No Progress... Go Home

About 10 o'clock last night I started having some pain with my contractions (which, by the way, I've been having for a week now). It wasn't horrible pain, and certainly not that of rumor... but enough that I felt like it was time to start checking things out. So Scott started timing for me.

The rule, as it was explained to us, was a ratio of 1:5:1 - It was time to head to the hospital when I was having contractions lasting at least a minute, when a new contraction started every 5 minutes, and when this had been going on for an hour.

At about 10 we started timing, and by 10:45 they were a pretty steady 6 minutes apart and lasting over a minute each time... so we decided to start watching for them to stay that way until 11:45. As the hour passed, the continued to get stronger and closer together... and we began to feel like we may be headed to the hospital!

Once the hour was up, we called Labor and Delivery to ask their opinion on things. The nurse that answered the phone told us to wait one more hour... drink a half liter of water, lay down on my left side, and rest. Continue counting contractions and call back at 12:45. So we did... and after an hour the contractions were a pretty steady 3 minutes apart. When we called back with the news... we were told to come on in! Exciting~

So we grabbed our bags, threw on clothes, fed the cat (much to Scott's dismay), and headed to the hospital. We got all checked in and they came to pick us up and take us to Labor and Delivery. At this point I was strapped up to all sorts of monitors and found out that I was right... I was actually having contractions and that they were about 3 minutes apart! I was right (I was worried I was gonna screw this part up, but hey... the machine said the same thing!).

The good news is the baby's heartbeat sounded great and he seems to be doing well. The bad news is after I stayed there for about 30-45 minutes my contractions started to slow down. So they had me get up and walk... 30 minutes up and down a rather short hall which Scott and I now know well. They rechecked me and they had picked up a little, but not a ton. And after being there an hour and walking for 30 minutes I had not dilated any more.

No progress? You go home! So we grabbed our goods (including our parents and my sister who had driven in from Raleigh... oops) and headed to the car.

Now that sill 1:5:1 rule is out the window and I pretty much have to wait until I'm hurting pretty bad to go in. So now rather than having a hard fast rule (which I was already scared I'd screw up...) I have a vague subjective idea of when it might be time to go back. Great.

Anyway, life goes on. I go back to the doctor this afternoon and am hoping to know more... but let's face it... it seems this baby is going to take after his daddy. Stubborn, hard headed, eager to annoy me...

I'll check back this afternoon and I hope (cross those fingers and say some prayers) we have some news better than... no progress, go home.

Sarah