Please read the previous parts 1 and part 2 before starting here. WARNING: In this and subsequent posts in this series, I will be speaking frankly about bodily functions including defecation, urination, fluids and blood. Please do not continue to read if you find this distasteful.
As the time drew nearer, I had been having Braxton-Hicks (practice) contractions regularly. These contractions were just a minute-or-so long tightening of my uterus (which by now occupied nearly my entire abdomen). If you take your thumb and press it against the fingers of the same hand, the feeling of that big muscle in your palm that runs your thumb is what my belly felt like, both to me and to the touch.
Two weeks before labor began, I sensed that the baby had dropped. I had read about this with my first pregnancy, and if it DID happen, it wasn’t very obvious to me. This time however, it was clear. On a Sunday night I went to bed with all the “upper” signs of pregnancy: difficulty breathing, heartburn, tummy under the chin… and when I woke up those were almost all gone. In their place, however, was the feeling that something was right there on my pelvic floor. It felt 24/7 like I needed to have a bowel movement. This feeling was ever present and slightly annoying. In addition, my actual bowel movements changed to more frequent and softer.
During faculty-staff conference, a week before my due date I went to the restroom and found a large amount of mucus on my toilet paper when I wiped. Mentioned here. I thought, "this must be the mucus plug that is a sign of impending labor". I went to tell one of the nursing faculty, who is also one of my best friends. She was very excited, but kept it under wraps. Thank goodness. The day went on, and the evening, and nothing seemed to happen. Nothing happened for the rest of the week.
The following Thursday was my due date. It came, and it went. That Friday, as I was leaving the day care after picking up Boy, I felt a painful contraction. I thought, Hooray!! Its coming and it will be this weekend (when Hub is home)! But I had no more contractions that evening, and even posted thoughts on induction on Saturday because there were no more signs of a baby anxious to arrive.
No comments:
Post a Comment