At that point I knew that Baby Bird had pooped in my tummy! Not a good sign. Contractions still hadn't started so Brian prayed for us and then I took a warm bath while he read aloud to me from the Hobbit. At 5:45 I had four "normal" contractions - the one's that are tightening, but not painful. The next contraction took my breath away and I moaned in pain. Everyone told me that when true labor started, I would have no doubt. As soon as that contraction hit... I knew! Thus labor began! From that moment, I had extremely painful contractions and back labor that came every 2 mins without fully relaxing to rest in between. I took a hot shower while Brian grabbed all the last minute hospital items. We originally planned to labor at home as long as possible before heading to the hospital, but when my water broke with poop in it and contractions began that close together and that painful, I knew we were throwing our birth plan out the window!
Brian was surprisingly calm as we loaded up the car. We took one last pregnant photo in front of the car as we embarked for the hospital. The 20 minute drive to Fairview Southdale Hospital never felt so long! Every contraction took complete concentration to get through. Brian held my hand and reminded me to take deep breaths. With each exhale I shook my head back and forth and made long vowel noises, "oooooo" or "aaaaahhhh" and on the really strong ones, "oooowwwwww!" When we got to the hospital around 7pm, Brian ran in to get a wheel chair and dropped me off at the door while he parked the car and grabbed my hospital bag. I felt pretty dumb sitting by the entrance to the hospital, leaking amniotic fluid (apparently, you continue to even after your water has broken because you body is continually producing more fluid), shaking my head back and forth while moaning with no one accompanying. People exiting the hospital asked if they could do anything to help me. I squeezed out a simple "no" in between contractions. Within minutes, Brian had run up and started pushing the chair to the Maternal Assessment area. The poor nurses kept trying to ask me information for their records and I couldn't answer. The contractions were increasing in strength and it took all my energy and mental strength to focus on getting through each one. Brian answered the nurses on my behalf. The nurses had to make sure that I was in true labor (as if it wasn't obvious) so they put me in a room and had me change into my hospital gown and hooked me up to a fetal and contraction monitor. I asked for an epidural right away. I had planned on laboring as long as possible without one for the sake of being more mobile to progress in labor naturally, but I simply couldn't do it. The contractions were too strong and only a minute or two apart. When they checked my cervix just before moving us to our labor room, I was dilated to 4cm...
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