Monday, November 21, 2011

At the Hospital

Last Tuesday (November 15th) I woke up from a nap feeling off.  Contractions started coming pretty regularly, so I called Leanne to ask what contractions felt like.  I know that sounds crazy, seeing as I've had a child before, but Kenly's delivery was all backwards.  I started timing the contractions and when they started coming every 20 minutes apart, I called Nana and Papa to ask them to come in case the time had come.  They hopped in the car and drove through the dark and rain so that Kenly would be well taken care of if I was indeed in labor.  Mama and Daddy got here at a little after midnight and we all settle in for a fitful night.  My contractions continued until about 4 am when the slowed and then stopped completely.  I woke up very disappointed.

I had an appointment with Dr. Simmons at 10:00 on Wednesday.  Mama drove me to the appointment.  I think everyone was afraid my water would break halfway there.  When Dr. Simmons did the exam, she said I was almost 3 cm dilated and 70% effaced.  She said the baby had dropped a station and was at -1.  I was excited the baby dropped a bit, but I was really bummed that I had not dilated  more considering I was so uncomfortable all night long.  We discussed sweeping my membranes but decided to trust the baby's timing. 

Life went back to normal.  Nana cleaned my house like crazy and I was beyond thankful.  She made sure the baby's bed was ready for use.  We went to Kenly's Hip Hop open house at Releve and had a few fun outings.  On Friday afternoon I started feeling off again.  I had a lot of low pressure pain and back discomfort, but I just thought it was all labor related.  I was hoping thing would pick up because Dr. Simmons was on call.  By Friday evening I was very uncomfortable.  In fact, I hurt throughout the night and woke up exhausted and miserable. 

The pain in my back and abdomen kept me from walking upright by mid afternoon on Saturday. I took a nap and woke up feeling like my water had broken.  I called the hospital, and Dr. Hawes said that I should still be leaking if my water had truly broken.  I was also having some irregular contractions again.  As the evening wore on, the contractions got stronger and I started feeling feverish.  When I took my temp, it was only 98.7.  We went to dinner at Cocula, and by the time we got home I called Dr. Hawes again to tell him I was convinced I was in labor.  Adam and I packed and went to the hospital.

When we arrived we were sent straight to Labor and Delivery.  A sweet nurse names Lynn started checking us in and taking care of us.  She performed a speculum exam and then did a cervical check, and her findings took the wind out of my sails.  She said I was barely 2cm dilated and that my contractions were irregular and weak.  My water had not broken, and I was not in labor.  I started crying immediately. I was thinking if this isn't labor, I'm a complete wuss and I will never be able to have a natural childbirth.  Lynn asked me to catch a urine sample which I did with great difficulty. When she tested the urine, she said that she thought I had a bladder infection.  We waited on Dr. Hawes for what seemed like an eternity because he was delivering a baby.  When he finally came in, he asked me to describe my symptoms.  He said my urine sample was dirty--white blood cells, blood, a bit of protein.  He also said he wasn't convinced that I had an infection.  He wanted me to be cathed in order to get a cleaner sample.  Once the clean sample came back, it was determined that I had a bladder infection.  I was given a prescription for Ambien and for an antibiotic.  Then I was discharged.  We stopped by a 24 hour Walgreens to get the good stuff.  I had a snack when I got home and then a minor meltdown.  Mom listened to me cry while Adam got some sleep.  I got super "drunk" from the Ambien so Mama helped me to bed. 

On Sunday I slept and ate.  I did very little other than try to recover.  I wanted Kenly to have a normal bedtime routine, but I kinda blew that.  I took the Ambien early so it would be out of my system by morning.  It gave me the spins and I threw up my dinner.  So much for Kenly thinking everything was normal. 

Now we are at the hospital hooked up to an IV that is feeding me steady drops of Oxytocin.   Our nurse's name is Rachel.  The cool thing is she has a background in midwifery and home birthing.  I think she is going to be a big help.  Now we wait.  I'm having contractions regularly now, so that makes me very happy.  Dr.Simmons is on call today, so we are waiting to hear from her.  It won't be long until we meet Issac or Corah. 


2 comments:

Unknown said...

Rhonda,
Praying for you! I've been checking often to see if the baby has been born. Sorry the last few days have been rough! Can't wait to hear the news.

Lindsey said...

I'm checking over and over for an update! Hope things went smoothly for you all, can't wait to hear the news!