Sunday, February 27th, 2006: I sensed a small leakage that I carefully evaluated and decided it was NOT amniotic fluid... "no, my water did not break. I will continue as usual and see what happens next." Nothing. Good. My younger brother, David, would be getting married the following weekend in Eastern Washington and I was not about to miss the wedding.
Monday, February 28th, 2006: The exact same sensation and I begin to wonder. This is the same thing that happened with Katie only 18 months ago when I was sure it was NOT my water breaking - but thanks to my husband, I called the on-call doctor, she asked me to come to the hospital to be examined, and sure enough, it was my water! Again, this was the scenario 18 months ago... on the contrary, it was not the scenario last Monday night.
My husband, once again, urged me to be cautious and call the on-call doctor and describe the situation. She asked me to come into the hospital to be examined. So we hopped in the car once our friend Jesseca arrived to watch Katie and tried to prepare ourselves for what may happen in the next 24 hours. I was admitted, dressed up in a drafty hospital gown and told to 'get comfortable' underneath airplane rate sheets and blankets. I did my best and sat back with Kyle to catch a few hours of cable television - eye candy. For example, American Chopper, Maternity Ward on TLC, some historical architecture & engineering show on Discovery Channel. We don't have cable at home and this was quickly becoming a luxurious hotel room once I became entrenched in the possibility of meeting my son, learning about Jesse James and his custom motorcycles, seeing beautiful birth stories and forgetting about the not so warm hospital room, thin bedding and sterile pillows.
It was not my water.
Monday, March 6th, 2006: We have arrived home safely from Eastern Washington with nothing but a few moments of intense pain. Nothing that a little bit of rest and relaxation wouldn't help. My brother Geoff and Jennifer drive home with Kyle, Katie and I on Sunday and decide to stay the night. Monday arrives and Kyle drives them to the airport on his way to work. Before he can get from the airport to work, I find myself crying on the kitchen floor while Katie wipes my tears with a tissue. She's a bit nervous as to why Mom is so upset yet does a wonderful job of playing role-reversal for a few moments before she sits on my lap and curls into my chest. The pain of either contractions, Braxton-Hicks, or simply strained ligaments is so intense that I cannot function. I was not capable at that moment of walking, let alone watching an 18 month old. I gathered myself together and called Kyle who then suggested that I call my friend, Jesseca, to come and get Katie so that I can rest. I do. She comes. Immediately. With her prompting, I call the doctor. I don't feel like I'm having contractions, but at the same time, I don't know if this pain is abnormal and Jesseca persuaded me that it is not something to gamble with. I agree and get on the phone.
They ask me to go to the hospital to be examined.
Kyle is on his way to the hospital from the South... Jesseca, Riley, Katie and I are on our way to the hospital from the North and the nurses are ready and waiting. This time, unlike last Monday, I'm taken to the newly remodeled end of the birthing center in assumption that my baby was coming and they'd have me there for a few days. When I was examined at 5:00PM, my contractions were 3-5 minutes apart, I was 50% effaced (thinning of the cervix) and not yet 1 centimeter dialated (you have to get to 10 centimeters before you have a baby). The on-call doctor gave me the 'ok' to go home or I could stay and get checked in a couple of hours to see if the contractions were effective contractions or simply Braxton-Hicks (false/practice/ineffective contractions). I wanted to go home. This was likely due to my inability to be patient and hear that the contractions were simply practice contractions and there was no telling when the baby would arrive between then and March 30th - my due date. Kyle was of a different perspective. He wanted to stay. I think he anticipated at the time that these were NOT just practice contractions and that the nurse would have positive results for us -- this baby was on his way!
At 7:00PM I was examined again. Woo-hoo! This time I was still having contractions 3-5 minutes apart and they were getting more painful as time passed, my cervix was now 80% effaced and I was at least 1 centimeter dialated! Thank goodness I stayed. It gave me hope! The doctor still gave me the go ahead to go home - yet this time it was followed with a dose of sleeping medicine to help me sleep easier through what would probably be 'active labor' come a few hours into the early morning and the prediction that I would be back in their care within the next 12-24 hours. We call the parents to tell them the news. My Mom, Dad and younger sister, Hannah, are packed and ready to go at the next call while Kyle's parents cut their road-trip short and drive immediately up from San Jose, California, only to arrive less than 24 hours later - ready and waiting.
That was 2 days ago and it has been a roller-coaster ride. Katie stayed Monday night at the Emerson's once Kyle and I realized that we'd probably be back at the hospital in the middle of the night. We were packed and ready to role at any moment...
Nothing. I woke up Tuesday morning to nothing more exciting than the realization that it was 7:45AM and there was no little girl calling 'Mama!' from the other room. I was frustrated and rather discouraged - but not without hope that if I cleaned the entire house this baby would be on his way out in no time. 10:00AM rolled around... Noon... it was then that I called Jesseca and said to bring Katie home. I was going to go crazy waiting for labor to set in and I wanted life back to normal. Katie came home and took a nap - as did I... she and I went back over to Jesseca's in the afternoon while Kyle took a nap... I went grocery shopping on the way home and rented a movie to watch... we put Katie to bed... and continued our normal nightly routine of hanging out and watching some television interspersed with good conversation.
Tuesday night, early AM: I sit up quickly when I realize the pillow I had between my knees was drenched - completely drenched. I throw it on the floor and feel the bed. It's drenched. I wake Kyle up and ask him to turn on the light, 'quickly'! He exclaims, 'did your water break?!' He stared at the drenched sheets and pillow then looked me up and down. I tore off the boxers I had on and they were nothing more than very sweaty. My shirt looked as though I'd been through the shower fully dressed - but nothing else pointed towards my water breaking. Kyle and I scowled, I changed my clothes and climbed back into bed - in the least, hoping for a good night's sleep if not 'active labor'!
Wednesday, March 8th, 2006: It's Kyle's day off and he spends it struggling with the emotional roller-coaster happening within his own home while coping with a horrible head cold. We decide early on that we will act like it is yet another NORMAL day. We will get on the ferry to Bainbridge Island, borrow a friend's trailer, and go pick up a crib that we purchased in Poulsbo. As we drive to the ferry dock in Edmonds, I admit to Kyle that I'm a little bit nervous considering the state of my contractions and the amount of pain they are causing me. He quickly admits that he was feeling the same way but didn't want me to think that he thought he 'knew my body better than I do', and thus, went along with going to pick up the crib praying that we would not regret it in the end while going into labor going the WRONG WAY on a ferry across the Puget Sound. I reprimand him for holding it in while at the same time I sympathize with him because he was right... humbling how that works. He knows me well. We decide to call off the plans to pick up the crib - Kyle flips a u-turn and we are on our way back home.
We decide to go to Best Buy and Starbucks in an attempt to keep my mind occupied and my body moving - we were wanting to urge these contractions on! It worked! They were painful and close together yet once I sat down or relaxed, they subsided as well.
Wednesday night, 8:15PM: We are at home, Katie's in bed and I've dealt on and off with intense pains from contractions. Sometimes my back hurts and my tailbone feels as though it might pop right off - but like I said, it's not consistent intense pain and I do not feel the need to call the doctor concerning anything that my body's doing. I will go out and sit with Kyle and watch TV and keep my fingers crossed that my body simply decides on it's very own that TONIGHT IS THE NIGHT!
If not, I see the doctor for my regular prenatal check-up tomorrow at 9:45AM. At least I'll know something more than my body's choosing to tell me.
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