warmup

since it was the most beautiful day of the summer this friday, we took a picnic (and the dog) to chester frost park and had a relaxing good time. soon after we got home michelle started having mild and regular contractions. nothing too serious, but worth paying attention to.

when we woke up on saturday (baby's due date) the contractions were a bit stronger and a bit closer together. still nothing serious yet, but we were wondering if this was it. so we did some chores and whatnot, trying not to get too excited.

by saturday evening, the contractions were 5 minutes apart and one minute long, and michelle was getting pretty serious. could this be it? sure looked like it. we called the doctor who said to come get checked when they were about 3 minutes apart and quite strong. after throwing up and getting a series of strong contractions around 10pm, we decided to head in. everything was already packed, so I loaded everything up and we were off, contracting regularly every three minutes.

when we got there, michelle was sure that she'd be dialated a good deal more than her checkup on friday, but alas, no progress and therefore much frustration and confusion. after a short while, we decided to head back home and try to relax during this longest part of labor (usually). the nurse at the hospital was sure we'd be back sunday morning.

it was a very long night. michelle still had regular and strong contractions. we tried every trick in the book to either help her relax or help move things along. she took a bath. we walked around the block at 4am. I talked her through relaxing as much as possible. she let me doze for a while, and then when she couldnt get me to wake up, I got a nice slap in the head. a classic moment.

but in the end there was just more frustration. we were both very tired, and she was quite exhausted. she had a hard time keeping food down. we'd run out of things to try to make things better, and we didnt want to be induced. but we were so tired. so early sunday morning we called our childbirth class teacher, who pretty much advised us to chill out. maybe this isnt the right time, so we should try to sleep and just wait for the baby's timing.

the contractions have slowed down considerably, and they're not very strong. we slept a good deal in the morning, and michelle most of the afternoon. she can keep down some food now, so the goal is to gather her strength for when the baby is really ready.

our frustration, fear, and dissappointment ran quite high. we've cried a good deal this weekend. we've prayed and cried out. we've finally come to the place where we're ok with calling this weekend our warmup labor, and seeing when it'll start back up again. maybe tonight? maybe in a couple days? who knows? we're so thankful for our kind and patient doctor and childbirth teacher, who have guided us through this frustration.

so now we pray that baby will come in God's good timing. we are clearly not in control of this miraculous process. we pray that Michelle will be able to be strong for labor, and overcome our fears of another frustrating stall. we need to keep our eyes focused on Jesus and the goal of holding our precious son in our arms. hopefully soon.