Stats: Belly 42/43 inches Weight: 190
My shower was a blast! Everyone seemed to really have a goodtime at the shower and Steve and I got so many wonderful gifts for the baby! We got the majority of the things off of our registry, which was really great. On a different note�Seth was born this week! Yep, we all suspected that I wouldn�t make it to April, but we were all completely surprised how sudden his birth came about�
Seth�s Birth story
Friday, March 19th 2004 I went in for my biweekly NST and they discovered that I was in pre labor with contractions 10-15 minutes apart with some that were 20-30 minutes apart so still pretty sporadic. Their main concern was the swelling in my feet, which had gotten pretty severe and my blood results came back with a low platelet count and there was also some protein in my urine, which was a definite red flag for eclampsia, I was checked and found to be about 1cm dilated and slightly effaced. Also, my blood pressure was higher than they liked to see�
Since my OB was out of town the on call OB accessed my situation after many hours of laying around and being observed the decision was made to let me go, but they wanted me back on Saturday for another NST and more blood work. Steve and I really think that the nurses and OB had pity on me because all Steve and I could talk about was my baby shower the next day and that was the only reason that they released me. I set up an appointment to come back for my NST at 6pm the next day (March 20, after my shower).
March 20, after a couple hours of observation and lab work, sure enough around 8 pm the nurse came into the room and said that they wanted to keep me overnight for further observation. My platelets were still very low, my blood pressure was still high and my contractions were coming about 5-8 minutes apart and there were still traces of protein in my urine. I was checked and found to be 2cm and about 45-50% effaced, -3 station.
March 21st, Steve and I wait all day for the on call OB to come in to tell us what the next step would be, we were hoping I would get to go home we were both sick of being at the hospital, but we both doubted that was likely. At about 3pm, the on call OB showed up and said that he felt that it was best I stay and be observed one more day and that my regular OB would be in the next day to see me and access the situation further because he didn�t want to make a judgment call being that he wasn�t my regular OB just the on call OB. I sent Steve home to sleep and tend to Cylle, I didn�t see a reason why he should have to suffer another night at the hospital since I wouldn�t have any news until the next day anyway. At about 4pm Steve went home. At about 10:15 pm the nurse comes into my room and says that my OB had called and wanted them to induce labor ASAP. I call Steve and tell him to get back to the hospital right away because they are going to induce. They start me on 1 ml/hr of pitocin at 11:15 pm.
March 22nd, 2004 12:30 am pitocin dosage increased to 3 ml/hr, which brings my contractions to 3-4 minutes apart. I can definitely feel the contractions, but they are just uncomfortable. I am practicing my hypno birthing allowing myself to completely relax.
A few minutes after Steve shows up, Shirley, Cylle Big Steve, Sam, Shaun and Gricelda show up too around midnight, they are all so excited. I laugh because they have no clue that the baby isn�t coming right that minute, I knew it would be many, many hours before Seth�s arrival as inductions sometimes drag. Finally after much coaxing, Steve and I convinced them all to go back home at around 2 am and that we would keep them posted. Throughout the night my pitocin in gradually increased to try and get my contractions in a steady pattern to cause some progress.