Our trip to Labor and Delivery

The contractions started around the time the world series started.  They weren't really like the other ones, they were obviously not just braxton hicks.  They radiated through my back, hips, and through my thighs.  I started timing them a little after 5:30.  After an hour of seeing them at 4 1/2 minutes apart, I told Dusty that if they didn't change, we would be headed to the hospital after the game.

During the game, I decided to take a hot shower.  During this time I missed Renteria's home runs, but at the time I didn't care because it dulled the pain and felt so good.  I figured I might as well shave my legs, just in case.

At about 8:15, I told Dusty I wanted to go in.  The pain was bad, they were getting closer and I was worried about being too far from the hospital (only 30 min) and risking anything since I want a vbac.  He packed his bag of some extra clothes and toiletries and DVDs, Kaitlyn grabbed some jammies and we were off.  We dropped Kaitlyn off with Dusty's parents until we knew if we were being admitted or not.

We got to the hospital, got signed in (yay for pre-admission) and since all the rooms were filled or dirty, we went to the triage room.  I got changed into the lovely gown and they strapped on the straps.  Baby was looking good, heart rate was great and the contraction monitor was picking up the contractions.  They were every 3 to 3 1/2 minutes apart, lasting 50 - 60 seconds and off the chart.  The nurse decided to check my cervix and see what it was doing.  I was dilated to 1.5 cm.  I have never dilated before being in labor.  Even the morning of the day Kaitlyn was born, there was no dilation, less than 12 hours before Matthew was born, there was no dilation.  I thought this was it.

We stayed on the monitors for 2 hours, contractions stayed in a steady pattern and then the on call doctor came in.  She wanted to check my cervix.  Since I wanted a "trial of labor" they wanted to monitor me really close.  She said I was 1.5 cm, STILL, and my cervix was really high up, she almost couldn't reach it.  My assignment was to walk and see what happened.

We walked.  And walked.  And walked.  We walked the hallways, we took the stairs to the roof and back, we took the stairs to the basement and back.  We walked until I was exhausted and super thirsty (wasn't allowed water because of previous cesarean) and couldn't walk anymore.  I got back on the gurney, strapped to the monitors and contractions remained consistent.  At 12:30, she checked me again.  She felt as though my cervix actually got a little harder to reach, but was still at 1.5 cm.  She asked if I wanted to give it a couple more hours or go home.  I voted to go home.  She went to talk to the doctor and I got voted down.

The problem with having a VBAC is they treat your labor as high risk.  My contractions were still consistent.  They were painful.  They just weren't doing their job.  The nurse and the doctor didn't feel comfortable sending me home.  They decided that if I wanted to go home, I needed to take vistrail to see if it would calm the contractions, slow them down and let my uterus rest to prevent rupture.  They would monitor me and see if they could feel comfortable in a few more hours sending me home.  Or, I could stay, without the meds and see what my body did.

I opted for the medicine.  My thought process was, if the contractions aren't doing anything, I don't want to spend hours upon hours longer in pain just to have a cesarean due to lack of progress.  We could go home, wait for it to start again and try then. 

At 3:45 AM, the nurse returned.  I had fallen asleep a bit prior and knew the contractions were slowing and were now closer to 10 minutes apart.  Which, for the purpose of going home, was a good thing.  She checked me again, we were both hopeful that maybe, just maybe there was a change.  There wasn't.  She said she could feel her head bouncing off of her finger, but my cervix had not dilated any further.

We picked up Kaitlyn and went home.  I was so groggy I couldn't keep my eyes open.

It's starting to look more and more like we're going to end up with a cesarean this time around.  I am still having contractions, but not nearly anything like last night, but she hasn't moved down any further so I'm not too hopeful.  All that matters is she's here and she's healthy.