Okay, Now I Am Ready...

Okay, now I am ready. I think. Three weeks ago - today - I went into labor. Yep at 32 weeks my body was ready to have this baby. Clearly, I am still pregnant so they were able to stop the whole process but what an adventure it was.

My doctor determined a long time ago that I am just one of those pregnancies that has lots of contractions. I would say I have about 4 to 8 contractions an hour. Not painful ones and they don't seem to do anything to me or the baby, but they sure are not comfortable. Now they weren't always that way. On the Tuesday before I went into the hospital I was telling my doctor how uncomfortable and frequent the contractions were and after an hour later we determined... nothing. The contractions did nothing to me. Great. So back to work I went. She told me however that if they lasted longer than 30 seconds to come back in. I thought to myself, walking to and from my car causes me to have a contraction and that is a four minute walk so that 30 second rule didn't really apply to me. Well after not sleeping well on Tuesday night and after having contraction on top of contraction on Wednesday I called my mom crying. I asked her if these contractions were normal. They weren't stopping but they weren't painful. I was getting so exhausted from them. She told me to go in. I told her if they were better in the morning I would go in because I probably just over did it that day at work. So, after only sleeping 4 hours and finally making it work on Thursday morning I was exhausted. Contractions - still there. But who wants to go into the doctors! My boss wasn't even there on Thursday. However, a girl from my doctors office came in to pick up here glasses and I decided to ask her what to do. She said to come in for a quick 45 min appointment and see what they could do. After my coworker practically pushed me out the door, I took my cell phone and told her I would be back in 45 min.

I got to the doctors they hooked me up to all of this stuff... and 10 minutes later they told me I was going to be in the hospital for the next 24 hours!! What? Umm, not what I wanted to hear. I was dilated to a 4, 70% effaced and having contractions one right on top of the other. (I could have told you that part.) So what does a pregnant woman do at this point, I cried. I am not sure why. I think I cried because I wasn't ready to be at the hospital for 24 hours. My purse was still at work, nobody knew I was there and I was exhausted. After putting on an ugly hospital gown, :), texting Brighton, a doctor came in and told me I would be there for 48 hours. Sigh, this is a really long doctors 45 min doctors appointment. They told me that if the baby came that day she would probably survive but she would be in the NICU for a couple of weeks. So they were going to give me a couple of steroid shots to help develop her lungs. Apparently the steroid shots will mess with your blood sugar levels so they hooked me up to an insulin drip. They moved me to another room and there I was to wait. For what I am not sure but there I sat. Everything was just a blur.

Brighton finally showed up (I actually told him not to come because nothing was going on, but my mom convinced him otherwise), then my mom, and then my brother in-law Frank. Brighton and Frank gave me a blessing and the rest of my hospital stay was a breeze. I had a TON of support from family and friends. I can't even being to mention how grateful I am for all of my family. That would take up a whole additional post. I think they helped keep me calm because they were all more worried than I was. I never really believed I was going to deliver a baby. It didn't really hit me that I was in labor and delivery until that morning around 4. I finally realized that all of the rooms around me were delivering babies and that is what they were planning on for me. Scary! I hadn't even been to a birthing class yet! I didn't even know what effaced meant until that day. There were able to slow my contractions down, rule out any reasons for me having all of the contractions and moved me to a less high risk room.

My 48 hours turned into a four day stay, I didn't dilate past a 4 and they sent me home on 'modified' bed rest. What that means to me is that I can't go back to work. I still have lots of contractions and they still make me super tired but now I can take a nap whenever I want!! I love it! However, any time I move I have a contraction. Sitting, standing, rolling over in bed, walking, sitting here, you name it. But that just seems to be the norm. I was taking a non stress test the other day and my test was showing all of the contractions. The lady sitting next to me was due the following week and she was having none!!! I told her I would gladly give mine to her. My doctors original goal was for me to keep the baby in for 48 hours, then until 34 weeks, and then until 37 weeks. I am proud to say I am at 35 1/2 weeks and still pregnant. My contractions are getting painful now and not the kind I like but they are still pretty far apart. So waiting is the game. If I don't have the baby by 38 weeks on June 21st I am going to be induced!! I have never been so excited to hear that word. My original due day at July 4th but I have a lot of amniotic fluid (which they don't know why) and I am already dilated so June 21st it is!!! 19 days to go my friends. 19 days.

I have finally packed a hospital bag, washed the baby clothes, finally got a place for her to sleep (Brighton went out and bought that while I was in the hospital), I have had ample time to clean up the house, and now I am officially bored. Well I don't know if bored is the word but going to the bathroom every 2 hours, painful contractions, and having only 6 shirts that fit me I am ready for her to come. So when will she come??? We shall see...

Here is to 35 weeks!!!!