So - long story short, we don't know what it is.
Thankfully, the cervix is long and closed, so as active as these buggers are (contractions), at least they are not causing any active labor yet. That's the really good news. On the other hand, we don't know if they will or what is causing them.
I sat with monitors on for about half an hour and didn't have any activity. I understand they're trying to see what's going on, but I could have told them there was no activity. The past two days all the activity has been in the evenings...but...well, oh well. They did a physical exam and everything checked out ok (except for the MONSTER bruise on my stomach from the fetal monitors at the hospital).
So, now I get to travel with pills at all times. Should the need arise, I need to take one to try to stop the contractions. With luck, these will do the trick and we won't go back to the hospital for a long time (at least eight weeks). I even managed to get a less scary medication than they had suggested. The one I was given at the hospital (and the one they were going to give me) has really really bad warnings on it. Now, it's the most common medication for preterm labor and they use it all the time, but, me being me, had to know a bit more. Imagine my surprise on Sunday night when I looked it up on the government website and the first thing I see is a huge yellow Warning box saying that it should never be used for treatment of preterm labor due to infant and mother morbidity and mortality. I understand that delivering early is a big problem we want to avoid, but warnings like that make me a bit too nervous.
Obviously, I have to learn to stay off the internet and trust my doctor, but when I mentioned I was a bit concerned about that one she just said, "No problem" and gave me something else (which, according to my searches has the fewest problems but makes you feel like crap if you have to take it). Win one and lose one, I guess :)
In the meantime, I will continue to drink several liters of water a day and stay off my feet as much as possible. Katie is going to visit her grandparents from Thursday until Sunday, so there will be a LOT of downtime this week. Hopefully it's all good.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
Update
Nothing new to report (which is good) BUT -
Doctor's appt. tomorrow to follow up and check me out fully (since my doctor was not the one on call this weekend). Please keep me in your thoughts so I don't have to go on bed-rest or restrictions - I need to work for at least four more weeks so I can keep getting paid :) I only have 9.6 weeks of sick leave and there are still 12 weeks in the semester.
Doctor's appt. tomorrow to follow up and check me out fully (since my doctor was not the one on call this weekend). Please keep me in your thoughts so I don't have to go on bed-rest or restrictions - I need to work for at least four more weeks so I can keep getting paid :) I only have 9.6 weeks of sick leave and there are still 12 weeks in the semester.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Preterm Labor
And so...
We just spent five hours at the hospital trying to find off preterm labor. They gave me some injections to stop the contractions and all appears to be well for now.
It is entirely too early for this kind of nonsense.
We just spent five hours at the hospital trying to find off preterm labor. They gave me some injections to stop the contractions and all appears to be well for now.
It is entirely too early for this kind of nonsense.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Wating for Katie - Part Two
Alrighty then...where did we leave off?
Oh yes...let's have a C-section because my daughter is in fetal distress due to the fact that my body is apparently failing at labor and delivery and the pitocin is absolutely not doing my daughter any favors.
This was honestly the most surreal part of the whole process. While I had joked about preferring surgery to what the natural process would be, I had never honestly considered it. I always assumed I was one of those strong, healthy as a horse kind of women who would just push on through it (literally). At this point, I think things stopped being real and I entered a la-la land that I didn't wake up from for a day or so...things get really fuzzy in here and time just squashes everything together.
I remember being totally scared out of my mind because I had never ever had a surgery of any kind before. And I knew I was going to be conscious which was doubly terrifying - what if I felt it or what would it feel like? Thankfully, my doctor (not the best with the bedside manner, but still - the doctor I had seen for the past nine months) showed up and I felt a lot of relief. She assured me it would all be ok and that I wouldn't feel pain. My parents came in to say good luck and what really scared me was seeing tears in my dad's eyes. I know he was scared for the baby (and me), but that's when it all kinda sunk in for me. I watched Brian put on scrubs and let them turn up the pump on my epidural as high as the thing went. And we were off.
It was FREEZING. My memories of that room are very surreal - it was a cold (ANTARCTIC) white room with lots of lights. It was just me and all the doctor/nurse/helper people for a while and I was supposed to help scoot myself on the table even though I couldn't feel half of my body. That was interesting. Then they put on my cap and put up the sheet and finally (it felt like hours later) asked Brian to come in. They told me they'd test to make sure I was numb before cutting...and I waited, chatting with Brian to try to calm down. I finally asked him when they were going to start and he said they were up to their elbows...hmmm...guess that epidural did work well. I assumed they would check with me, but I suppose the lack of screaming was a good indication I was ok. At one point, Brian asked me if I'd like a picture of my insides and I told him it was ok if he stopped watching at that point.
It never hurt, but it was really weird and uncomfortable - especially when they reached in to pry her out. It was like someone was trying to grab my spine and pull it out through my belly button (best I can do on that one). The pressure was really intense. It was dead silent for a moment, and then I heard her screech like a little pterodactyl and I started to cry. The raised her up above the sheet so I could take a quick look and then they whisked her over to the incubator to do all their cleaning and testing. Brian was between me and her, so I never saw any of this - he just kept turning his head to tell me she had two hands, two feet, ten fingers, ten toes...etc. I was too tired to tell him to move his big head so I could see for myself. And then, she and he were gone and I was on my own again.
This part took forever. They had to clean and sew everything up. I was exhausted - it had now been at least 26 hours since I started my labor journey and I hadn't really slept and I hadn't eaten in about 30 hours and I was really really thirsty (deciding immediately after they tell you surgery is necessary that you should have had a drink in the past hour or so is not the best time to figure it out). All I wanted to do was close my eyes and rest, but that's a big no-no in the operating room. They kept making me open my eyes and stay alert. Thankfully, they gave me a nice warm blanket (on my arms and chest), but when the conversation is about weekend plans that don't concern you and you're exhausted, you don't want to stay awake.
Finally, we got to recovery, which was much nicer. Dark, quiet, and much more comfortable. It was really hard to get into the bed because the lower half of my body was absolutely dead. I couldn't help with anything. Two very nice nurses were helping me clean up (one of whom, I found out, was a former student of mine...not the time to run into those people...), and I could finally rest. Then Brian and Katie came in and I finally got to hold her and see her. Her eyes were all gooey with those drops they put in, but I just remember being so awed by the fact that she looked up immediately when she heard my voice - she knew me. They asked me if I wanted to feed her, but I was so tired and drugged I was sure I'd drop her, so Brian did it. She drank 2 milliliters. It was nice to have about an hour to just sit there and stare at her before the rush of family.
My family didn't get to see her until I was out of recovery. One of the things Brian did really right was to let them know I was out of surgery and that we were ok, but he neglected to mention she was in the nursery, so no one saw her before I did. That was really nice. She got to meet everyone and we slowly eased into figuring out what to do with this kid. I was on a liquid diet until Sunday evening (it was late Saturday afternoon at this point), so I was starving, but I made it. I didn't get to shower until Monday and that was WAY better. But Katie had some problems. Thankfully, her lungs were ok - at 36 weeks that was a big concern. She had some light jaundice, but nothing too serious. She didn't however, have full control over how to suck or how to eat. Our best feeding in three days was 5 milliliters. She was eating so little that we were scared.
They took her away from me Monday afternoon to start running some tests for infections/developmental issues/etc. and I have never been so scared in my whole life. I just lay there crying. Thankfully, this was the time Angie showed up to distract me, so that helped a lot. My dad happened to be back in town for a conference and he showed up to see Katie but we couldn't see her because she was going through tests. I have never felt so helpless in my life. I just paced up and down the hallway (clinging to the railing - major abdominal surgery doesn't allow for a lot of nervous pacing) and waited.
We never did find out what exactly was wrong, but the feeding issues continued for quite a while. Gaining weight has never been Katie's specialty (but she's pretty darn good at eating now), and she wore her newborn clothing for the first three months of her life - only barely easing into 0-3mo clothing at 4 months old. She stayed pretty scrawny (no baby fat on this one), but healthy. Thankfully, she has grown and developed normally and we haven't had any other problems, but that was a scary time. That's just one of the reasons we hope to make it all the way to 38 weeks with Jellybean. That, and I would really like a little less drama this time - no earthquakes...long labors...surprise surgeries....
We'll see. They decide, not us, but now you know how we met our adorable daughter and what a process is was. Of course, I've left out all kinds of amusing little anecdotes and stories along the way, but I'm sure there's a time to tell them as well.
Oh yes...let's have a C-section because my daughter is in fetal distress due to the fact that my body is apparently failing at labor and delivery and the pitocin is absolutely not doing my daughter any favors.
This was honestly the most surreal part of the whole process. While I had joked about preferring surgery to what the natural process would be, I had never honestly considered it. I always assumed I was one of those strong, healthy as a horse kind of women who would just push on through it (literally). At this point, I think things stopped being real and I entered a la-la land that I didn't wake up from for a day or so...things get really fuzzy in here and time just squashes everything together.
I remember being totally scared out of my mind because I had never ever had a surgery of any kind before. And I knew I was going to be conscious which was doubly terrifying - what if I felt it or what would it feel like? Thankfully, my doctor (not the best with the bedside manner, but still - the doctor I had seen for the past nine months) showed up and I felt a lot of relief. She assured me it would all be ok and that I wouldn't feel pain. My parents came in to say good luck and what really scared me was seeing tears in my dad's eyes. I know he was scared for the baby (and me), but that's when it all kinda sunk in for me. I watched Brian put on scrubs and let them turn up the pump on my epidural as high as the thing went. And we were off.
It was FREEZING. My memories of that room are very surreal - it was a cold (ANTARCTIC) white room with lots of lights. It was just me and all the doctor/nurse/helper people for a while and I was supposed to help scoot myself on the table even though I couldn't feel half of my body. That was interesting. Then they put on my cap and put up the sheet and finally (it felt like hours later) asked Brian to come in. They told me they'd test to make sure I was numb before cutting...and I waited, chatting with Brian to try to calm down. I finally asked him when they were going to start and he said they were up to their elbows...hmmm...guess that epidural did work well. I assumed they would check with me, but I suppose the lack of screaming was a good indication I was ok. At one point, Brian asked me if I'd like a picture of my insides and I told him it was ok if he stopped watching at that point.
It never hurt, but it was really weird and uncomfortable - especially when they reached in to pry her out. It was like someone was trying to grab my spine and pull it out through my belly button (best I can do on that one). The pressure was really intense. It was dead silent for a moment, and then I heard her screech like a little pterodactyl and I started to cry. The raised her up above the sheet so I could take a quick look and then they whisked her over to the incubator to do all their cleaning and testing. Brian was between me and her, so I never saw any of this - he just kept turning his head to tell me she had two hands, two feet, ten fingers, ten toes...etc. I was too tired to tell him to move his big head so I could see for myself. And then, she and he were gone and I was on my own again.
This part took forever. They had to clean and sew everything up. I was exhausted - it had now been at least 26 hours since I started my labor journey and I hadn't really slept and I hadn't eaten in about 30 hours and I was really really thirsty (deciding immediately after they tell you surgery is necessary that you should have had a drink in the past hour or so is not the best time to figure it out). All I wanted to do was close my eyes and rest, but that's a big no-no in the operating room. They kept making me open my eyes and stay alert. Thankfully, they gave me a nice warm blanket (on my arms and chest), but when the conversation is about weekend plans that don't concern you and you're exhausted, you don't want to stay awake.
Finally, we got to recovery, which was much nicer. Dark, quiet, and much more comfortable. It was really hard to get into the bed because the lower half of my body was absolutely dead. I couldn't help with anything. Two very nice nurses were helping me clean up (one of whom, I found out, was a former student of mine...not the time to run into those people...), and I could finally rest. Then Brian and Katie came in and I finally got to hold her and see her. Her eyes were all gooey with those drops they put in, but I just remember being so awed by the fact that she looked up immediately when she heard my voice - she knew me. They asked me if I wanted to feed her, but I was so tired and drugged I was sure I'd drop her, so Brian did it. She drank 2 milliliters. It was nice to have about an hour to just sit there and stare at her before the rush of family.
My family didn't get to see her until I was out of recovery. One of the things Brian did really right was to let them know I was out of surgery and that we were ok, but he neglected to mention she was in the nursery, so no one saw her before I did. That was really nice. She got to meet everyone and we slowly eased into figuring out what to do with this kid. I was on a liquid diet until Sunday evening (it was late Saturday afternoon at this point), so I was starving, but I made it. I didn't get to shower until Monday and that was WAY better. But Katie had some problems. Thankfully, her lungs were ok - at 36 weeks that was a big concern. She had some light jaundice, but nothing too serious. She didn't however, have full control over how to suck or how to eat. Our best feeding in three days was 5 milliliters. She was eating so little that we were scared.
They took her away from me Monday afternoon to start running some tests for infections/developmental issues/etc. and I have never been so scared in my whole life. I just lay there crying. Thankfully, this was the time Angie showed up to distract me, so that helped a lot. My dad happened to be back in town for a conference and he showed up to see Katie but we couldn't see her because she was going through tests. I have never felt so helpless in my life. I just paced up and down the hallway (clinging to the railing - major abdominal surgery doesn't allow for a lot of nervous pacing) and waited.
We never did find out what exactly was wrong, but the feeding issues continued for quite a while. Gaining weight has never been Katie's specialty (but she's pretty darn good at eating now), and she wore her newborn clothing for the first three months of her life - only barely easing into 0-3mo clothing at 4 months old. She stayed pretty scrawny (no baby fat on this one), but healthy. Thankfully, she has grown and developed normally and we haven't had any other problems, but that was a scary time. That's just one of the reasons we hope to make it all the way to 38 weeks with Jellybean. That, and I would really like a little less drama this time - no earthquakes...long labors...surprise surgeries....
We'll see. They decide, not us, but now you know how we met our adorable daughter and what a process is was. Of course, I've left out all kinds of amusing little anecdotes and stories along the way, but I'm sure there's a time to tell them as well.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Doctor's Visit
The doctor welcomed me into my third trimester today (yes; some may say it's 28 weeks, but she also considered the end of the first trimester to be 12 weeks, so we're going with her on this one) and we had a good check-up. Jellybean is measuring just as she should and had a heartbeat of 150. All good. I did drink the nasty drink and have the blood test, but the results don't come in until Thursday. I was told that no news is good news, so we'll hope to hear absolutely nothing back from them.
In other news, apparently, the nurse/doctor hotline for after-hours is now fixed and there is someone now available 24 hours a day. Yay!!! No more freaking out about whether or not to go to the ER. I also got a prescription to help my restless legs. Sleep is pretty rough right about now, so I'm going to take all the help I can get. She approved short-distance travel (to work, to my parents' house, etc) until Week 35 (unless something comes up, of course), so we'll see. Apparently my plan to work up until the birth may be a bust. I don't mind time off, but what on God's green earth would I do with three weeks of nothing but waiting? That would be tough.
I also asked about the likelihood of an early delivery. This is really on my mind for two reasons. The first is that Katie showed up at 36 weeks, so it's already happened to us. The second is that if I go into early labor and we don't catch it (we don't see it coming) or we can't keep me in labor for a long enough period of time, I would have to have general anesthesia for the C-section and I would miss Jellybean's birth. Brian, being a man, said it's no big deal and the important thing is that everyone is alive and healthy. Well, of course that's important, but I don't want to miss this. I've been working very very hard to get to this point and I want to be able to see it all. The doctor said that while we may have corrected some of the issue that brought Katie early (the shots should be helping with that issue), there is a good likelihood of early labor but that we'll do our best to keep Jellybean in there until 38 weeks. I sure hope we can...36 weeks isn't really that premature, but she was REALLY small and had a lot of eating problems (and wore newborn clothes for about three months). I don't want to worry about her lungs and eating and all that...I want her to be fully cooked and healthy.
So, that's it in a nutshell. Back to the massive pile of grading that I inflicted on myself :) Toodles!
In other news, apparently, the nurse/doctor hotline for after-hours is now fixed and there is someone now available 24 hours a day. Yay!!! No more freaking out about whether or not to go to the ER. I also got a prescription to help my restless legs. Sleep is pretty rough right about now, so I'm going to take all the help I can get. She approved short-distance travel (to work, to my parents' house, etc) until Week 35 (unless something comes up, of course), so we'll see. Apparently my plan to work up until the birth may be a bust. I don't mind time off, but what on God's green earth would I do with three weeks of nothing but waiting? That would be tough.
I also asked about the likelihood of an early delivery. This is really on my mind for two reasons. The first is that Katie showed up at 36 weeks, so it's already happened to us. The second is that if I go into early labor and we don't catch it (we don't see it coming) or we can't keep me in labor for a long enough period of time, I would have to have general anesthesia for the C-section and I would miss Jellybean's birth. Brian, being a man, said it's no big deal and the important thing is that everyone is alive and healthy. Well, of course that's important, but I don't want to miss this. I've been working very very hard to get to this point and I want to be able to see it all. The doctor said that while we may have corrected some of the issue that brought Katie early (the shots should be helping with that issue), there is a good likelihood of early labor but that we'll do our best to keep Jellybean in there until 38 weeks. I sure hope we can...36 weeks isn't really that premature, but she was REALLY small and had a lot of eating problems (and wore newborn clothes for about three months). I don't want to worry about her lungs and eating and all that...I want her to be fully cooked and healthy.
So, that's it in a nutshell. Back to the massive pile of grading that I inflicted on myself :) Toodles!
Monday, September 5, 2011
Update
I'll get to the "to be continued" part of Katie's story soon (rest assured: she's here and three years old - it has a happy ending), but I needed to do a quick post.
First: Yes - we are under 80 days on the countdown to delivery :) Woot!!!!!
Second: Tomorrow, I go in for my last second trimester visit to the doctor. I think I enter the third trimester on Friday, so that will be another good day. But tomorrow is the dreaded gestational diabetes screening and I am SOOOO not looking forward to that. Thankfully, it's at 8:30 in the morning, so the discomfort will be brief, but I am definitely leaving the doctor and inhaling a lot of food somewhere.
Keep your fingers crossed for us that we pass the test and don't have to go on the world's worst diet for the next 77 days :)
First: Yes - we are under 80 days on the countdown to delivery :) Woot!!!!!
Second: Tomorrow, I go in for my last second trimester visit to the doctor. I think I enter the third trimester on Friday, so that will be another good day. But tomorrow is the dreaded gestational diabetes screening and I am SOOOO not looking forward to that. Thankfully, it's at 8:30 in the morning, so the discomfort will be brief, but I am definitely leaving the doctor and inhaling a lot of food somewhere.
Keep your fingers crossed for us that we pass the test and don't have to go on the world's worst diet for the next 77 days :)
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Waiting for Katie
Ok - since some people are a bit new to the saga, I'll take a few minutes to share Katie's birth story (and it's a nice refresher for others) so we can see where I currently stand :)
Katie's pregnancy was rough. That's the best way I can say it. Uncomfortable isn't the word. I was sick and nauseous for almost the entire nine months. There were many nights spent curled up on the bathroom floor in tears - when I wasn't completely exhausted due to insomnia and Katie's incessant kicking. I had three full-blown bouts of the flu in my second and third trimester along with unending sinus infections. I took Sudafed, since that's all you can take, and was simply miserable.
To add to that, my BH contractions with Katie started at about 22 weeks and they were pretty fierce. Often, they would be strong enough to cause me to pull over to the side of the road while driving or they would bring tears to my eyes. It took all my willpower not to want to punch people who asked me how much I loved being pregnant or who told me all about what a wonderful time it was and how I should enjoy relaxing and sleeping right then.
At about 34 weeks, I went in for my regular OB checkup (this is with bad doctor) and found out that Katie had already dropped. I believe the exact words uttered by my doctor as she checked my cervix was, "Oh...that's the head!" Of course, being my first pregnancy, this didn't mean a whole lot to me, so I just went about my merry way.
By this point in time, I decided to stop working. My original plan had been to finish the semester since finals ended May 8 and I was due May 11. I knew I may not make it, but I wanted to try; however, the sickness, lack of sleep, and forty minute drive each way were simply not going to happen too much longer. I needed rest, and so I decided to set my last day at work for Friday, April 18. In the meantime, I made another visit to my doctor at 36 weeks (on Wednesday, April 16) to find I was 1cm dilated and was told I could meet the partner doctor next week when I started my weekly OB visits.
Friday, April 18 was the day of the midwest earthquake at about 4am. I didn't notice it because, for once, I was blissfully asleep. I heard about it all day, but other than a small aftershock in my office around 10am, I hadn't felt much. I had to teach my two classes in the morning and then hang around for a student group meeting at 2. A bit after 2, I had to go to the bathroom and noticed that my pad was a bit wetter than usual, but not much. This was no big deal because who knows how often Katie had kicked my bladder in the past hour. I went back to the meeting and then headed home.
I called Brian on the way home to let him know what was up, and he wanted me to call the doctor, but I passed because it was nothing. When I got home, he made me read everything we could find on water breaking, and it seemed to confirm that I would know that this had happened - it would be a steady trickle and would increase when I lay down in bed. So, I went to lay down for a couple hours. Still nothing significant. I call the nurse line and she tells me to pack a bag and head to the hospital. I did, but I still didn't think anything of it. No big deal. Brian was running around putting things together and packing bags, but I knew it was all ok - after all, I was barely 36 weeks.
When we got to the hospital, they took my up to OB and were about to put me in an outpatient room to check me but decided to put me in a labor room. I felt really bad about this because I was going to mess up a bed and dirty sheets for nothing. But, they got me all hooked up to fetal monitors and checked with that little strip of test paper for amniotic fluid. Yup, that was it. They told us we would not be leaving without a baby. Holy crap. I was also contracting every three minutes and had no idea. We were totally in denial.
At this point, Brian left to get our bags and to get some food. I hadn't eaten since about 11am, and now that was completely off the table. Our hospital didn't allow any food or drink once labor started - so I would let ice chips melt and then drink. We knew we were in for a long labor because I was still only 1cm. They told us the earliest we would see Katie would be the next afternoon and it was about 7pm on Friday night right now. I tried to get comfortable and found that the contractions were getting more uncomfortable. They didn't become really really strong at that point, but they never really stopped. You can watch them on the monitor and mine would hit these really really long plateaued mountains, but they never really went back down into a valley. This constant contraction stuff was for the birds, so I asked for drugs and went to sleep (although not as soundly as my snoring husband). During the night, I had two rounds of "cervix ripening drugs," which consisted of half a pill being smeared on my cervix. Just weird.
The next day, I was up to 2cm. Woo-hoo. This was now over 16 hours after I checked in. They decided to start the Pitocin and I got the epidural - just in case :) I'm not a pain person and felt no need to prove how strong I was; I went for the drugs. Very soon, Katie was going into fetal distress. I had managed to progress to almost 3cm (I was a very slow achiever here) and he monitors had trouble picking up her heartbeat and every time a contraction came, her heart rate would drop severely. At about noon, 17 hours into labor at the hospital, but about 22 hours after my water broke, the partner doctor who I had never met came in and told me I needed a C-section. Awesome.
To be continued...
Katie's pregnancy was rough. That's the best way I can say it. Uncomfortable isn't the word. I was sick and nauseous for almost the entire nine months. There were many nights spent curled up on the bathroom floor in tears - when I wasn't completely exhausted due to insomnia and Katie's incessant kicking. I had three full-blown bouts of the flu in my second and third trimester along with unending sinus infections. I took Sudafed, since that's all you can take, and was simply miserable.
To add to that, my BH contractions with Katie started at about 22 weeks and they were pretty fierce. Often, they would be strong enough to cause me to pull over to the side of the road while driving or they would bring tears to my eyes. It took all my willpower not to want to punch people who asked me how much I loved being pregnant or who told me all about what a wonderful time it was and how I should enjoy relaxing and sleeping right then.
At about 34 weeks, I went in for my regular OB checkup (this is with bad doctor) and found out that Katie had already dropped. I believe the exact words uttered by my doctor as she checked my cervix was, "Oh...that's the head!" Of course, being my first pregnancy, this didn't mean a whole lot to me, so I just went about my merry way.
By this point in time, I decided to stop working. My original plan had been to finish the semester since finals ended May 8 and I was due May 11. I knew I may not make it, but I wanted to try; however, the sickness, lack of sleep, and forty minute drive each way were simply not going to happen too much longer. I needed rest, and so I decided to set my last day at work for Friday, April 18. In the meantime, I made another visit to my doctor at 36 weeks (on Wednesday, April 16) to find I was 1cm dilated and was told I could meet the partner doctor next week when I started my weekly OB visits.
Friday, April 18 was the day of the midwest earthquake at about 4am. I didn't notice it because, for once, I was blissfully asleep. I heard about it all day, but other than a small aftershock in my office around 10am, I hadn't felt much. I had to teach my two classes in the morning and then hang around for a student group meeting at 2. A bit after 2, I had to go to the bathroom and noticed that my pad was a bit wetter than usual, but not much. This was no big deal because who knows how often Katie had kicked my bladder in the past hour. I went back to the meeting and then headed home.
I called Brian on the way home to let him know what was up, and he wanted me to call the doctor, but I passed because it was nothing. When I got home, he made me read everything we could find on water breaking, and it seemed to confirm that I would know that this had happened - it would be a steady trickle and would increase when I lay down in bed. So, I went to lay down for a couple hours. Still nothing significant. I call the nurse line and she tells me to pack a bag and head to the hospital. I did, but I still didn't think anything of it. No big deal. Brian was running around putting things together and packing bags, but I knew it was all ok - after all, I was barely 36 weeks.
When we got to the hospital, they took my up to OB and were about to put me in an outpatient room to check me but decided to put me in a labor room. I felt really bad about this because I was going to mess up a bed and dirty sheets for nothing. But, they got me all hooked up to fetal monitors and checked with that little strip of test paper for amniotic fluid. Yup, that was it. They told us we would not be leaving without a baby. Holy crap. I was also contracting every three minutes and had no idea. We were totally in denial.
At this point, Brian left to get our bags and to get some food. I hadn't eaten since about 11am, and now that was completely off the table. Our hospital didn't allow any food or drink once labor started - so I would let ice chips melt and then drink. We knew we were in for a long labor because I was still only 1cm. They told us the earliest we would see Katie would be the next afternoon and it was about 7pm on Friday night right now. I tried to get comfortable and found that the contractions were getting more uncomfortable. They didn't become really really strong at that point, but they never really stopped. You can watch them on the monitor and mine would hit these really really long plateaued mountains, but they never really went back down into a valley. This constant contraction stuff was for the birds, so I asked for drugs and went to sleep (although not as soundly as my snoring husband). During the night, I had two rounds of "cervix ripening drugs," which consisted of half a pill being smeared on my cervix. Just weird.
The next day, I was up to 2cm. Woo-hoo. This was now over 16 hours after I checked in. They decided to start the Pitocin and I got the epidural - just in case :) I'm not a pain person and felt no need to prove how strong I was; I went for the drugs. Very soon, Katie was going into fetal distress. I had managed to progress to almost 3cm (I was a very slow achiever here) and he monitors had trouble picking up her heartbeat and every time a contraction came, her heart rate would drop severely. At about noon, 17 hours into labor at the hospital, but about 22 hours after my water broke, the partner doctor who I had never met came in and told me I needed a C-section. Awesome.
To be continued...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)