My water had broken and was a slow leak. I just figured I was urinating on myself a tad more than usual (was wearing full sized pads all of the third trimester for that reason). I was also experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions for at least a week, but had no idea that's what they were. All I had been told about labor contractions from friends was that I would know when it was time. My OB had told me what they'd feel like once they were strong, but since every woman is different, she couldn't give me a definite description of what they would feel like for me.
Fiance' and I had gone to my OB for the weekly check-up and I casually mentioned the extra leakage. She decided to do a nitrozine test just to see if it was amniotic fluid. It was! Fiance' had just worked a 12 hour overnight shift and was planning on coming home to take a long nap. I didn't have any plans in particular since it was my day off. Our plans were made for us. OB said we had to go to the hospital that day since I'd been leaking for two days already. I asked if we could go home and eat and shower first. She said that was fine, but we shouldn't dilly dally since all of a sudden this was a high risk situation - the amniotic fluid could become septic at any time. I started crying and fiance' was just in shock. Our baby girl was on her way a week early!
We drove home, ate lunch (this was the last full meal I would be allowed to have until after she was delivered), and showered. Thankfully, the hospital bag was mostly packed. By 11:30 AM we were on our way to Lakeview Hospital. Latent labor lasted for fourteen hours. There was lots of walking around the hospital to get real contractions going. That night, I decided to try getting Stadol in the IV, which was supposed to take the edge off of the contractions. All it did was make me feel high and give me the shakes. Sometime much later that night, I decided to get the epidural. At that point, I was dilated seven centimeters. Thanks to the ice storm and late hour, it took the anesthesiologist over an hour to get there; although, physically getting the epidural was much easier than I ever imagined.
Around 10 AM on Saturday, January 25, active labor began. My OB showed up and we began pushing. Three hours later, our beautiful baby girl was born! She was a healthy six pounds, twelve ounces and measured eighteen inches long. Just perfect!
