First, he did an ultrasound to check fluid levels. Everything on the ultrasound looked fine. After that, he sent me over to the Labor and Delivery wing to do a non-stress test. This test involved hooking me up to the monitors. It would monitor the baby's heart rhythm for about 30 minutes. It would also show if I was having any contractions. This test also went well. The baby's heart rate was good. They also told me that I was actually having contractions!! Huh? I didn't feel a thing. The nurse said it was common to not feel early contractions. Anyways, after completing the non-stress test and the ultrasound, Dr. Norgard said that we would wait until next Wednesday to induce. He didn't think Baby was overly large and saw no reason why we couldn't wait until then.
So that was that. We left the appointment basically thinking next Wednesday would be the day!! After the appointment Mike and I went to Subway for lunch. Then he went back to work and I stopped at the Dollar Store and Walmart to pick up a few things. I got home around 2 and did a few house cleaning tasks, watched a little tv, and organized more baby things. Late afternoon, I started working on one of Mike's college assignments. He had a large assignment due on Saturday and he hadn't finished it yet. That made me nervous, because just in case I went into labor, he certainly wouldn't have excess time to do homework, so that is why I began researching some topics for him.
Around 5, I started feeling rather odd. My stomach felt weird. It kinda felt crampy. I didn't know if I had ate something wrong or what the deal was. I continued working on the computer. Between 5 and 6 the stomach feelings got worse. In fact, it felt as if I was going to get my period and was having awful cramps. Around this time, I remembered some friends telling me that contractions can feel like menstrual cramps. Hmmm....could this feeling be contractions? Should I start timing them? How do I time them? Mike wasn't home yet. He was playing "Magic" with some friends from work in Fergus. Over the next half hour, it really seemed like this crampy feeling was coming and going in a timely manner. I had added a "contraction timer app" on my phone. I opened that up and figured out how to use it. I also texted Mike to see when he was coming home. I told him that I thought I might be having contractions. Right away, he told me to call the doctor. I didn't know if that was necessary or not; however, this crampy feeling was getting worse and it seemed to be reoccurring between 5 and 8 minutes apart?!? I was getting nervous, because if this was in fact the beginning of labor, I really didn't know when I was supposed to go in. This was probably the part of labor I was most nervous about--the right time to go to the hospital. I listened to Mike and called the labor and delivery department. I explained how I was feeling and they thought this feeling probably was contractions!! They said that I should come in when contractions occur 5 minutes apart and are consistent for 1 hour. They also said if any bleeding or breaking of water occurs, we should come in right away. Ok, well after getting off the phone with them, I began timing these feelings much more seriously. Mike got home and we had a quick supper. I continued to time the contractions. I did this for almost an hour and a half and sure enough--the contractions were about 5 minutes apart! They were also getting more painful. I could hardly stand up straight when the feeling struck. Mike thought we should go in. I didn't know if we needed to or not. I had this fear that if we went in, they would tell us to go back home. Around 8:30 I went to the bathroom and saw a little surprise--blood! It wasn't a lot of blood, but it was blood---and at that time I remembered what the nurse on the phone had said--if you see blood, come in right away! From the bathroom, I yelled to Mike--"I think we need to go!!" I called the hospital again and told them what I had seen and they told us to come in--that a Baby was probably on the way!!
Of course we had been packed for weeks. I seriously began packing our hospital bags during Christmas break, so they were ready to go! We hustled around the house compiling bags, letting Bailey outside, and giving the pets a generous amount of food. Within 5 minutes we were heading out the door. I was relatively calm. I had been ready for this to happen for the last month and really wanted my baby to be born! I could tell that Mike was nervous--really nervous. I had never seen him move so quickly!!
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| Proud (but nervous) daddy-to-be driving to the hospital! |
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| Arrived at our destination! |
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| Our Room |
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| Labor and Delivery Wing |
They told me to change into a gown and then they hooked me up to the monitor once again.
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| The beginning of a LONG night! |
We seemed to sit there for a long time. After awhile, they came in and confirmed that my contractions were between 3 and 5 minutes apart. The nurse tried to check for dilation, but because my uterus was extremely posterior, she couldn't reach it. We sat and sat. I'm thankful for the staff at the hospital, but honestly, some of the time, it felt like they completely forgot about us. Our family came in and sat in our room with us for awhile, which helped. I wasn't in an overly talkative mood, but it was nice to have them there for support.
Of course since this was a Friday after business hours, Dr. Norgard was off duty. This made me sad. I was nervous to begin with, but now I had to get to know a strange doctor. The doctor on call was Dr. Pettit. He stopped in quite late into the night. He checked dilation and said I was not dilated at all. He didn't think a baby was going to be born anytime soon, but he agreed that we should spend the night and be monitored. Our family went home for the night and told us to keep them updated. Linda and Jen went to stay at Missy's house so they would be close by! We got to bed around 1 a.m. I didn't get much sleep for most of the night, because the pain was getting worse. Around 3 a.m. the nurse finally offered me some medicine for the pain. I got Nubane and that put me to sleep and helped with the pain. Time would tell what Saturday would bring--hopefully a baby!!
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