My Labour Story Part 1

A lot of people have been asking me how the labour went so here it is. I hope you enjoy reading about how our little girl came into the world.

As Poppy’s due date drew closer I tried to imagine where, when and what I’d be doing when I went into labour.  Would my waters break first?  Would contractions start first?  Would I be out in public or would it start during the night?  Well, Wednesday the 24th started off like every other day had recently.  I went to help Drew open the Tea Room at 9.30am just for something to do.  I’d been getting really bored just sleeping in late and sitting around all day; so when Drew opened at the Tea Room, I went along to help him.  When the Tea Room got rolling, I walked back home to get the exercise and you know what they say about walking to start labour….so I was hoping.

Late in the afternoon I started feeling some twinges that did get fairly painful and could have possibly been contractions but I kept quiet as I didn’t want to get Drew’s hopes up.  I tried to time them and they did come fairly often but they weren’t consistent and didn’t last long so I just thought they were braxton hicks.  That evening though I was really irritable and wanted to get out of the house and go on a good long walk.  So Drew and I set out to walk to a local supermarket to buy milk.  Looking back now maybe I did over do it with that walk because it was incredibly long and maybe it was the walk that started what was to come but only God knows for sure.

After the walk, we watched a movie and stayed up late watching this British show about couples that had moved to Spain to start new lives and how it wasn’t working out for them.  It was around 1.30am on Thursday 25th June that started our rollercoaster into labour.

We were both getting ready for bed when suddenly I felt something wet in my underwear. I took a look and got the biggest shock of my life.  I was bleeding.  I went to Drew, showed him and we started getting worried.  We didn’t know what to do next!  I changed my underwear to see if it was just a one off or if I was still bleeding and I was.  So I put a pad in at that point.  We phoned Drew’s Mom, so she could tell us what to do.  I think we knew what we should do but at times like that you just need someone you trust to tell you what to do.  So we phoned the number for the OB/GYN place that I had been going  to for my check-ups.  We got through to the receptionist and had to leave a message and wait for the doctor to call us back.  When the doctor phoned back, we had a brief conversation which ended in her telling us to come to the hospital and she’d check things out.

So as you can imagine, we were a little shaken up and very nervous.  We quickly packed a few things just in case they decided to induce. I obviously grabbed the hospital bag I had packed weeks earlier and we jumped in the car and set off.  Drew ran the first red light….then maybe the second…then I told him it wasn’t necessary and he should be careful.  He put on the warning lights and was going at 80mph in a 45 mph zone.  We passed a police car and inevitably we got pulled over.  I was crying at this point telling Drew that this wasn’t how it should be….but now I guess it makes for a good story!  The policeman was mean! He took forever to come to our window and when he did, he stood right back and shone his flashlight in Drew’s face!  haha.  Drew explained that we were on our way to the hospital to have a baby but he was still really mean saying that driving at 80 in a 45 zone “wasn’t gonna cut it” and “the next cop wouldn’t be as forgiving.”  But in the end he let us go.  Drew slowed down after that and we got to the hospital around 2.30am.