Yesterday afternoon, while I was fixing myself inside the bathroom, just right after shower, and while singing "Burn" by Tina Arena, I suddenly felt a soft gush down there. I decided to check it out right away and I saw blood at the center of my extra long liner, covering the center, around 1/3 of the pad. So, I hurried up and made some inquiries online and through my cousin, who's a nursing graduate and who recently just gave birth.
So far, the possible cause was the thinning of the cervix. As long as it is not a big gush of blood, like a heavy flow that is continuous, then it is safe. I took a picture of the liners I had for an hour. The first one has more blood, the second one was lighter pink and fewer. Then the third one is like a smaller drop with sticky mucus. I would have posted it here, but then again, it might be too much info for your viewing. 😁
So, after that I started to prepare the last stuff needed for the hospital, mostly for my husband and 3 year old. An hour later, I started to feel irregular contractions. The next hour it became more regular. The 3rd hour, I was at 7 minutes apart. It was already past 7pm (Sunday), so I decided to give my doctor a call. Since my back is already aching and the pain is constant, she told me I can go to the hospital and she can check. Just to be sure, I waited another hour and since my contractions are getting stronger, we decided to head to the hospital.
When we got there, after filling up a few paper works, I was led to the exam room. After taking my vitals, they checked my cervix and voila! I am only 2-3 cm dilated, and my contractions are irregular again. I waited for my OB and she gave me the choice if I want to go home and wait. Since we are only 2.5 miles away from the hospital, and I wanted my toddler to sleep at home, I decided to go home first and wait.
We got home before 12 midnight and I was able to sleep a bit. I woke up at 2:30am with my 6 minute contraction intervals. So now, here I am writing about it... It's 4am now and I am still at 6 minutes interval with my contractions. Each contraction lasts for around 20 seconds and hurts stronger than yesterday.
I feel I am on the right track. But it may take a while. I just need to monitor my contractions. Not until it is 5 minutes apart for an hour, then I am not on active labor yet. Let's see later...
Some tips:
1. You can take your pee breaks right after the contractions. In my case, I have a 5 minute window to go to the potty. I just had one and I noticed some more mucus discharge on top of a slightly reddish brown light blood on my liner.
2. You can try to do something else while waiting it out. In my case I am writing this blog, and am also playing with some game apps on my phone. 😉
3. Changing positions helps... Sitting, walking, standing, lying down. I find walking around the house much more helpful. Then, during contractions, I would stop and hold on to something for support.
4. Eating. Since I am not sure when active labor will kick in, I am just eating light snacks. Just had a slice of plain white bread half an hour ago. But as soon as I have my contractions at 3 minutes apart, I'll stop eating anything and just have water.
2 hours later...
Just took a bath and while in the shower I had 2 contractions. Had to be careful in the tub. Right now I'm reading more info on early stages of labor and this site is very helpful:
I've been at my early labor phase for 5 hours now, if I would start counting from 2:30AM, where my contractions are more regular. However, at 7:30am it stopped. It's been 16 minutes now since my last contraction. Darn! I'm using the phone clock by the way in monitoring my contractions. I just press laps and it records intervals. Maybe I'll just use this break to take a quick nap...
At 10AM, I went to see my OB at the clinic and I have already gone up to 4cm dilation and have officially gone up to Active Labor. My contractions are 4-5 minutes apart and is getting stronger and longer up to 30 seconds. I was advised to have lunch first and then proceed to the hospital around 2pm...
I guess I am indeed expecting my 2nd son later this afternoon... 😊👍🏻
