Liveblogging labour or false start?

It’s 4:30 in the morning and the house is silent. Everyone is asleep except for me and the dog, who has followed me downstairs with faithful if not bleary curiousity.

I didn’t sleep more than 45 minutes last night. I suppose this means I am biologically unable to bring a child into the world without giving up an entire night of sleep. Sleep deprivation, my old friend…

My contractions started some time around 8 pm last night, but were the mild and sporadic Braxton Hicks type for most of the evening. By the time I turned off my bedside lamp around 9:30 or 10:00, they had a mild intensity but rather startling regularity. I tracked them in six to eight minute intervals throughout the night, and they crowded as close as just two or three minutes apart for long stretches.

I contemplated calling the midwife for a while around 11 pm, but was reluctant to wake everybody up for nothing. Even Beloved is still blissfully unaware of my long, quiet and watchful night. Sometime around 3 am I dozed for a while, and the contractions seemed to switch places with the annoying twitches of restless leg syndrome. For the last hour, the contractions have been mild but noticable, and part of the reason I came downstairs was to see if they were really contractions or just some strange nighttime hallucination. After eating a banana in the freezing cold and dark living room, I noticed the computer and thought I’d see if anyone else is awake this early in the morning. In the time it has taken to type this, I’ve had three or four more mild contractions.

Hmmm, at a glance only Sheila guessed January 25 as Baby’s arrival date — think she might be our big winner?

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Since this might be the last time I post for a while (cross your fingers for me!) — or not! — I’d be remiss if I didn’t poke you one last time to remind you to vote for me in the final round of the Canadian Blog Awards! Hey, if I can think if YOU at a time like this, the least you could do is throw me a vote!

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Ouch! Hey, that was a long and painful contraction… huh, maybe this is the real thing after all!

Author: DaniGirl

Canadian. storyteller, photographer, mom to 3. Professional dilettante.

10 thoughts on “Liveblogging labour or false start?”

  1. I’m awake too, but at this point it’s noon here, so that’s no surprise! I don’t suppose you are planning to update again before things start snowballing? In any case, here’s wishing you a happy labor!

  2. The lack of recent updates would suggest that this is the real thing. Best wishes for the arrival of this little one! (I guess you probably won’t make it until the 8th – you can see the perils of the birthday poll – we’re all happy for you, sure, but focusing more on how this impacts our spot in the poll, because it’s all about us.)

  3. Hey, if there is a baby today, will you name him Robbie, Robert or Rabbie (a good Scottish adaptation) since he’ll be born on the Scottish bard’s birthday. I guess if you are more like Gweneth Paltrow, you could simply go with “Whisky”. I’ve got my fingers crossed for a good, brief labour for you.

  4. *squee* Yay Dani!!! I’m so excited! I’m imagining that since there’ve been no more updates there’s a new baby on his way! Wishing you a fast, easy delivery!

  5. My Mom was at a Montreal Candiens hockey game the night before I was born. She starte contractions then. She never told my Dad even as they went to bed. She lay awake all night and finally woke him at 6:30 AM. I as born at 10:30 AM. Crazy woman!

    I hope this is IT!! And I like the Robbie Burns name idea…Robert would come very nicely as a middle name after Ben.

    Right?

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