The Kid- Week 41 and the beginning of Labor

So this week was VERRRRRRRY uncomfortable. I was past my adjusted due date and coming up to my original due date.

I had to work the whole week although I admit I probably didn't do as much as I should have because I was so uncomfortable. I was also more than a little frustrated with the inane questions that people at work were asking. "Are you ready for the baby to come?", "I bet you are uncomfortable, huh?", "so how much weight have you gained?", "are you tired?". Every time someone asked me these questions I just wanted to turn around and say "what the hell do you think?, DUH!!!". But I was nice, and I didn't snap. I thought that was good.

I didn't sleep very well the whole week, but I especially didn't sleep well on Wednesday night. I had to be up at 3 am on Thursday morning because I had to leave work early for my antepartum testing and my midwife appointment. Thursday was my original due date. I had still been having contractions, but didn't think that they were getting any stronger. At the antepartum testing, the tech said that everything looked okay, but I was getting a little low on amniotic fluid. She said that since I was past my due date, I would need to schedule another appointment for Monday because they would want to see me soon. The hubby and I grabbed a snack in the hospital cafeteria then went across the street to see my midwife. She examined me and said that I was still dilated to a three and that I was about 90% effaced. She said that she was not on call until the next day, but that I would probably have my baby that weekend. I just laughed. I was feeling the contractions a lot harder after the exam and I was bleeding. My midwife had warned me about that so I wasn't to worried. We went to dinner and came home...

...Then the contractions hit. My midwife had told me that I would KNOW when labor contractions finally came and she was totally right. Right around 6 PM I had the really strong contractions hit. These made all the other contractions feel like tickles... They hurt. A LOT. I tried to relax because I knew it would be a long night, but I couldn't really sleep. I took a shower, I laid in bed, I sat on my exercise ball, and I sat on the toilet. nothing was really comfortable. The hubby was a total champ. He rubbed my back, and held my hand, and watched tv with me. He did nap a little, but I did not.

At 3 am I decided to call the midwife. We had been timing contractions and they were about four minutes apart for about two hours. The midwife on call told me that I could come in to the hospital and she would check me or I could stay home until my midwife came in at 8 am. We waited a bit, but went to the hospital at about 330 am.

The nurse on the maternity floor checked me in and got me into a gown. I gave the nurse my birth plan and she was totally down with it. She checked me and I was still at a 3. She told me I could walk the halls and see if I could dilate. If I did, they would keep me. If not, they would send me home. We called our roommate who was just getting off of work to see if he would watch the dogs and pets. He came to the hospital and hung out with us for a while. I wrote my boss an email to let her know I would not be in on Friday because I was in labor. I was checked again and I had progressed to a 3.5. I was really tired by this point because I hadn't slept since Wednesday night. So the nurse called the midwife on call (still not my midwife), who offered me some Ambien... and that's when the fun really began...

Next up: the Labor