I was shocked when I went I to labor, because the goal was to wait until this week to try to get her out.
I had my 38 week checkup with my doctor at 9:15 that morning. The checked my dilation. I was almost 1cm, so he asked if he could open it to 1. I agreed. Then he asked if I wanted to be encouraged. I didn't, so I said no. (I guess the upping to 1cm was enough.
I returned home and enjoyed some time walking in the rain around our neighborhood. It was one of the few nice days we've had. I also sat on my exercise ball. I felt a couple of contractions, but not anything with rhyme or reason.
We ate dinner and watched Netflix. I felt a few more contractions during our House episode, but nothing too bad, just consistent. We went to bed, and the contractions were starting to feel a little more uncomfortable. J had work the next day, so I wanted him to be able to get some sleep. He let me stay in the bedroom while he went to another bedroom.
The contractions were getting pretty uncomfortable. They were consistently about 2-3 minutes apart and lasting 40 or more seconds. I texted my sister to see what tips she had for coping with the contractions. I got into the shower for a bit, and it helped for a while. When it stopped helping, I got out and tried to watch an episode of Doctor Who to try and distract myself, which didn't work.
I was able to get through most of the contractions. I don't know how many times I said ow, though. After three awful contractions, I called my doc at 11:30, but he said to wait a couple hours and see if they get worse.
The next two hours were miserable. I struggled through every minute long contraction with only a little longer than a minute between each to rest.
J by the time of the first phone call was awake because of my struggling through contractions. He kept such a positive attitude and told me how strong I was.
I called again at 1:30, and basically was just able to cry, so the doctor told me to head to the hospital. We grabbed our things and headed out.
