Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Kelsey's Birth Timeline

I know, this probably sounds completely ridiculous, but I recently ordered an old copy of our cell phone statement that includes call and text data from the night I went into labor with Kelsey.  I'm trying to convince myself that there was plenty of time to get there earlier than we did last time, and that if this labor follows the same pattern, I will be fine.

It's really interesting, actually.  Based on the statement, this is what I've gathered:

  • At 5:03pm, I had a 25 minute phone conversation with my mother.  I remember that I was sitting in the mall parking lot.  I can't remember if I had just finished getting a pedicure, or if I was getting ready to go in for one.  There are pressure points in the ankle for triggering labor, and when the guy who was doing my pedicure heard that I was past my due date, he spent a long time on my second ankle.  I personally think the pedicure had something to do with labor starting when it did.
  • From 7:58pm-8:10pm, I had a text conversation with Amber.  I can't remember if I was having cramps at that point or not... I think we were just chit-chatting.
  • From 9:30pm-9:37pm, I was texting with my doula.  I told her I was having cramps every 15 minutes or so.  She told me to take a bath, relax, and head to bed to get some rest in case this was it.
  • At 10:05pm-10:06pm, Amber and I exchanged three texts.  I definitely told her about the cramps at this point, and told her we might be calling her in the night to come stay with Landon.
  • After this I went upstairs to take a bath and go to bed.  In bed, I never fell asleep, but laid there listening to it storm outside, contracting every few minutes.  The contractions were very light and not painful, leading me to believe that I had plenty of time (despite knowing what I do about our family history with labor).
  • From 12:46am-12:48am, I texted my doula that we had gotten out of bed and I was in labor.
  • At 1:03am, I spoke to the doula for 8 minutes on the phone, but told her not to come yet.  I remember I was leaning on the kitchen counter at that point, confused because my contractions were completely untimeable... some were faster than others, etc.  In my head, though, I was afraid I had hours and hours left to go, and was afraid of getting to the hospital too soon and ending up with tons of unnecessary interventions.
  • 40 minutes later, at 1:43am, Justin called the doula back and told her to come.
    (If my memory is correct, it was at this point that I was going through transition and was completely out of control.  I didn't want Justin to touch me or interfere at all and, in my head, I was thinking we'd get to the hospital and I'd just have them do a repeat cesarean to make it all stop.  Obviously, that's not what I wanted, but those are very normal thoughts during transition.)
  • Between 2:16am and 2:24am, Justin tried calling Amber four times from my phone, but she didn't answer.  At 2:25am, he tried calling another friend to see if she could stay with Landon instead, but there was no answer.  At 2:30am, he tried Amber - again no answer.
  • Between 2:37am and 2:43am, Justin called our doula and the LE Desk to arrange getting her on base without him having to leave me.
  • At 2:44am, he called Amber again and I believe at this point she answered and came over to the house.  It was the last call to Amber, and I know she got there around 3am.
  • Between 3:17am and 3:22am, there were more calls to and from the doula and the LE Desk to get her on base.
  • Based on memory, our doula arrived a few minutes later, around 3:30am.  Amber was already at the house, and my water broke right as the doula was coming in the front door.  It had been leaking through contractions while my body was pushing... meaning I had already been through transition at that point and was actually pushing my baby out already.
  • Between 3:58am and 3:59am, Justin and Amber exchanged three text messages.  I'm not sure if we were at the hospital already or not... I know we had already left for the hospital.
  • Kelsey was born at/around 4:15am.  At 5:34am, I called my mother and told her Kelsey had been born, and at 5:44am, I texted Amber to let her know Kelsey was here.

What does this tell me?  I had plenty of warning, but really was just in denial that it was happening as fast as it was.  After I went to bed, I was contracting regularly but kept putting off getting up because I was afraid it would stop.  At 1am, I really should have been heading to the hospital already, but instead I told the doula not to come.  It's kind of funny to look back on.

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