It was a hot summer day in Phoenix, and Josh and I spent the day relaxing at home. I was so restless the whole day I took Sawyer to the park that afternoon when it was 105 degrees.
At 4:45 pm, I was watching the news with my parents and I had my first contraction. I knew it was real because I could feel the tightness in my lower abdomen, as opposed to higher up on my stomach, mentioned in Third Trimester Part 1. Immediately I started timing how far apart they were. For the first hour or so, they were 10-12 minutes apart. Every time one started, I stood up and walked around the house because it seemed to make it feel better.
I started drinking more water during that time. What followed, of course, were frequent bathroom trips. I barely released any urine however and immediately felt like I needed to go again. Later I found out that it was the way my son was positioned.
After the first hour, I did not sit down after the contraction was over because it felt like it caused a new one. My contractions went to 7 minutes apart for half an hour, then to 5 minutes. They were getting more painful and more difficult to walk through. My back was beginning to hurt. I thought it was from walking, but it was actually back labor because he was sideways.
The contractions quickly jumped to only 2-3 minutes apart. From everything I had read and watched online, I knew if they were between 3 and 5 minutes apart, that was when you went to the hospital. I was still able to walk and talk through most of them, so I wasn’t sure if I could trust the timing. I didn’t want to leave too early, or they would send me away, but I also didn’t want to be so late I couldn’t get an epidural.
My parents had sat down to eat burritos. They set out a plate for me, but I didn’t feel hungry. My dad knew that I should eat something, so he offered to make me a smoothie. I was only able to get 3 sips down before it made me feel nauseous.
My mom suggested I try to sit down slouching so as to not put pressure on the abdomen. It felt nice to sit and relax a little after walking around the house for 2 hours.
After probably 45 minutes of 2-3 minutes apart contractions, I decided it was time to go. We packed our bag and left for the hospital around 7:30pm.
Let me know in the comments the story about your labor contractions.
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