Waiting....and a few false alarms

Well, my due date has come and gone without incident.

Monday (yesterday), I went to the doctor for my check up, and he said everything looked good. I was 2.5 cm dilated, 80% effaced. We talked about what the "options" are. I told him that as long as the baby and I looked healthy, I preferred to just wait for labor to naturally start. He agreed, but advised for us to not wait beyond 41 weeks (for a number of reasons, but I suspect mostly because I have gestational diabetes and have noticed a minor decrease in the baby's movements). So, the plan was that if she hadn't come by Monday, Labor Day, we would induce the following morning.

Well, yesterday, starting around 11:30 a.m., I started noticing a dramatic increase in the number of my contractions. They were about 6 minutes apart for about an hour. At about 12:00 noon, I lost my mucus plug. Then, at around 12:30, they started coming as close as 3 minutes apart... but they were still a bit irregular, with some intervals as long as 8 minutes. At about 1:30, they started to really sink into a fairly regular pattern of coming every 4 minutes. This continued till 6:30.

Weellll.... what to do???? The contractions met the "criteria" my doctor had given me for coming to the hospital (at least 5 minutes apart for an hour). I even read in my hard-core natural, anti-hospital childbirth book that you should go to the hospital if the contractions had been coming between 3 and 5 minutes apart with a duration of at least 45 seconds for a few hours (my contractions met these criteria, as well).

The only problem was, they still didn't FEEL that intense. They were definitely getting stronger, and made me walk funny, but I could still go about my business through them. However, I was starting to get anxious. What if this was it? I called the doctor.

The nurse listened to what I told her, and finally she said I should get my bags and come into the hospital! She said to me, "It sounds like you just have a very high pain tolerance and are taking the contractions well, so let's play it on the safe side."

Well, let me back up just a wee bit. Have I mentioned that I've been having contractions for the past 3 WEEKS??? I had heard of Braxton-Hicks, but I had no idea they would come so often for so long. I've had two incidents before this where I really thought it might be the beginning of labor, but then the contractions eventually fizzled out after a few hours. But, this definitely was different. They were closer together, longer-lasting, and more intense than before. But, still not what you imagine in your head when you think "labor".

So, Steve and I dropped the kids off with my sister-in-law and headed to the hospital. How exciting!! This could be the day. We get to the hospital, and after I'm stripped and on the bed, my doctor comes in to check me. As he does so, he gets that sort of contemplative, not-so-sure look on his face.

He said, "Well, nothing's really changed since yesterday. I don't think this is it."

OH GOD! Can you imagine my disappointment?? I had been having pretty good contractions nearly ALL DAY LONG, and the doctor says this isn't IT!?? I can't take this anymore. I practically broke down in tears right there.

He sensed my anxiety and quickly assured me, "But, it's a really good sign that you're body has been doing all this work... it means it's going to happen soon!"

Ugh.

That is encouraging. "Soon" has taken on a whole new meaning to me in the past couple weeks.

So, then he says, "Well, why don't we give it another hour or so and see what happens." The nurse suggests that I walk around some. Steve and I shuffle around the halls aimlessly.

The doctor comes back and has suggestion #1: We can go home and act as though this embarrassing debacle never occurred.

Then, he has suggestion #2: He could go ahead and start me on Pitocin right now to artificially get the contractions to be stronger and immediately send me into labor.

Then he has suggestion #3: We go home for the night, but come back on Wednesday afternoon for him to insert some Cervaidil onto my cervix. This is apparently a "mild" way of inducing or kick-starting labor. The Cervidil would be applied Wednesday afternoon, and by Thursday morning, I should either be in full-blown labor, or they can then administer some Pitocin to get things really going. He advises we choose this option.

Steve and I talk it over. At this point, I am so physically and emotionally drained from having 3 weeks of "what ifs?" floating around in my head, that option #2 sounds pretty darn good. Steve — remembering my strong desire to have a natural childbirth — encourages me to go with option #1.

We compromise and go with #3.

So, this afternoon, I'll be heading to the hospital for the insertion of the Cervadil. Hopefully that means that we'll have a baby sometime tomorrow!!!

I'm really happy and excited... and completely READY!

Stay tuned!

Namaste.