Crazy Contractions!

Wednesday, March 16 - Shortly after going to bed, I felt a few minor contractions. They were few and far between (15-20 minutes apart) so I didn't think much of it. But I did have high hopes that maybe this baby could be born on St. Patrick's Day!

Thursday, March 17 - I decided to go to work since there wasn't much action come morning. The day went fine and I was able to tie up any loose ends just in case. Then that evening we went to Roma (a local Italian joint) to eat some greasy pizza in hopes that it would help move things along. That evening, again shortly after going to bed, my uterus starting contracting. Only this time the contractions were closer together (5-8 minutes apart). That's when I decided it would be best if I stayed home from work on Friday.

Friday, March 18 - Kyler woke up at the usual 6:00 and wanted to snuggle in the bed with the baby and I. Then he asked if he could sing to the baby. I said, "Sure! What would you like to sing?" He enthusiastically and unprompted responded, "Happy Birthday!" I, then, told him that that was probably a good song choice. So we sang a couple rounds of, "Happy Birthday!" I thought for sure this would be the day! Then the nighttime contractions subsided come 7:30 a.m. "Did I take the day off for nothing?" Pretty much. No real big contractions throughout the day, but Josh and I did get to spend some quality time together while my mom took Kyler down to Longmont to hang out with his cousins. We went in to see Dr. Stoltz for my weekly checkup. Since I had been contracting, she wanted to check my cervix for dilation...she concluded that I was dilated to 4 cm. Shortly after 6:00, the contractions started up. By 8:00 they were strong enough and coming every 2-3 minutes that I convinced Josh that it was time to go to the hospital. Once we got there, I was brought into Labor and Delivery Triage. After being hooked up to all of the monitors, the triage doctor came in to check me. At that point I was 4 1/2 cm dilated. So she called the on-call doctor for my practice and he suggested that I walk around the hospital for about and hour to try and progress further. Uggg...this is NOT what I wanted to hear. However, it did help, after the hour I went back and the doctor said I had progressed to 5 cm. Good news! She was convinced that I would be checked into the hospital. WRONG! She called the on-call doctor and he suggested that I go home to labor where I'd be comfortable. In the meantime, I had to be tested for pre-eclampsia since I had a few readings of high blood pressure. So, even though I knew I was going home I had to tortuously wait for the blood test results to come back (another 45 minutes). Luckily, they had come back negative. Before I was officially on my way home the triage doctor made one last check (no progression - still at 5 cm), offered me a shot of morphine for the pain, and told me she'd probably see me back in a few hours.

Saturday, March 19 (early in the morning) - Frustrated, we got back home. I got as comfortable as I could in my own bed. I told Josh that we weren't going to waste our time going back unless: my water broke, I was vomiting, had bleeding or the baby was crowning. So I oohhed and ahhhed through every contraction. Then at about 5:30 everything came to a screeching halt! No contractions, not much pain, NOTHING! How can active labor just stop like that? Anyhow, since everything did just stop I was able to get some hard rest from 5:30-8:00. Kyler had a sleepover at Mema's house so we didn't have our usual 6:00 alarm clock wanting to "snuggle" with us. I was starving, so Josh and I treated ourselves to the Egg and I for a nice breakfast after a crazy night.

Sunday, March 20 - Nothing more than a few minor contractions during the day, and contractions throughout the nighttime but nothing really serious (every 5-10 minutes).

Monday, March 21 - Again, the contractions have subsided when I woke up this morning. I am tired of this unpredictability! So I sent Josh off to work and Kyler off to Debbie's. I am planning on hanging out with my mother for a few long walks and maybe a little shopping to see what happens! Hopefully the next post you will read will include baby pictures...but who really knows?