Contraction Action!

I may or may not have said this before, but this pregnancy has just been so different in some ways from the other two and that has left me confused at times. With Lorelei and Emma I started having some cramping a day or two before they were born. Contractions started at some point the day before and were in earnest by midnight. I think I went to the hospital with Lorelei at 3:30 in the morning and maybe 2:30 am with Emma. And then they were born around the noon hour that day.

Well this time is different. I started having contractions 10 days ago. I seriously thought that the baby was going to be born on Thursday. But no. Then things calmed down for a few days (thankfully because Andres' parents hadn't yet arrived to care for the girls!) Then the night before the grandparents arrived the contractions kicked up again. That was the start of what has been an entire week of having sleep depriving nights that convince me that the hospital trip is inevitable, followed by a day of sporadic contractions. Finally yesterday morning I called the doctor's office to see if they could see me or tell me something reassuring. They sent me to the hospital for evaluation. Of course I had NO contractions of note while hooked up to the machine, but I was relieved to hear that all was well with the baby and that I was dilated to 2 cm and 50% effaced. I was sent for an ultrasound. All seemed fine except for the fact that she was so low in my pelvis that the technician couldn't really get a measurement of her head. And then I went home. Well, actually then I tool Lorelei to an appointment. Oh, how I was suffering with contractions and back pain. By the time we made it home I didn't think I could walk up the stairs to the apartment. Being stubborn came in handy and I made it. Straight to lie down in bed. I went against the medical community and took 800 mg of ibuprofen (it just felt so much like the worst menstrual cramps ever!) and things calmed down. I felt so much better that I remember thinking that I actually felt "drugged". I slept a few hours last night before the incredible back pain and contractions kicked in again. But nothing regular or particularly close together.

This morning I wasn't sure that I would make it to my 10:45 appointment, but I did. I am now 3 cm and 80% effaced. The baby is coming for sure. My doctor assured me that this labor would be much faster than the other two. It couldn't be I rebutted. I have already been in labor for a week!

Tomorrow is Lorelei's preschool graduation and end of school show. Emma has a special starring role and I would really hate to miss the whole thing, so right now I'm hoping that for having already been a prolonged process, she will wait until at least tomorrow afternoon once the show is over. Keep your fingers crossed. I'll keep my feet elevated and my legs crossed.