In Labor!

I'm at the hospital in labor! Andrew and I drove through the 16 inches of snow to make our appointment at 7:30pm for me to be induced. They checked us in, got us set up in a labor and delivery room, and used some tablets at 8pm to start thinning my cervix. I received a second dose around midnight, and around 2:30am, I woke up with contractions!

The contractions were immediately severe, and they were only 45 seconds apart. I went to the bathroom to pee, and I had two by the time I finished. I went back to my hospital bed, trying to decide if I was supposed to wait for a while or not. After a couple more that were even more painful, I decided I couldn't handle them on my own. I woke up Andrew. Andrew got the nurse, and she reviewed the contraction monitor. My contractions were so close together, I barely got a break from one when the next would start. She told me that can be one of the side effects from the tablets.



She started an IV (eeeieii!) to try to space out the contractions. She gave it 15 minutes, but the contractions got even worse. I literally was shaking with pain because there was no break from them. She checked my cervix, and I was dilated to 4cm. She called the anesthesiologist, and he made it to my room within 10 minutes. Those 10 minutes felt like forever since I had at least that many contractions. I started to cry. When he arrived, he asked me if my contractions started out that severe, and I said, "Pretty much."

The nurse injected me with a pain medication to help for the epidural. It immediately made me dizzy and sleepy, and I could no longer keep my eyes open. Getting the epidural didn't hurt at all, and it helped almost immediately. I kept telling the anesthesiologist, "Thank you so much."

Labor's been super easy ever since. I'm now dilated almost 7cm, and all I've been doing is napping and relaxing. Of course, it's not easy being hooked up to so many things. I have the IV because I'm not allowed to eat or drink. I have the epidural in my back, and a cathader as well. On my stomach, I have a fetal monitor and a contraction monitor. On my left hand, I have a pulse reader, and on my right arm, I have a blood pressure cuff. Also, even though the baby's pulse is fine (in the 120s), it's lower than it was, so she gave me an oxygen mask to wear. As she put it, "The baby's getting tired from the medication, too."

My doctor is going to arrive in about an hour to break my water. From there, I'm hoping things will speed along, and hopefully, I'll have a baby soon!



I'm getting a little nervous again, but definitely more excited than anything. I'm wishing my mom was here, though, to tell me everything's going well and will be fine. She took the day off today, so hopefully she'll be here soon to help. Delivery will just be me and Andrew, of course. I think we'll take a couple of hours to ourselves to marvel at our little wonder, but then we'll see our visitors and show off our bundle of joy. Just a few more hours!

Baby Update

October 27, and still no baby. I went in for an appointment yesterday, and there was still no change. I'm 1.5cm dilated, and 60% effaced.

After the appointment, I had a few "practice" contractions. I call them practice because I've had them before, a few weeks ago. They don't hurt, and they don't last long. Still, it was nice feeling *something* going on with my body.

Today at work, I had a terribly painful event that might have been a contraction, but the tightening occurred in my back. It was quite intense. I'm hoping labor does not feel like that, but, alas, I'm thinking it will.

I'm hoping something regular starts occurring soon. I was planning on going to work tomorrow to take my mind off of everything going on, but now there's a foot of snow forecast, so I'm reconsidering. Maternity leave might officially start for me tomorrow!

Meanwhile, I'm getting a little tired emotionally. I'm getting pretty sick of people rubbing me and asking me how I feel. Is that bad? I go through moments where I don't want any visitors at the hospital. I just want to do my own thing! Maybe these mood swings indicate change...

Are You Coming Soon, Baby?

I went for my 39 week appointment today (Baby is due on Monday!), and I still haven't showed any new changes that indicate he'd be coming soon. Pooh! So the doctor set up an appointment for me to come in on Monday, where we'll then set up an evening to start inducing. She said she'd recommend Monday evening, Tuesday evening or Wednesday evening, but she said definitely no later than Thursday evening, which means he'll definitely be here by next Friday! Within a week and a half, our lives are going to be changing big time!
I guess it's certain, then, that we're having an October baby. Hurray!

10 Days Until Baby!

Our little guy is due in 10 days! I'm starting to suspect he'll make a late appearance. On October 1, before Julie's wedding, we went to the doctor to get her approval for me to drive to Omaha. Of course, she said yes! Turns out I wasn't dilated at all. A week later, I went back to the doctor, and I was surprised to hear I'd dilated a centimeter and a half. That was easy! I wasn't effaced at all, however.

Two days ago, on the 14th, I went back to the doctor again. I hadn't dilated any more than the week prior, but now I'm completely effaced. Does this mean I'll start dilating this week? I sure hope so! I'm hoping Baby can make it without having to be induced.

My doctor let me know it's not healthy to let the baby stay in too far past his due date. The longer he's in the womb, the larger he gets, and the more likely I'll have a C-section. Also, the longer he's in the womb past his due date, the more likely it is he'll pass his first stool... and if he inhales that, it can lead to a lot of breathing complications.

I go back to the doctor on Wednesday. If I'm not showing signs that the baby will be here any day, I set up an appointment for my due date (approximately), and we start discussing plans and options from there. I can't believe how close we are!