Spotted and in Early Labor

This can be graphic, so read at your own risk :-)

Three days ago, I started feeling like I was going to get my period. Weird feeling for someone that is 9 months pregnant until I talked to my mom. Apparently, this is the beginning of the final stage. Well, sure enough, I started spotting (brown stuff) two days ago consistently and getting much more "braxton hicks" contractions. These are sporadic false labor ones where the body is practicing for real labor.

I also had a dream two nights ago that I will be in labor on May 1. Well, guess what, I am in early labor right now. So why am I blogging, you may ask. Well, unlike the movies, labor for the first child can take anywhere from 24 to 72 hours because the body is not used to all the changes it must go through for delivery.

So surprisingly between my contractions which are now 7 minutes apart, I want to occupy myself with something to do like paying my bills, watching TV, talking to the OB nurse, and blogging.

It's so surreal that I am going to meet my daughter in the next day or so. The nurse keep telling me to wait for 5-1-1 before coming in. That is contractions every 5 min for 1 min long for at least an hour. I started this morning at 6am with contraction every 10 min for 30 seconds long and now it's around 6 or 7 min for almost 1 min long. It's not fun I must say, but there is a thing called mind over matter. I noticed that if I panic during the contractions the pain is a lot worse, but if I breathe slowly and just keep telling myself this is supposed to happen to my body, it is a bit better. Even better is if I have something else to occupy my mind like folding my laundry or writing this blog.

At first I thought I had contractions last night but I wasn't sure. Now I realize last night were still practice ones because real labor as I have now have a lot more intensity even though they seem short (less than a min) I am still able to speak a little during it, but barely and it varies in intensity although getting stronger as the day goes by. We are also watching Tivo together so that helps with the distraction.

More likely or not, we will be heading to the hospital tonight and hopefully checking in. They don't let you check in until you are 4 cm dilated (which I guess is equivalent to 5-1-1). Typically you give birth at 10 cm dilation. So far, I have been bleeding a little (brown and then pink but no massive period - thank goodness).

Whether my little girl will be arriving tonight or tomorrow is up to her. My dream a few days ago only told me that I would be in labor on May 1 before it woke me up (how strange huh?) Maybe mother's instinct is kicking in already :-)

Stay tuned in a few days for the good news (keeping my fingers crossed for a smooth labor and delivery)

-Lei

I lost my mucuous plug!

ok, stop reading if you don't want to know anything in graphic detail about the pregnancy!

As always, I get up several times in the middle of the night to pee. At 4:45am last night, I noticed that I am losing my mucous plug. It's a small amount of thickened mucus that has sealed my cervical canal during the last nine months to protect against bacteria etc. I lost about 1/2 of teaspoon and they say it could happen all at once or gradually. I guess as my cervix startis to thin in preparation for labor and delivery, this plug will loosen and discharge.

As I am 37 weeks pregnant and the mucous plug is clear in color, this is normal - just a sign that things are starting to move along inside - exciting and scary. I have also started feel braxton hicks contractions. not painful, but weird. My whole tummy just tighten up for awhile and then it relaxed. It's not regular, so I know it's not real labor.

I wonder if I will deliver early. Some books say losing your mucous plug has no indication of when labor may start. It could 1, 2, or 3 weeks away. Since I am still 3 weeks away from my due date, I interpret this as actually I may labor earlier. Another book actually only said up to a week or more away - wow, that would be very soon. Not sure if we are all prepared for that yet.

This is making me want to get everything done this weekend just in case. Anyways, only time can tell what this actually means. Either way, we will soon meet our daughter. :-)

- Lei

"Don't be a hero!"

This is probably the most important advice I have gotten so far in my pregnancy. Since I am in my 8th month now, Jaime and I took our childbirth classes this month. While I learned a lot, it also freaked me out as we saw many explicit videos of late stage labor without epidural and very visual child birth. Let's just say I didn't walk away feeling too settled. The potential for real pain was quite daunting.

I was also conflicted. My mom had me without any epidural and actually at the time in China, no relatives were allowed in the labor and delivery room. She basically did it all alone. Yikes. can't even imagine that!

Also, I thought since this is a natural part of being a woman, maybe I should try the labor first before deciding on whether to use epidural. of course, on the other hand, I am fairly scared of the pain I saw women experienced on these videos.

Well, luckily I spoke to some friends who already had babies and was set straight right away. One friend's story especially helped. She has two kids now, one 3 years old and one six months old. She had the epidural early with her first, so she felt relatively little discomfort. With her second, she thought since she didn't experience much in her first and this is her last, maybe she should feel the labor a bit and see how far she can handle before going for the epidural.

Well, what do you think happened? Let's just say she highly does not recommend that. She ended up not getting her epidural until well into active labor and since she was deciding late, she had to wait longer for the epidural doctor to administer the procedure since there was a line now for the medicine. So even more pain than she bargained for.

So the morale of her story - "Don't be a hero!" You don't get any points for feeling more pain. The goal is healthy mom and healthy baby anyway you can do it!

I have my decision...
p.s: Apparently getting an Epidural does not guarantee pain free. I will feel pressure and if the medicine didn't cover all the necessary nerves, I will still feel pain in some areas. Typically it's 15% ineffective. Pretty high probability still... yikes...

- Lei

Now I am scared!

So, I am probably reading too much about pregnancy because it is scaring me. Two nights ago, I was reading "girlfriend's guide to pregnancy" - the chapter on "labor and delivery". For the first time, it dawned on me that this is going to hurt A LOT :-(

I think I have been in denial that somehow I will hurt less or perhaps I just need to think that so I am not freaked out. Also people always focus on the beauty of pregnancy or much less else. Well, this book goes into a lot of detail of how it will really feel. This knowledge + knowing that a short labor period is 12 hours gave me a much more instant sense of what it might really be like. YIKESSS!!!

I also read that I cannot eat or drink anything once I get to the hospital until I give birth. I will get everything thru an IV. I hope not. Food has became such a necessity these days every 2-3 hours. I cannot imagine not having anything for more than 10 hours. I will clarify this with my OB.

At the end of day, I am now starting to talk to my baby girl to tell her to be healthy but not grow too big. I am still having a hard time imagine producing a baby out of my body in 4 months. It's so surreal. I am only comforted by the knowledge that people all around me have given birth and seem to be fine. So whatever is the pain, I will be fine.

Maybe too much reading is not a good thing.. I will have to go back to denial mood again and enjoy the happiness of my growing belly and those constant little movement she makes. Regardless, I cannot wait to meet my baby girl!