May 20, 2009

I am recounting this day last year before it completely leaves my memory (as I was a little too busy to blog)...

I worked until 1:00 p.m. as I was still working 5 hour days. I came home, laid down, & remember calling Patrick at 1:30 telling him I just "didn't feel right." I was having a little back pain & just a weird sensation. I was sure I would feel better after a nap. By the late afternoon I was better, ate dinner, & settled in for a night of TV, little did I know it was my last night at home. During the 10:00 news I started to feel twinges which I now know were contractions. I located the handout the doctor had just given me a few days prior regarding the symptoms of pre-term labor. I realized I had almost every symptom. We starting timing these weird twinges. They were about 10 minutes apart, then 9, then 8 & in a distinct pattern. I didn't want to go to the hospital as I didn't want to be one of those over-reacting 1st time moms who always thinks she is in labor. After a few minutes of back & forth debate, a little voice just told me, something is wrong. I just remember sitting on the side of the bed saying, "Patrick we need to go now..." David Letterman was on & we bolted out of the house, no suitcase, no purse. I remembered in our labor/delivery class that if you went into labor after 10:00 p.m., you had to enter through the ER as the women's entrance was closed. I remember being adament that I was NOT using the ER entrance as there was no telling how long I would be in the waiting room & what I would be exposed to. So we were sneaky. Patrick dropped me off in the circle drive, I waited for him to park. We entered the front door of the main hospital & walked through the hospital to the women's wing. We buzzed the doorbell where the triage is located & I told the nurse who answered I was high-risk pregnancy & thought I was in labor. I was in! When they know you are high-risk, things move quickly. By this time it is close to midnight. I am hooked up to fetal monitors, 2 of course, an IV, & the doctor paged. The on-call OB/GYN was there within minutes & checked me. I was dilated to 1 cm. As long as I did not continue to dilate even though I was having regular contractions, it was not considered pre-term labor. She would start IV drugs to stop the contractions & come back & check me in a few hours. I remember the drugs making me very foggy, drifting in & out but still knowing this was going to turn out fine. I had had a perfect pregnancy until now. Patrick tried to sleep in the chair next to my bed. We decided to wait until morning before we called anyone to worry them. If no dilation, I could go home with 24 hour bedrest. By 3 a.m. or so, the doctor was back. No more dilation, still a 1 cm. Things looked positive. Stay a few more hours & home I was to go. By 7:00 a.m., Patrick called in to both his work & mine saying we wouldn't be in. The new doctor was on call by 7:00 a.m. & took over my case (she has twins as well). Bad news, dilated to a 2 cm.... Labor had not been stopped & she said, "You are here to stay. Delivery is imminent." Then all of this info was just thrown at us... bottom line it was May 21st by now...my due date was July 14th. WOW! I remember being whisked away to a birthing suite down the hall. We decided it was time to make the phone calls. More tomorrow on what happened May 21st...