I'm once again starting to lose track of my days...had to make sure that today is Tuesday (right?). Well, the major news is that I managed to keep myself out of the hospital for ONE WHOLE DAY.
Anyway, Monday (yesterday), I had a "regular" doctor's appointment, and there really wasn't a whole lot to report (no one wants to check my cervix for fear of breaking my water, irritating things more or whatever). Baby's heart rate is good, my blood pressure and urine are good...and that's all fine and well and superficial. In the mid afternoon, I hadn't heard from anyone to set up appointments for fetal monitoring, so I called to see if that was being worked on. Not long after, I had an appointment set up for today (Tuesday) at the outpatient center attached to the hospital. They set up an NST and an amniotic fluid index just for monitoring purposes. So I was feeling good about that.
The evening, however, did not go as expected. We went to get the kids at daycare at their usual time, and they do their thing where they run to the Village and play on the slide and in the ball pit. We got them in the car pretty easily and went home, just like it typically plays out. Sat down on the couch and Mike asked if I wanted anything to eat. I actually had a left over burrito thing from lunch (I got full way too quickly), but I was still just fine from Taco Bell. I was actually feeling kind of weird...in a way I can't really describe, other than just a bit off. My stomach a little, my legs felt a little heavy, and I was a bit sore. Before I knew it (and really without a lot of warning...at least from what I was aware of), I launched into contractions. Sitting with my legs propped up, I idly started to time them. It was ridiculous how fast they were coming...not a gradual build up or anything!
The kids went into the bath, I threw back a whole bunch of water and eventually moved to the bedroom. Still contracting, and everything felt heavy. I made the call right there to go to the hospital. I didn't want to regret it later, and I didn't want to have to pull the kids out of bed either.
We got to OB triage about 8:45, got checked in pretty quickly (more quickly than some of the other times...there's some pretty chatty people doing that job) and into triage. Mike and the kids stayed in the waiting area. I waited and waited to get hooked up to the monitors, and I was continuing to time contractions for myself. As soon as the monitors came on, it repeated pretty much exactly what I'd been timing. I told the nurse about how I'd just been released, how far I was dilated and so on. And of course, when she checked for herself it was about the same as I reported. She was shocked that they let me go home with a bulging bag of water and with all of the contractions, that was a pretty quick decision to admit. I got started with the IV antibiotics immediately in triage, and then we were off to labor and delivery again (at which point, Mike and the boys tagged along for a bit).
The nurse kept saying that the doctor was coming to discuss stuff, but that never happened. It got to the point where he was pretty much MIA, and I'd given up on finding out anything, so all I could do was wait. Mike and the kids went out to the car to sleep, on the off chance that it could be go-time...which it never turned out to be.
All night long I contracted again...3-4 every 10 minutes, then 2 every 10, then maybe back to 3. But still no water breaking, so no baby :(
I've contracted on and off today, and they continue to shove penicillin into me (periodically). I did get to go for a walk, people from work came by, and Mike was here in the afternoon as well. And because antepartum is full (or so they've told me), here I sit like a lump in L&D. I'm so tired, my head is spinning, and everything new that happens I keep hoping that it's a sign that the baby could be on the way. This is so much worse than being near my due date and trying to get a kid out.
So I've been told that the plan is to keep me here...again...until my water breaks or I go into labor. I'm so skeptical of this, since that's what they said before. I don't know if I'm nervous about being at home so much anymore, especially if I can have monitoring every few days. I, of course, don't want my water to break at home and worry about a mad dash to the hospital (or worse, deliver in the car...I've had several people say that they worry about that scenario in particular).
I'm so tired, and part of me does worry that my body is going to fail to go into labor at all, even when it's time, just because it's been worked too much. There's a worry that the baby could become too stressed. All sorts of these things are starting to make me ponder where the best place is for everyone to be, and the best case for when I actually go to deliver.
So here ends my post for today...entering another state of confusion and unknown for what is going to happen in the coming hours.
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