The evening of June 25, there was a
terrific lightning storm. The weather
had been HOT – high 90s – for a few
days, but this evening it cooled off
significantly as the lightning and
even some hail hit. I thought this
could be the barometric pressure
change that I needed to put me over
the edge into full-on labor finally
(And I say “finally” because, while I
wasn’t much past the 36 week mark, I
had been contracting since my 19th
week and by the 34th week, my
contractions were so crazy that I was
praying Johnny would be fully baked
early enough to also be a near-term
preemie, like his brothers, so I
wouldn’t have to endure pain for much
longer. Making it to June 25th meant
Johnny had now “beaten” all his
brothers having stayed in me the
longest, gestationally.). Also, my
husband and I separately had thought
we’d heard from God that Johnny would
be born on July 4th, so I thought
perhaps God would decide to have mercy
on us, answering our prayers that
Johnny would come earlier than the
4th, so He was now putting on His
own “fireworks show” in honor of the
Independence Day idea. Who knows, but
it was cool for us to watch the storm
from our bedroom window for a while.
Also, earlier that evening, at around
5 pm, I had felt an extra trickle of
fluid escape me. Having experienced
PROM twice before, I suspected I
had "sprung a leak" but with my 3rd
son I felt "leaky" quite often and it
was always only what my docs
called "vaginal discharge." When my
third son was born at 35 weeks, 0
days, my doctor actually broke my
water and I was surprised to see how
much flew out, given how "juicy" I had
been for weeks. So I honestly wasn't
sure if this time around it was a true
leak or not. I knew that, given my
history, if it was PROM my active
labor would kick in soon on its own,
so I wasn't worried. So around 10 pm
went to bed.
At exactly 3:51 am, Tuesday, June
26th, I woke with a start – I was
experiencing a HUGE painful
contraction. “Oh, please let THIS
be “it” this time,” I prayed. When
the contraction subsided, I grabbed my
water and book and descended the
stairs to wait it out and see if
things kicked into gear more. No
sooner had I put down my stuff on the
couch than I had to rush to the
bathroom – diarrhea. I had had this
problem the morning before, along with
a slight sore throat, so knew it COULD
be a sign of labor getting going, but
could also mean I was just sick. But
the contraction at 3:51 had been SO
powerful and painful, I was pretty
sure something was brewing. However,
nothing else happened for maybe ten
minutes or so! Then, I got another
KILLER contraction. It lasted only
about thirty seconds but hurt my
cervix big time, so I knew it was
doing some “work.” I decided to wait
for another one, reading and praying
and AGAIN, probably ANOTHER ten
minutes or so elapsed. When the third
contraction hit, it was short, again,
but absolute killer – reminded me of
transition-type pain....I had to hold
on to the side of the couch and close
my eyes and really concentrate to get
through it. So this convinced me,
despite the length and spacing of my
contractions, that this was the real
thing. I climbed the stairs and woke
my husband, telling him what had gone
on and that I was sure we’d be having
a baby soon. I told him I’d wake him
after I got out of the shower, but, of
course, he couldn’t go back to sleep
then. I wasn’t feeling any pain in
between contractions, actually felt
completely normal, which was unusual,
after months of a constantly
tight “stuck in a Braxton-Hicks”
belly, so even though my contractions
picked up and started to last up to 45
seconds long, only three minutes apart
or so, I was able to shower, finish
packing, etc. fine in between them.
My poor husband watching me made him
vacillate between wondering if I
really WAS experiencing the real thing
and thinking we weren’t going to make
it to the hospital in time! Sometime
in the midst of everything, my husband
woke-up my father-in-law (who had been
living with us for the past 4 months,
caring for our boys while I was on
bedrest) and so I stood through a
couple of contractions, talking to him
in the kitchen while my husband loaded
the car.
We left the house at around 5 am and
drove the short drive (5-7 mins, I
think) northward to the hospital.
During the ride, I had NO contractions
at all, so my husband got concerned
that this wasn’t going to be it after
all. So I told him that we could walk
around the parking lot at the hospital
for a little while to determine if I
was progressing if that would make him
more comfortable. It was kind of
funny to walk the parking lot because
it was deserted and the wind was
really blowing and where in the world
do you stroll to in a parking lot
anyways?!, so I’m sure, to anyone
looking on, we looked pretty funny.
My contractions kicked back in quite
quickly once I got on my feet again,
so after I had three, during which I
really needed to breathe through and
squeeze my husband’s hand, we knew it
was time to head in. We got up to
Labor and Delivery and got checked
into Triage. I looked at the clock
then – 5:27 am. The nurse hooked me
up to the monitor and got my info
loaded into her computer. She asked
me what my last dilation report was
and I told her yesterday at my doc’s
office I had been 3 cm, 75% effaced
and -1 station. She then checked me
and said I was at a 5, so I’d be
admitted. Again, my contractions were
very intense but I only had three
while in Triage from 5:27 until about
5:50 or so.
I got settled into my room and put on
the monitor again. My nurse, Sue, was
a hoot. She said since I was a VBAC
she wanted to keep me on the monitor
but I said, I am a third-time VBAC, so
she really didn’t need to worry about
me and I wanted in the shower. We
compromised at twenty minutes on the
monitor, then I could do the shower.
Meanwhile, my doc showed up and we
chatted for a bit in between my
contractions, which, I wasn’t timing
but honestly, I don’t think ever came
closer than five minutes apart for the
rest of my labor and, in between I
felt nothing but excited – no pain
whatsoever! I remember during one of
my contractions Sue and my doc were
talking back and forth about me
signing a VBAC form which he didn’t
have finalized for the new hospital
yet…they joked about how if I refused
to sign a c-section form but he didn’t
have the VBAC one, did that mean I
couldn’t deliver at all? I came out
of the contraction and said something
about how then I’d just birth
Johnathan through my butt instead and
they laughed hysterically at that. It
actually kind of embarrassed me –
maybe only a woman in labor would say
something so crass!
At about 6 am, Sue said baby and I
were looking great on the monitors so
my doc said he would break my water to
get the show moving more if I wanted
and I said that would be great. He
went in to break my water and
said, “Uh, you at least have a leak
going on because your water is already
pretty much broken. When did your
leak start?” I told him about my
history with discharge with my 3rd
pregnancy and this one and how I
suspected I may have started leaking
the previous night. So, my doc broke
my water the rest of the way and I
could tell I really must have been
leaking because I barely felt anything
come out at all when he broke it
further. Oh well!
So now I was allowed to get into the
shower. I sat on the little shower
chair, holding the shower head on my
tummy while my husband got me ice
chips and figured out how to get my CD
playing. Of course, I summoned him
into the bathroom whenever I had a
contraction so I could squeeze his
hand. I went through three unbearable
contractions in the shower and during
the third felt like I had to push, so
yelled, “Woa, I have to push!”
Apparently, my husband pulled the
emergency cord then, but I never saw
him do it, so I was so surprised to
come out of the shower and see 9 or 10
hospital staff quickly setting up the
room for delivery! How did they
know? It was so amazing to me how
they got everything set-up so fast and
just whisked me back onto the bed.
Since my contractions were still so
far apart, my doc was in place and
again we were all joking, talking,
having a good time together, waiting
for my next contraction. The
contraction wave started to hit and I
told them, “Here it comes!” Sue told
my husband to grab my one leg, she
grabbed the other, my doc told me to
push, I did and it hurt like insanity,
but out came Johnathan’s head. My
husband tells me (because I don’t
remember/was too concentrated on
getting Johnny out) he cried right
away, even before the rest of his body
was delivered. My doc told me to
stop, so I did for a few seconds, then
he said to push again and the rest of
Johnny slid right out. Next thing I
knew I had this squirmy thing laying
on my chest and it occurred to
me, “Oh, this is my child!” so I
finally opened my eyes to take him
in. He was so pink and little and
cute, screaming his head off. My doc
showed us how he had a true knot in
his cord – wild to see – and offered
to me to cut the cord. I declined it
and he passed the scissors to my
husband who also said, “No thanks,”
but then my doc insisted, so my
husband cut it.
So here are Johnathan's stats:
Born at 36 weeks, 3 days gestation,
June 26, 2007 at 6:38 am
7 pounds, 1 ounce
21 ¼ inches long
13 ½ inch head
Apgars 9 and 9
I’d never had a son who’s been given
to me so soon after birth – they wiped
him down right there on my chest as he
wiggled and screamed. It was pretty
cool, but, of course when you’re
delivering the placenta, you’re not
totally able to concentrate on this
warm and fuzzy moment in the greatest
of comfort. But my placenta came out
nearly as fast as he did, and everyone
cleaned me and the room up quite
quickly. I hadn’t been in a hurry to
nurse Johnny but since it seemed like
the opportune moment with everyone
gone and he was really starting to
root around, I just gave it a shot.
He nursed like an old pro immediately,
latching right on at his first try at
7 am and not stopping until 7:30! The
nurses came in a couple of times,
expecting him to be ready to be
cleaned up and weighed, etc. but, no,
he was still nursing! He’s been
completely healthy and hearty ever
since – a beautiful little blessing
from God!
After having 3 of my 4 births involve
PROM, all 4 involving irritable
uterus, the last 2 requiring meds and
bedrest and all 4 resulting in pre-
term births, my husband and I decided
to be done with having children
biologically. We are not sure why my
body seems to want to get my little
fellas out early all the time, but we
are so grateful that they stayed in me
as long as they did and are all
healthy today. Should anyone want
more information on what I believe
caused my PROMs and early births,
please go to the website some friends
and I are creating - http://irritable-
uterus.com.
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