SERIOUSLY??

Yep, the title of this post pretty much describes the theme of my life for the past 24 hours. Yesterday I officially hit 34 weeks, so all of the meds that I have been taking for the last month to stop my contractions ended Tuesday night. We knew that Wednesday was probably going to be an "interesting" day, but I'm not sure we realized exactly how interesting.

I started having regular contractions at about 12:30 Wednesday afternoon and they were coming about 5 to 6 minutes apart. It actually worked out well because we were heading to our appointment with the perinatologist for my weekly sonogram (which happens to be in the same building as the hospital) at 2:00. The sonogram showed that my cervix had shortened back down to 20 mm (down from 40 mm the week before). After confirming that everything was wonderful with Cooper, he sent us down to Labor and Delivery to get monitored. By the time we got down to L&D, not only were my contractions coming 5 minutes apart, but they had increased quite a bit in intensity.

I got all situated in the not-so-flattering hospital gown and got hooked up on all the monitors (which I think I could probably do on my own by now), and Nurse Ratched (as I quickly nicknamed her) looked at me and said, "Wow. . .you are contracting". It seriously took all the restraint I had left in me not to reply back to her, "No sh*# Sherlock"! I mean SERIOUSLY. . .why did she think I was there?? She called the doctor on call from the practice I go to (of course, my doctor is on vacation this week) and they monitored me for about an hour then "checked me". Now, those of you who have had babies and know how "fun" it is to be checked can understand what I mean when I tell you that if felt like her fist was going to come out of my throat. At that point, I was barely a fingertip dilated. She called the doctor back. . .two more hours of monitoring and then they were going to check me again. At this point, my contractions were literally off the charts and I was threatening to stretch Sean's genitiles over his head. . .especially when he was watching the monitors and would say, "That contraction was not so bad". SERIOUSLY??

At 6:00, Nurse Ratched checked me again and indicated that I had not made any progress, but I was bleeding a little bit which was not surprising (back to the whole fist coming out of my throat thing). She said two more hours of monitoring, and then another check. UGH!! Thank goodness they had shift change at 7:00 and I got a very sweet nurse named Abby. By this point, all the other patients that had been in "triage" had long since gone home, so I was the only patient. Abby was wonderful about getting me what I needed and making me as comfortable as possible on those slats of wood they try to pass off as beds.

At 8:00 it was time for another "check" and apparently my cervix WAS residing in my throat, because Abby could not get to it. . .so she was off to get the doctor who was running back and forth between a c-section and another delivery. If you are thinking that this sounds like a scene from Father of the Bride 2, you are exactly right! We finally saw Dr. Light at 9:00, she checked me very quickly and indicated that I was now to 2cm. YEA!! I figured that was great news and we could get admitted to Labor & Delivery (with real beds). . .but no! She decided to wait 2 more hours, pump 2 bags of IV fluids in me and check me again at 11:00. THEN, she and Sean proceed to start a conversation about what they are going to have for dinner since it appeared we were going to have a long night ahead of us!! SERIOUSELY?? Keep in mind that I had no eaten anything since 9:00 in the morning and I was STARVING. But of course, I was not allowed to have anything beyond ice chips. There are just some things that should not be discussed in front of a woman in labor, and food is one of them.

Dr. Light thought that the IV fluids might settle my contractions down in the case that I was hydrated, but they didn't. In fact, they started coming on even stronger and closer together. She checked me again at 11:00 and then got this "look" on her face which I have learned is never good. She said, "Well, this is not what I expected" and indicated that it felt like my cervix had started closing up. SERIOUSLY?? Another topic not to popular with a woman in labor!

By this point, we had been in triage for 7 hours (which I think may be a record). Dr. Light was not comfortable sending me home because my contractions were still coming very quickly. However, since I was not making progress, she could not admit me to Labor and Delivery. She decided at that point to go ahead and admit me to the hospital and start me on some medication for the pain and something to help me sleep.

By the time we got up to my room, it was after midnight and I have no idea how Sean and I were even still functioning at this point. They got me settled and I sent Sean home to get some rest. Once I got my cocktail of narcotics injected into my IV, I was LOVING life. I know I had a conversation with the nurse as she was injecting the meds, but for the life of me, I have no recollection of what the conversation was. It was like she was pouring a bottle of my favorite wine into me!

I think it was around 1:00 am when I passed out and did not feel anything until around 5:00. I waddled back and forth to the bathroom with my IV pole and had a few contractions, but nothing significant. I did get a wonderful breakfast tray of Jell-O and chicken broth. . .not exactly what you want at 8:00 in the morning when you haven't eaten in 24 hours! I saw the doctor around 8:30 and he said because the contractions had pretty much stopped, he was going to go ahead and send me home. We had a long discussion about what happened the night before. Basically, he indicated that if I had been 38 or 39 weeks, they would have broken my water and Cooper would have arrived. However, since I am only 34 weeks, the could not do anything to help my labor along. He said that we may be in to quite a few more nights like what we had just experienced until Cooper actually arrives or until my c-section, whatever comes first!

Sean came and picked me up and I was completely exhausted, sore, frustrated and HUNGRY. My sweet husband went through the drive-thru at Chick-fil-a and got me a chicken biscuit, and I don't think that I have ever inhaled food so fast. As soon as we got home, I fell into bed and stayed there until 4:30 this afternoon.

As things stand right now, the contractions have tapered off for the most part. We have an appointment at 10:30 tomorrow morning with my doctor who will be back from vacation (YEA) and will go from there. Until then, back to bed rest for me and trying to hang onto the tiny sliver of sanity that I have left.

Thank you for all of your sweet notes and continued prayers.

Much love,

Sean, Laurie, Kaleigh, Meghan and Cooper