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As many of you may know, I live in Portland, Oregon and we've had what the weather men are calling "unseasonably cool" temperatures this week. It's been in the low 70s and, while I've heard a bunch of people bitching about it, I'm thrilled of course. My ankles are only slightly swollen.
This week I am 37 weeks pregnant and I had my first labor scare-- or freak out-- on Wednesday.
I had to walk three city blocks to meet someone for a story I'm writing for the local paper, and I was suddenly in A LOT of pain about a half-block into my trek. The pain was coming from the cervical area and it was super, super sharp with each step I took.
I've had pain down there before that feels like the baby is grinding on my pelvis, but this was a stabbing or pinching pain and I had to stop walking to make it go away. I stood in the middle of the sidewalk as people rushed past me to get to the light rail train and I didn't know what to do. It really hurt to move, so I stopped doing that.
I happened to be across the street from my husband's office, so I called him and he came down-- luckily he was just getting off work. By the time he reached me, I had taken a few steps and the pain was gone. I still called the nurse at my doctor's office though and felt like a fool as I told her about the pain. I wasn't having any contractions... so she told me it was probably my pelvis spreading and preparing for birth.
I've had that feeling-- to a much lesser extent-- in my cervical/pelvis area before. I had it on Saturday and it made the standing poses in my yoga class very painful. But, Wednesday's pain was a whole new level of pain. It makes me wonder how I'm going to handle this labor. If the pelvis or cervical pain throws me into this much of a panic, I can't imagine that I'll make it through labor and delivery without an epidural. I might be wimpier than I think I am.
I also wonder whether this is how the next few weeks are going to be-- me feeling pain or something and sounding the alarm? I don't want to be that woman who panics at every twinge in her body, but all of a sudden my body is doing some pretty extreme things. The doctors and pregnancy books all refer to these things as "discomfort", which is such a gentle word for everything that I'm currently experiencing.
Speaking of birth, I haven't had any contractions! My sister-in-law is 31 weeks along and she is having Braxton-Hicks all over the place. Me? Nothing. Just the pelvic pain.
Next week is my last week of work and I have family and friends putting bets on when this baby will actually be born. I'm sure every pregnant woman feels this way, but it feels like I could have her at any moment. I've had two people tell me they think she looks like she's "dropped" into the birth canal. I'm not sure about that because she still moves around quite a bit. Sometimes she's in my lungs and my ribs, and sometimes she appears to be curled in a ball at my belly button.
I had tons of braxton hicks contractions so I was afraid I wouldn't know when I was in labor. You'll know! That's what everyone says ... I tried to talk myself out of it, but I knew. It doesn't go away. I did the drink lots of water/lie down thing, and the contractions kept coming. There is a distinct difference when it's the real thing.
BREATH through the pain. During the contractions when I didn't breath slowly, I was in some serious pain. When someone helped me breath, the pain was 50% less, easily. I ended up needing an epidural because of my sky high blood pressure, but I made it to 6 cm without it.
Looking back - when I was in pain and didn't have the epidural, I could only focus on the immediate/the now, so I didn't have to time to be afraid of what was coming next. Once the epidural kicked in, all I could think about was the fear of the pushing ... Mentally, I preferred not having the epidural ...
And take a shower. The hot water is great, and I barely felt my contractions.
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Anna Johns is a blogger, podcaster and mother living in rainy Portland, Oregon.
Mother Popper is a daily blog and weekly podcast bridging the worlds of parenting and pop culture.
Oh do I ever remember that pain. It was to the point that I had to roll out of bed in the morning instead of going one leg at a time like normal folks...I did not have any braxton-hicks contractions either, just the real deal, starting when I was 38 weeks and 2 days pregnant, on the Monday after my last day at work (Friday). Ending about 12hrs later with the birth of my son...I was determined not to get an epidural and I didn't but one thing I will say is that it really does hurt. Some people speak of "getting a break between contractions" but I was not that lucky (or it did not feel like it). I spent at least the first hour or so of heavy labor in the bathtub at the hospital running warm/hot water over my belly (that really helped!!!) and one thing I wish I had done was to bring some focal point, some item I could focus on during each contraction just to try and take my mind off. I ended up just grabbing and squeezing the life out of my husband's hand...
Whichever way you go, remember, at the end of it you get to take home an adorable baby who will more than make up for all of it!
Best of luck!