The Labor Non-Movement

I always thought that labor was a state that you went into at a discrete moment (with "My water just broke!" or "I'm having contractions--honey, it's time!"), usually within about 24 hours of actually giving birth. I didn't realize that a person could have contractions pretty much ALL day, EVERY day, varying only in timing and intensity, for WEEKS on end (4 weeks and counting). They have been as regular as every 4 minutes for several hours, and I've had individual contractions that have lasted as long as ELEVEN minutes.

So, I'm not sure how I'll really know that I'm in labor until the very end of the process, which is what happened with AC--except that we happened to be at the hospital already that time. Sam has a picture where I'm smiling and waving, about 7 or 8 cm dilated, and not really uncomfortable yet. The nurses would ask me to rate my pain, and I would say, "Um, I don't know? 2?" partly because I was too embarrassed to say "zero." That part of the labor was great.

But the part that haunts me is the 15 minutes when I went from minor discomfort to frantically scrambling around in the bed and calling out in abject terror, "I need to push--now!" I don't want to have that moment at home this time. But even home, with the comfort of my own bathtub that I am keeping scrupulously clean these days, would be better than 5) an ambulance, 4) the front seat of the truck, now that carseats take up the whole backseat, 3) my own car, with only AC as birth attendant, 2) the grocery store/Starbucks (the only places I go these days), or The Big Number One Place I Do Not Want To Give Birth: class.