Waaaay too much adrenaline kicked in and I became really anxious about what lay ahead, and being on my own to do it all. Everyone was asleep, and I didn't know what to do. No contractions other than random very uncomfy Braxton Hicks. When I wiped, there was a cm or 2 sized piece of mucus plug with pink fluid. Wiped again and had pink streaked "goop", which has continued to be there every time I have wiped over the last few hours since then. Fluid seemed to clear up and not return, but I texted my midwife and she came over.
Baby sounds fine - now 3/5 palpable so more engaged than on the 23rd. She is very wiggly and seems to be twisting and shifting - good sign that she's getting in position for something! ;) Her heart rate was great, and all my vitals were fine too, except for a bit of blood in my urine (not surprising if I'm losing blood-stained plug). I did a GBS swab which the midwife is taking to the hospital lab tonight so it will be ready in 24 hours for a result. In the morning I am to go to labour ward for a swab for amniotic fluid again, and if it's positive they will offer me induction on the spot, OR to go home and wait for 24 hours (which I will obviously choose). This hospital's policy is to wait 24 hours and then induce if no labour, but I have done 48 before with Elijah and thankfully gone into labour right at the 48 hour mark! I wouldn't want to wait longer (or maybe even that long...) this time though. If I am contracting by the morning then no labour ward, just midwife over here and have a baby. :)
It might have just been adrenaline, but my bowels got kind of aggravated so I had to go to the loo a couple of times - that can also be a good sign of impending labour, but we'll see.
ANYWAY, after the midwife left, I was updating various places where people are praying for me over about 20 minutes, and during that time I had 3 contractions - mostly the same old strong BH type feeling, but the 2nd one lasted longer (about 50 seconds rather than the usual 20-30 seconds), and during the 3rd one I had a sudden "welling up" of fluid - sorry for the descriptive detail! ;) So my pad is officially properly wet and it's NOT urine, and I'm actually excited about it! :D I have continued to have the odd contraction since then, so I'm hopeful that labour isn't too far away. I am dumbfounded that it's happening in my 38th week though!!! :-O Never fathomed such a thing, lol!
So I am going to bed now, and hoping for some good sleep before morning. It's almost 4am. If I start having contractions that feel like "the real deal", even just a few in a row, my midwife said to call her and she'll come straight over. If I have ONE that's a doozy, I have to do the same! ;) She said no messing about, it's my 8th baby, lol!
So Rosalie may be coming tomorrow! December 28th - phewee, so close to Christmas! One right before and one right after! If my waters have indeed broken (and honestly I can't imagine the test would be negative, it seems pretty obvious to me right now), but I DON'T go into labour, then she will be here before January for sure, all the same. December 29th I would think, at the latest. Such a surreal thought!
Neil has been up with me while the midwife was here, and he went a bit frantic putting the dishwasher on and a laundry load (he gets really embarrassed about mess with people coming round), but he has gone back to bed. He wants to "totally blitz" the house tomorrow getting it tidy for "company" (sigh) but I have hopefully made it really clear that my absolute priority for him to do for me tomorrow is to get the newborn baby girl clothes out of the garage and WASH THEM ALL!!! I have one sleepsuit that I bought at eBay recently, that is washed and on my bedroom floor in a pile to put away, so thankfully if she comes before her clothes can be washed, at least she has *something* to wear, lol! And I finally got around to buying newborn nappies, maternity pads, breast pads, etc. etc. 2 days before Christmas. But I haven't packed a bag. And I will not really relax until I know her clothes are washed and dried ready for her, so I hope Neil will be okay with doing that first thing rather than random housework.
Just had to update, in case things happen! Will update again when I can. For now, my focus is sleep.