37 Week Appointment

Since our "alarm" on Saturday at the hospital, life has been a little crazy here at home. I have continued to have contractions but they are still inconsistent. Each contraction lasts at least one minute, but the frequency is random. Sometimes they are 2 minutes apart, 5 minutes apart, and then I'll go 15 minutes without having one at all. The intensity of each contraction has increased as well and not only am I feeling them in my lower stomach but now it has moved to my low back and bum area as well. I have also had swelling in my hands/ankles for the past few weeks, but my gracious that has increased as well - it is now VERY painful and much more swollen. I am swollen in my ankles, tops of my feet, and fingers. I have been trying to take it easy here at home and sweet Brian has definitely helped me out a lot. I took a relaxing bubble bath, went for a walk in the neighborhood, drinking TONS of water, and have been trying to keep my feet elevated as much as possible. But, as you can imagine, sitting around with my feet propped up all day is quite boring. I have tried to occupy my time by chatting on the phone with friends, reading baby books, shopping online (woopsies!), watching tv, and napping. But I must be honest - if this (contractions, swelling, and boredom) continues for 3 more weeks, I might go crazy.

I had my 37 week appointment yesterday and met with Heather, the midwife at my OB/GYN appointment that is my least favorite. Heather "checked me" and told me that I was still 0cm dilated and not effaced at all (which confuses me because at the hospital on Saturday she told me that my cervix had softened a bit, so is it possible to go BACK?!?!). Heather did say that Baby Hake had indeed dropped and she could tell he was headed down, which was good. Brian and I talked with Heather about our next steps. She informed us to continue doing what we were doing - relax, feet up, drink lots of water, monitor contractions, and wait. BOO. Heather said this routine could continue for days or weeks and I may actually "last" until my due date. Another BOO. She said we would look at inducing later on. BOO.

One piece of good news from our appointment was that my Group B Strep test came back and everything looks good! :)

Brian and I went to the front desk after meeting with Heather and changed our 38 week appointment to another midwife. I don't want to meet with Heather again. I will be going in for an ultrasound (to determine position and size of Baby Hake) next Monday and then going in for my 38 week appointment with Christine (another midwife, who my pregnant friend Allie really likes!) the very next day. I just want to get different opinions and advice. Our 39 week appointment is with Dixie, our ultimate favorite midwife.

Driving home from our appointment yesterday was quite sad. In fact, these past few days have been quite sad. Brian and I are feeling like we keep getting our bubble burst. On Saturday we were excited as we drove to the hospital, thinking "this could be it". We were excited to watch the contractions on the monitor lasting one minute with five minutes in between. But then Heather came in and told us I was 0cm. Yesterday driving to our 37 week appointment, we were excited thinking that since my contractions had continued and increased in intensity here at home that maybe I had dilated a little bit. But then Heather came in and told us I was 0cm still.

I'm trying to stay positive and I realize I am only 20 days away from my due date. And I realize that 20 days sounds like it will fly by, but again when you are propped up on pillows and sitting around bored all day, I am thinking it may creep by. Brian and I have discussed that we are trying to understand God's timing of it all and maybe Baby Hake needs some more time to grow and develop, but patience is not my best trait as most of you know.

Looking back, I have had a WONDERFUL pregnancy! First and second trimester was so great - I felt great, thought I looked pretty cute in maternity clothes, only got sick one time, was on cloud 9 to be pregnant with sweet Brian, and had a lot of fun shopping for baby items. Third trimester has been a bit different. I am trying not to complain TOO much and I feel like, for my personality, I have done a great job of being positive throughout my pregnancy. So just bear with me these next 1-3 weeks as I vent. I am just SO ready to meet Baby Hake. I want to hold him in my arms and not in my belly anymore...

False Alarm

March 19, 2011 was quite a day. I woke up feeling great. Brian and I made eggs and bacon for breakfast. Brian had to go into work (boo for Saturday work!) and I went to get a haircut. Brian and I met back at home around lunchtime and decided we would go out to lunch and see an early movie. We dropped Penny off at my parents' house and headed toward the mall area. As we were driving, I started to get weird cramps in my low stomach. I ignored them, thinking they were just random and would go away soon. They, of course, did not go away. Within a matter of 20 minutes, the intensity and frequency of these cramps had increased. Brian and I pulled the car over and did a little research to figure out what these cramps were. We discovered that they might be CONTRACTIONS!!

Of course, we panicked. How could I be having contractions when I'm only 36w4d (36 weeks and 4 days) pregnant? I was showing no other symptoms of labor (my water hadn't broken, etc) so we were confused. As the intensity and frequency picked up, we decided to call my OB/GYN just to check in and get their opinion. I spoke with Heather, a midwife, and she said I needed to start timing the contractions and then call her back in an hour. So, starting at 1:15pm, I began timing my contractions.

Of course, we changed our movie/lunch plans, and drove back home so I could be comfortable. We called Heather back around 2:45pm with the "results." On average, I was having a contraction every 5.5 minutes and they were lasting 45 seconds. Heather said we needed to meet her at the hospital. Brian and I calmly grabbed our hospital bags (which you know I have had packed for weeks now!) and drove to the hospital. I had contractions the whole way to the hospital. These contractions were now getting a bit more intense.

Northside Hospital admitted me and gave us a delivery room. I changed into the beautiful hospital gown and was greeted by a Labor/Delivery Nurse. Brian and I filled out a HUGE stack of paperwork, my blood pressure was checked and I was hooked up to two monitors. One monitor would keep track of Baby Hake's heart beat and the other monitor would keep track of my contractions. The monitor was able to pick up contractions in between my contractions. In other words, I was only feeling the super intense ones, whereas I was apparently having small ones in between those as well!

Heather came in and checked me. She said I was effaced a little bit, but not dilated at all. Bummer. She explained all the options and asked a lot of questions. She decided to give me an IV of fluids and monitor me for 2 hours and then reassess the situation. Heather returned to our room after 2 hours had passed and the IV bag had been drained into my system to find that I was still having contractions. She checked me again, but I still wasn't dilated :(

We all discussed the possibilities and Brian/I asked 29340 questions. Heather informed us that labor was near, she just wasn't sure HOW near. I could end up back at the hospital in one day, one week, or three weeks. It's too difficult to predict timing. The Labor/Delivery Nurse came back in the room and gave me a numbing shot of Nubain/Phenegren to help ease the contraction pains and help me to sleep that night.

Brian and I left the hospital around 6:30pm and drove home. We were quite sad that we had gotten that far, only to be sent back home. We talked the whole way home, inbetween me falling asleep from the medicine, about everything that had happened. I was glad to know that I was having true contractions and wasn't making anything up in my head. I was glad to know that I was timing my contractions correctly. We were both happy to know that labor was in the near future, whether it be days or weeks. But we were sad that we would have to return home and now wait it out.

I slept like a ROCK last night and only woke up to rotate to the other side. I didn't have any contractions (or if I did, I was too passed out to feel them) in the night. I got 11 hours of sleep and it was glorious. I woke up this morning very achy and groggy.

I am going to follow "doctor's orders" and take it easy. Thank goodness I am done with work! Heather said I need to rest, drink TONS of water, taking warm baths/showers, go for walks, and continue to monitor my contractions. So, needless to say, you may be hearing the "Good News" any day now or it could be 3 weeks from now. I have my 37 week appointment on Tuesday and will get rechecked (by Heather actually!) and will keep everyone posted.