I was three days overdue with my second child and bored senseless so I decided to go for a walk to the village. I packed my then two-year-old daughter into the buggy, hefted it up our garden steps and at a steady pace made my way to the shops. Our village is quite a close-knit community where a lot of people know each other and I was stopped many times on the way.
They mainly asked after my health but some, quite unintentionally, irritated me hugely by making comments like �You�re still here then,� when quite clearly, yes, I was! After exchanging a few pleasantries I went on to post some letters and buy milk and bread from the corner shop, but when I stopped outside the chemist a sudden hot pressure in my back took me by surprise. I grabbed the buggy to steady myself until the mild pain passed and waited a few minutes, but it didn�t come again just then.
I reasoned with myself that it was probably time to go home �just in case� and started back down the hill. Then it came again, not so strong this time, and lasted about thirty seconds. I had thirty seconds gap and then it came again. Feeling excited I hurried home and called my mother. �It will probably be hours yet,� I said, �take your time.� My first labour had taken about five hours, so I was expecting much the same the second time around.
I then rang the labour ward at the hospital. �I think I�ve started labour, but it�s a bit odd.� The midwife asked me what I was feeling and I explained that the contractions were very mild but seemed to be coming every half-minute or so. The midwife said that it probably was labour but to wait until either my waters had broken or the contractions became too strong for me to cope with on my own. She logged the time at two minutes to one in the afternoon. |
