So after a very hectic round of phone tag, I left work early on Wednesday afternoon to head over to my OB. My back had been hurting really badly all day and I was getting to where I couldn't really stand - but no contractions. I went out to grab lunch and sat quietly in the car for a bit and started noticing contractions - 1 minute long, every 12 minutes. "OK, time to go," I thought.
I head down to my OB going 65 mph down the 40 mph highway just challenging a cop to stop a woman in labor. I get there around 3:30 and my OB checks me. Between 1 and 2 cm but still rather thick. So, they monitor me for an hour. Minute long contractions every 8 minutes - like clockwork. She comes back and checks me again. 2cm! WOOOHOO Judah is coming!! A conversation between my midwife and the doctor she works with suggests me to go home, pack my bags and try to rest.
So, I call in to work, tell them I'm not coming back, and I make my way home. I hurriedly pack the bags for the 2 kids, calls being made this whole time "oh the baby's coming! I'm in labor!" and arrangements are made for Alina and Raziel's care for the evening as well as Thursday. I pack up a bag for Brent and I, lovingly picking out the bring home outfit and some blankets for Judah, and go crawl into the bed because by now I'm stopping every 5 minutes to breathe.
Brent gets off around 6:00 and calls to see what the progress is. I'm laying in bed, unable to fall asleep, still having contractions. He gets the kids and takes them directly to Nene's and comes over to see how I am. I tell him I'm hurting but it will be a little while. He brings me some water and I lay in the bed relaxing. Around 9:30 I fall asleep. Brent breathes a sigh of relief, thinking it was just braxton hicks. Around 11 I wake up and wake Brent up, "honey, its worse" I'm breathing through contractions every 3-4 minutes. Brent leaps out of bed and starts throwing things in the car. (he hadn't done so thinking I wasn't gonna have the baby that night since I fell asleep.) I keep having contractions, they're bad too. We fly down the road to the hospital.
Brent pulls up beside the entrance and drops me off. The woman in registry took FOREVER. It was her last night - she was retiring apparently. But she still took way too freaking long and wouldn't let Brent register for me (as they had with Raziel). FINALLY the woman lets us go back. A nurse brings a wheelchair since I'm not doing too well walking and she wheels us back to the pre-labor unit to see what's going on. No broken water, no strange discharge, no signs of labor except the TERRIBLY regular contractions - same with both children before. I change into a gown and crawl into the bed. Blood pressure is a bit high, I look a little dehydrated, and am still at 2cm. But, no worries, I checked in at 2cm with Raziel and delivered him 45 minutes later, right?
So we monitor contractions. 60 seconds long every 3-5 minutes - very regular. We watch some TV, drink alot of water, and wait. An hour later the nurse comes back to check on me. I'm still miserable but I'm still in that in-between place. I'm wondering to myself if I'm just tolerating the pain better since I know what's going on and I'm not freaking out... this was my assumtion. But, no change. The nurse suggests waiting it out another hour and seeing how it goes. Well, an hour comes and goes and I'm still hanging out at 2cm. It gets to be 2:30am and the nurse goes to talk to our midwife on call (same practice as mine but not Cheryl). They say we can do one of 2 things; 1) try walking for an hour and see if we make progress or 2) take some painkiller and go home and try to sleep again. Brent and I opt for option 1 and we go walking.
This 60 minutes of my life is excruciatingly long. I'm tired. I'm in pain. I'm deliberately walking, trying to convince things to get stronger and make change. I know I'm getting no where. I'm sobbing as I walk the big loop around post-partum, hearing other women's newborn's crying for their mothers or for milk or whatever they need. My nurse checks me at 30 minutes. Still no change. I walk more. I'm staying hydrated, I'm still frusterated, I'm exhausted and emotionally worn out. By the time we go back to our room I'm feeling hopeless. The nurse checks me again. 2cm. I broke out in tears again and started sobbing.
She says something about how I am having contractions and she sees that on the machiene even, I guess she's trying to tell me I haven't lost my mind. I'm dying in pain and sobbing my heart out. This is like when I had Alina - we went back and forth and I never had any progress. By the time I actually went into labor I was too tired to really participate in her delivery. I'm so hysterical I can't put together sentances. Brent tells the lady we think we should just go home. She gives me a shot of morphine in the hip to help settle down my body. She tells us that this should stop the contractions and reminds us of the signs of labor like contractions every 3 minutes, broken water or bleeding. She leaves us for another 20 minutes so I can calm down and we can be sure the contractions start slowing down.
They eventually stop and I'm so loopy I can't verbalize much of anything. Brent is exhausted. We head home - and arrive around 5am. I feel so terrible for keeping Brent up late that I make a pizza in the microwave. He can't call in because he (finally) got approved to have one personal day off without a write up whenever the baby comes - but only one. So Brent has to get up and go to work in 3 hours. We scarf down the pizza and collapse into the bed. Brent got to sleep until 8:15 and I slept all day Thursday. I woke up occasionally to answer a text or answer a call. I got up a few times to pee, and eventually to feed Odin and make grilled cheese and popcorn for everyone for dinner. Brent and the kids got home around 8:30 (they had car trouble) and we all sat in the bed and watched Mork & Mindy eating grilled cheese and popcorn. The kids were both so happy to see me and I was glad to see them too. We put them in bed after a bit and Brent and I both collapsed in an exhausted sleep.
Brent woke up a few times, asking if the baby was okay and did we need to go to the hospital. I think he was dreaming because I wasn't in pain. (or if I was I was way too loopy to realize it.)
Today, I am at work.. I am uncomfortable. Everything is sore and hurts. My stomach and uterus are all exhausted feeling, and Judah seems to be taking up more room than usual. I am having frequent short pains and constant aches. Well, no wonder. I was in labor for over 12 hours and got to 2 cm and then they decided to stop my labor. I don't know how much longer it will be before baby comes. I'm worn out and not worth much of anything at work today. I have paperwork and things that need done and I'm having a hard time motivating myself to do any of it.
Pray for me.
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