My labor actually started on August 28th. I looked about ready to explode and I was so unbelievably uncomfortable when I started to feel very crampy. I had read many times what I should look for as the signs of impending labor, but nothing prepared me for these cramps that just about took my breath away. I tried doing things to take my mind off it like the books said, and I started making notes for each contraction. They were very irregular and very far apart, but when they came they were worse than any period cramp I've ever had. Since it was about 10pm I decided to try to get some sleep knowing that I would need all my energy for the next few days. I slept for maybe 3 hours then got up, as I have gotten so used to doing, to use the bathroom. I started to panic when I got another contraction and decided to call the doctor. Since it was around 1 AM I got the on-call doctor who was obviously sleeping. And since I was not her patient, she had no idea who I was or anything about my pregnancy. She answered in a daze and I told her what was going on. She told me to take some Tylenol, go back to sleep and call her in the morning....I just about died. I knew of course that she had to have been still dreaming or something. I must have been so dumbstruck by what she said because I didn't correct her. I just hung up the phone and tried to get back to sleep. I got about 5 hours of total sleep that night.
The next morning (Sunday) I couldn't stand it anymore and decided I must be ready to go, so I got Mike up and we went to the hospital. I was put in a room to be strapped to monitors and wait for the doctor to show up. I was checked and told I was 2 cm dilated. We were there for about 3 hours and were sent home because I was declared in pre-labor which can last as long as 3 days. All that day I tried to do normal things to keep my mind off the pain. I checked mine and Kayla's hospital bags, went through the house and made sure everything was ready for her to come home.
I was scheduled for a doctor appointment on Monday and I felt so sure he was going to admit me right away. Of course he didn't, but told me to go to the hospital the next morning at 6 AM to be induced. Well, that night was the worst yet. I couldn't sleep at all, not even in the recliner (the only place I was semi- comfortable). I got Mike up at 4 because I was just miserable and we left for the hospital at 5:30. The nurses had been told I was to be induced but the first nurse that saw me realized that that wasn't going to be necessary. I got in to a horrible gown and in to bed where they once again strapped me to monitors. This time I was given an IV drip so I knew this was it. So far everything was going smoothly.
My mom came at around 9ish which was nice. I was really glad to have her there. She fed me ice chips and spritzed with one of those squirt bottle fans if I got hot. At around 10 I was told I needed a pitocin drip. Now that freaked me out. A friend of mine told me horror stories about how painful contractions are on pitocin so I reacted immediately. Looking back now I feel really foolish about crying about it, but then I was really scared. But I had to have it anyway, and it really wasn't so bad for the first hour. |
