To the hospital...again

Yes, we’ve had another adventure to the hospital. On Friday night we stayed up a bit later than usual because Ben came for a weekend visit. While I was sitting on the couch I noticed that my lower back was getting more and more sore. Then I noticed that I was having contractions, but I was having a hard time telling exactly when I was having contractions due to the back pain. The pain was constant, but it did get worse when a contraction occurred. Anyway, by the time we finally decided to go to bed at 12:30, my back was hurting so bad I could hardly stand. I crawled up the stairs to go to bed. Once I got in bed with a heat bag on my back, I noticed how close together my contractions were. They were coming 5 minutes apart quite regularly. The doctor’s orders were to go to the hospital after I reached 5 minutes apart for an hour. I waited an hour and started walking around the house to see if things changed. After an hour and a half Kevin and I headed for the hospital.

On the way to the hospital my contractions were still coming, but they weren’t quite as painful anymore. By the time I got to the hospital, I was hardly feeling them anymore. I was admitted at 4:00 in the morning. At first I had very few contractions showing up on the monitor. After an hour the nurse came in to check me and said I hadn’t really made much progress at all. She asked if I wanted to get up and walk around for a while. She told me I could come off the monitor for 40 minutes. Off I went -- walking the hallway back and forth by myself (Kevin was in the room sleeping since he would have to get some kind of sleep before Sunday arrived). After my 40 minutes the nurse checked again and said I was getting a little farther. Meanwhile, I was no longer any contractions. I had about 30 more minutes of being put on the monitor before the nurse was going to call the doctor. She said I really was in labor, and my contractions were still coming 3-5 minutes apart. I was thinning out more, and in two hours time I dilated ½ an inch (they want an inch an hour). She talked to the doctor who said I could either stay in Washington and walk Walmart for a while, hoping labor would pick up or I could go home. They don’t admit women who are moving so slowly. Since we were so tired (I hadn’t slept at all), we opted just to go home at 6:00. I did ask the nurse when I was supposed to come back. If I started feeling contractions 5 minutes apart again, do I come back? She helped me conclude that I should come back if my water broke (which I already knew) or if contractions started becoming uncomfortable (which they were Friday night).

Since I’m writing this blog and have not yet mentioned a baby, you’ve probably already concluded that she hasn’t come yet. Yes, you’re right. I’ve been home from the hospital for over 36 hours now, and nothing is changing. I still have some painful contractions from time to time, but they aren’t regularly painful. Now I’m simply paranoid about going to the hospital. Being sent home from the hospital without the baby is horrible (Kristi, you can relate to this!). I felt as if everybody was staring at the pregnant lady taking her hospital bags back out to the car. I’d like to say the baby is coming any time now, but I’m beginning to doubt again. If you would have asked me yesterday, I would have said we’ll have a baby by midnight. So much for that thought. Tomorrow morning is the next doctor’s appointment. I don’t know what to expect there, but maybe he can explain why I started labor and have since stopped labor on my own. I’ll give further update tomorrow. In the meantime, please pray for my sanity and patience!