False Labor

Today I am officially 2 days "overdue". To say it's discouraging is an understatement. I've now had two bouts of false labor, one of which sent me to the hospital only to get sent home again.

On Saturday, I started having semi-regular contractions. Rob and I immediately set about finishing last minute details, expecting to leave for the hospital later that night. However, after 4 hours of these contractions, they suddenly stopped. Baby wasn't coming that day.

On my due date, Wednesday, I had my membranes stripped at 9am at the midwives' office. It was quite uncomfortable and a little painful but did not last long. I was instructed to walk and use my breast pump later to get contractions goings. Rob took me home (he came with me to this appointment) and then left for work. I went on a brisk 1 hour walk and then later used the breast pump for about 10 minutes. I then went on another walk. Contractions started around 11am, light at first, but then gradually became more intense. It got to the point where I had to breathe through them. I went to the bathroom several times to pee, and noticed some spotting and that part of my mucus plug had begun to come out (sorry if TMI!). I began to get worried, especially since my contractions were coming every 3-5 minutes. I called Rob at 4pm and told him to come home. We then left for the hospital, thinking this was surely it.

Once we got to the hospital, I was hooked up to fetal monitors so they could track the heartbeat and my contractions. By this point, most of my contractions were occurring in my lower back, so the machine could not pick them up. I was checked and told I had made no progress from earlier that morning (at my appointment I was 4cm and 90% effaced). The nurse who checked me was not gentle, and honestly, it was one of the most painful experiences I have ever had in my life. I lost quite a bit of mucus plug after that. We were told to try and walk around for an hour to see if that helped move things along.

After walking for an hour or so, I had to lay back down because the back pain was becoming unbearable. I had Rob massage it a little and that seemed to help. However, my contractions started to fizzle out around this point. I was hooked up to the monitors again and noticed they were not coming as frequently (slowed to 6-8 minutes apart). A new nurse came in (whom I liked MUCH better) and gently checked me again. I was still 4cm and 90%. At that point, we were sent home. By the time we got home, my contractions had completely stopped again.

Since then, I have still been having a lot of contractions, but they are extremely irregular and mild in intensity. I've been trying to keep active and not worry about the fact this baby is still not here. The days seem to go by agonizingly slow. I can't believe I am 4cm dilated and not in active labor!!

It's extremely difficult to be in this much pain and not have much happening. The contractions are distracting and lower back pain often persists throughout the day. Whenever I sit down, it feels like needles are shooting up my cervix. The cramping is uncomfortable too.

I'm trying to keep busy, but there doesn't seem to be much to do. Yesterday I cleaned every corner of the apartment and actually contemplated scrubbing the walls just to keep busy! Normally, I spend my days writing while Rob is at work, but since Wednesday I have not been able to focus on it. The cats seem to be as antsy as I am.

I'm hoping my next post on this blog will be my birth story, but I am not sure. I technically could still be pregnant for 2 more weeks and have the baby well into July. I'll admit I feel like I am on a timeline since Rob's family is coming to stay 4th of July weekend and there might not be a baby yet.

My friend in Cincinnati who was pregnant a week ahead of me has already had her baby, which makes things even harder. Her labor was extremely fast (less than 4 hours!) and she actually delivered it at home by herself as the midwives were making their way over. She had their baby boy 2 days before her due date as well. This is the same woman who had NO morning sickness whatsoever. Sometimes, it just doesn't seem fair how the cards are dealt. But I guess that's life!

Please pray baby Campbell will come soon (as in, the next day or two)!

Appointment Update

I just got back from my appointment! Interesting news. I've made progress and am now 2cm dilated and 80% effaced. So that's good. It just means baby could come any day now. However, I also learned that my baby is trying to get into a posterior position (AKA as 'face up' or 'sunny side up'). This is not very favorable at all, so I am currently trying different exercises to get baby to turn.

Next week, on my due date, if the baby has not arrived, I will be getting my membranes stripped to try and induce labor. Hopefully if I have that done things will get moving! And pray that baby Campbell cooperates and turns back around!

39 Weeks

Well, I've just about made it. Today I am 39 weeks pregnant and believe me, I look and feel every bit of it. I was checked last week at my prenatal appointment and was happy to discover that I'm a loose 1cm dilated and 75% effaced. I hope this means baby is getting ready to come! I think I would drive myself crazy if he or she is late. I'm still one week away from my due date and already am feeling a bit nuts!

I'm just extremely anxious to meet our son or daughter. I want the baby to have a name finally! Waiting to find out the gender hasn't been too bad, except it's hard to visualize what this tiny life might be like. We have settled on a name for a boy and a girl, but are not revealing it until the baby is here! That way, people will keep rude comments to themselves. It's surprising how opinionated some people feel they can be when you start talking about baby names!

Over the past couple weeks I have slowly been stocking up on diapers. There have been quite a few good sales recently at CVS, so the area under the crib is chock full of diaper packages! If I can keep getting such great deals on diapers, then I will probably just use disposables rather than cloth. But cloth will help fill in the gaps when the deals are sparse.

Yesterday, I went into severe nesting mode. I barely stopped all day and cleaned everything I could. I just felt the urge to really tie up loose ends. Hopefully this means something! (can you tell I'm over-analyzing every single detail?). I've also felt sharper pelvic pains, which the midwives told me is because the baby is very very low. Sleep is give or take. Some nights I can sleep just fine and others I lay there wide awake just staring at the wall for what seems like hours. Of course, everyone is quick to remind me that it will only get worse once the baby comes. Gee, thanks, people! However, I truly believe I'll be more comfortable once the baby is out and so even short bouts of sleep should be better quality.

I am still planning on breastfeeding this baby, but lately I've been having a lot of second thoughts about it. I'm not sure if it will work out or not, but I'm willing to at least give it a try, at least for a little while. We'll see how that goes! I want what is best for my baby, but I also need to do what is comfortable for me. A cranky and depressed mommy is never good.

On Friday (two days from now, yay!), I have another prenatal appointment and will be getting checked again. I will update on how that visit goes!