Monday was a very exciting, happy, boring, frustrating, then disappointing day. I woke up around 8 (yes...I can't get out of bed before then lately...don't judge) and while getting ready for work started having contractions. I started timing them on the clock in the bathroom and they seemed to be roughly 5 minutes apart. So I pulled out my iPhone and started to actually track the contractions.
Over the next few hours at work, they stayed consistent at around 6-7 minutes apart on average. Around lunch time they started to get a little closer together and a bit stronger. Not like in the movies where the woman is clutching her stomach and screaming. Just enough to take my breath away for a few seconds. But they were now consistently coming every 3-5 minutes. And that is what my doctor had told me to look for. I called her just to make sure that I should head to the hospital and she gave me the green light.
So I called Brant and told him to meet me at home. We were going to meet our little boy that night!! We were both so excited! We got our bags packed and everything ready to go. We turned in our taxes on the way to the hospital (yes...this tax accountant turned in her taxes on April 15). We drove to LDS Hospital and excitedly told the receptionist that we were there to have a baby. My contractions had been getting stronger on the ride to the hospital and we KNEW it was the real thing.
They put us in one of their large delivery rooms, I got changed into the little gown and we got ready for the good news that our baby was coming.
About 40 minutes goes by before a nurse comes in to hook me up to the monitors and check my progress (they were short staffed when we got there and someone was delivering a baby down the hall). I was a bit frustrated at this point because the contractions had seemed to lessen since being checked in to the hospital. They were still coming, just not as strong or as close together.
Then the nurse gave us the disappointing news that I was only dilated to a 1 cm. But they would monitor me for an hour to see if anything changed. We watched a movie on Netflix on my iPad during that hour and I TRIED to keep my mind (and eyes) off the monitor showing my contractions and my baby's heart beat.
After an hour (or more), the nurse came back in to check my progress. I was now at a 1+ (like there is that big of difference between a 1 & 2). But they wanted to keep us at least another hour because my baby's heart rate had gone down after one of my contractions and they needed to make sure that everything was okay with him.
So for this hour we watched Psych (and the monitor). After which we got the news that nothing had changed and that most likely I was just in "early labor" which could last a while. My contractions were still consistently at every 3-5 minutes, just not super strong yet. So most likely we'd be heading home to wait it out, but she needed to talk with my doctor first. 30 minutes later, we were sent home with the reassurance that we'd be back in later that night or early tomorrow morning.
Three days later...I'm at work. Having very few contractions. Still at a 1+ (we went to the doctor yesterday afternoon). And thinking this baby is never going to come. People keep telling me that my body is getting itself ready for the real thing and that any day now we'll be welcoming our little boy home. But I'm losing hope.
Tuesday was probably one of the hardest days I've had. The contractions had pretty much completely stopped and my hope of getting my baby that day were shattered. I couldn't face going to work, so I called up my mom & sisters and spent the day with them at my mom's house. It helped so much to be with them all day where we just talked, ate lunch, and baked peanut butter bars. Brant also made it clear that he was having a hard time dealing with it, because after an hour of work he called me to say that he was heading home but that I should stay up at my mom's and he'd see me that afternoon. I guess we both just needed a day to wrap our minds around the fact that our baby was playing tricks on us.
The past two days have been better though. I've come to terms with what happened and am dealing with the fact that I'm still pregnant. Don't get me wrong...I'm still anxiously awaiting my baby's arrival and hope that each day will bring on contractions and/or my water breaking. And I still hope and pray that I don't make it to my next doctor appointment or my actual due date (the 23rd). But at least I can function like a normal person (well...normal 9 month pregnant one).
So wish me luck! And keep your fingers crossed that this little boy of mine comes sooner than later.
Oh that is so tough--I'm sorry the early labor is taking a while. A midwife once told me that "babies are born on their birthdays, not when we decide." I thought that was a good point. I'm so excited to hear about the birth and see this little man. I hope you have a fabulous labor nurse--that can make all the difference in the world. Best wishes!!
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