Yep, I’m in labor, just waiting for things to get steady enough to ride across town to the hospital. My husband will share his birthday with Littlest, assuming s/he arrives within the next 22 hours and 52 minutes. Wish us luck!
Way cool. Best of luck!
What a wonderful birthday present for Mr. Matata 
Good luck!
That’s pretty fucking cool! Best of luck to all 3 of you!
Good luck! For your sake, I hope she arrives well inside the time limit!
ETA: As they say on the baby boards
elvelvelv 
(That’s easy labour vibes for you non-baby-boarders)
Yay. Congratulations.
Congratulations, Best of luck
Okay. I’m officially bored now. Since 8:30pm, I’ve done 5 loads of laundry, played three zillion Facebook games, walked, double- and triple- checked bags (for me, baby, and toddler going home with grandparents,) fed the dogs, snuggled and read Little Miss to sleep, swept the kitchen, etc. I know this hasn’t been long enough to really get antsy, but I want to see my feet, eat without reflux, and do anything without an achy back!
And I’m not a baby boarder, so thanks for the explanation, and for all the good vibes. All I’m looking for is “uneventful,” and especially a healthy baby! (Poor hubby is trying to be stoic, but he’s such a worrier. I’ll be the one coaching him to breathe in the delivery room!)
Congratulations!
And keep posting as the labour progresses. Maybe not during the pushing stage. Could be hard to type then.
Six hours and counting now… definitely in labor, not regular enough to go to the hospital yet. Finally convinced Mr. M to go take a nap, since there’s nothing at all he can do - he might as well rest now, because I may need him to be at his most alert later. So far, outside of the immediate household, only my mother-and father-in-law and my husband’s sergeant know that Littlest is on the way imminently. We’ll contact my mom later, probably when we leave for the hospital; and Tony’s dad and stepmom will be called when the baby is actually here. I don’t want to deal with a bunch of drama, nor with people fussing over me, nor my mother’s passive-aggressive little “jokes” and insults. My mom means well, but she isn’t as funny as she thinks sometimes; and Tony’s dad is just hopeless - he is currently waiting for surgery on a separated shoulder that he got in a drunken brawl at a “friend’s” house last week. The man is over sixty years old, and shows no signs of learning a damned thing about growing up. Even before Little Miss was born, Tony was adamant: the kids could never, ever, ever be left in FIL’s charge. I understand why now. He sincerely loves the kids, and means well, but he’s less responsible than most teenagers.
And I’m only half-convinced that Mr. M believes me when I tell him that yes, we will be going to the hospital PDQ. He has first aid training, but I think that has prepared him only for the stupidly dramatic, which I hope that I’m not. Part of convincing him to go get some rest included “reminding” him that, when Littlest Miss arrived 2 years ago, I was having contractions for about 10-11 hours before leaving for the birthing center. Apparently, he had no earthly clue, so “reminding” was more like “surprising him a lot.”
I’m just crossing my fingers/toes/eyes that all goes at least half as smoothly.
(Good strong contraction @ 0247 hours, BTW. We may be getting down to business!)
Have him get the bags in the car. Go get some fast food and buy him some munchies, and maybe a few extra burgers for emergencies. Sit in the hospital parking lot talking, him munching. Walk into the place like a queen.
Sounds good in theory…
In practice, sitting in the truck any longer than necessary doesn’t sound like fun for my back! (And we haven’t picked up the new - to us - van yet, so I don’t have my great big church bus to nap in yet! Seriously, we went last week and bought a 15-passenger familymobile, just waiting for the guy to put in a new windshield. With the addition of Daddy’s Little Birthday Gift, we’ll have four kids - ages 14, 11, 2, and newborn; plus three large dogs; plus Mom and Dad. A big van sounded like an excellent idea!)
0346 and all is still well. I’m trying to eat a little nibble, drink a bit of water to stay hydrated, and walk around a bit to speed things along…
I guess I could go ahead and write school excuse notes for the two big kids - they’ll watch the toddler until the Grandmas and Papas can get here, and neither would concentrate at school tomorrow anyway…
Healthy baby vibes heading your way! Excellent news ** Lacunae**!
Your fourth kid? Why, you should be able to just lift your leg and shoot him out by now! I predict a smooth and easy labor, once you get down to business. Good luck, when come back bring pictures! Name it Alice, even if it’s a boy, kay?
My bd is tomorrow. I don’t want anything, though!
Updates not so exciting: took nap. We’re gonna head for the hospital in a bit, b/c messy leaky stuff is happening, but contractions aren’t getting very regular. Keeping my fingers crossed that I can avoid the dreaded pitocin drip!
Oh, no, not the pitocin. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you, it’s so much less painful without it. Here’s hoping you don’t need that.
Oh yeah. Been there, done that, with the added joy of an internal monitor. :eek: (I’m guessing that most women have an epidural before that whole process. I’m more scared of a needle in my back than of pain, but I’m not a masochist. First person who offers pitocin and/or internal monitor without a good reason - not “just in case,” but an actual good reason - gets hurt.) That’s why I’m trying to balance the whole “water broke, contractions not regulating,” and “stay here at home where no one is adding anything extraneous and painful to this process.” Alice Junior is wiggling about, nothing unexpected is happening with regards to the messy stuff, and I’m feeling fine (well, except for the whole Beached Whale thing and the accompanying aches and pains,) so we’re waiting a little longer…
Poor Tony is losing his mind, because he just knows that a doctor would be able to do a darned thing right now… I keep trying to reassure him that I’ve had more babies than the doctor has.
This is the mark of a dedicated Doper, posting while she’s in labor.
Didn’t someone do that before? I think so, but can’t remember who it was.
Take care!
I know this is the LAST thing on your mind right now, but if you can convince hubby to give you some nice lusty kisses and twiddle your nipples a bit, it can release your body’s own version of pitocin (which doesn’t hurt nearly as much as the IV kind) and perhaps kick that labor into the active mode.
Doubleplus bonus points if he can bring you to orgasm. But I’m guessing that’s asking a bit much! 