Headed to the Hospital

After reading through my blog, I realized that I left off with "Cozy as can be" explaining that I was past my due date and if Ethan didn't make his arrival over the weekend, Dr. Brown was going to perform a couple of tests on the following Monday to see what the next step should be towards Ethan's arrival. So, this is where I'll pick up with our life story.

No sign of Ethan over the weekend (July 26-27). Monday, July 28th, Sajid and I went to Dr. Brown's office. Kim, his nurse, hooked me up to the stress monitor. We had to stay there until Ethan moved 3 times. It was slow in the beginning. My baby was sleeping. So, they gave me (and Sajid) a soda to try to wake him up and get him moving. After a few hours, we accomplished the goal of 3 movements. It was at that time Dr. Brown strongly suggested that we induce labor. He said that I have a very healthy baby at this point and waiting for Ethan to "make the first move" could result in a more risky pregnancy/delivery. As much as I didn't want to induce labor (b/c of the horror stories of extremely loooong labor), I didn't want to create a more risky situation. Therefore, Dr. Brown called the hospital, and sure enough they asked that I "check in" - like it's a vacation getaway - between 5 and 8pm that night (Monday, July 28th).

Even though it was exciting to think about Ethan finally joining the outside world, it was kind of weird "planning" our trip to the hospital. Then agian, it was kind of nice. I was able to go home and get some much needed things accomplished around the house. I was able to miticuloulsy pack my bag, and make the necessary phone calls to our family and friends. Sajid was able to get in one last nap.

Our goal was to check in on the OB floor about 5:30pm. When we stepped off the elevator, it seemed like they were not expecting us. It was extremely quiet and stuffy. To our dismay, the maintenance man was changing air filters. Therefore, the air was cut off. So, the nurses basically told us to come back later. We filled out a few forms; left our bags in one of the rooms; then, went to eat :) We had a nice dinner at Sylvia's. I think we may have gone back home for a short while before heading back to ORMC. Our second check-in time was 8:30pm. In no time I was in the very fashionable hospital gown in the oh-so comfortable hospital bed with the monitor hooked around my big ole belly.

Of course, the nurse was a good bit later starting the Cytatec (spelling?) than originally planned. I think I was supposed to get it about 9pm. And, I think it was closer to 10:30pm. To my understanding, the Cytatec is used to thin the cervix and potentially start the labor process (contractions). Well, I guess it worked. I think (and I keeping saying "I think" b/c (1) it's been 4 months and (2) I now suffer from mommy brain) that the contractions started about 12:30 am. All I remember is squenching (if that's a word) my eyes closed and squeezing the crap out of Sajid's hand to try to endure the EXTREME pain for about 45 seconds to a minute every 2 minutes until about 4:30 AM. Then, once the contraction was over, my bladder automatically emptied. I could not control it. It just happened. This may be TMI for most people, but poor Sajid not only had a very sore hand, he also had to empty the bed pan after every contraction and replace it before the next one started. Once upon a time, I handled pain very well. Not these days. My famous quote while having the contractions was, "We're not having anymore!!!!" And, believe me, I meant every single word of it. There is no way I could go through that again. Yes, the nurse gave something for pain, but as she was handing it to me, she explained that it would not completely take the pain away, but it would reduce it a little. I would hate to know what it would have felt like with out any sort of pain reliever.