Labour Phases and Delivery
If you missed my last post on Contractions, hurry up to read it. This is a continuation… So I got to the hospital that Friday morning and all signs of contractions had stopped..argh. I had lost my mucous plug some days earlier so I thought things were moving very fast.
I was checked and only 4cm dilated (The process of the cervix opening (dilating) is one way that healthcare staff track how a woman’s labor is progressing. During labor, the cervix opens to accommodate the passage of baby’s head into the vagina, which is around 10 centimeters (cm) dilated for most term babies). I was in latent labour or so they called it. I didn’t progress very fast because the next time I was checked again (3 hours later) I was still 4cm. The Matron then offered a membrane sweep to hasten the process. I agreed to it.
By the next check, I was 5cm dilated. Active Labour they told me starts at 6cm. By this time, contractions had started but it wasn’t consistent still. Great news, it was lasting for a minute already.
By 9 pm I was 7cm dilated. Active Labour had started. Remember, this was a day to my EDD. It was a whole new feeling but I clung to the image of my Sonshine I had created in my mind and knew I was doing it for him.
My water broke around 11:40 pm that night. By 12:05 am on my EDD, after 3 pushes, my Sonshine made his grand entrance with a full head of hair. Oh, my ovaries. It was worth it after all. He looked so beautiful with vernix all over his body.
What helped?
1. The membrane sweep helped move things along faster.
2. Send a DM to find out about this. I won’t be posting it publicly in case we have some under-aged teenage stumbling on this post.
If you are pregnant at the moment, God will see you through and make your delivery easy and fast. No complications will be registered in your case. Amen.
All the best Mamas! Be strong! You’ve gat this and God’s gat you!