Friday, Sept 5th, 2008
Jon went into work and my Mom came over to take care of me. I rested all morning and headed out to my Ob/gyn’s for my blood pressure check at 1:00 pm. When they checked it, my blood pressure was back up again. Since I was officially full term and by waiting we were only waiting for something bad to happen, they decided to send me back to the hospital and induce.
I called Jon and let him know the plan. It was going to be several hours before they could really start to work on me. Inducing is low priority compared to people who are in for natural births and there were lots considering we were all stressed about Hurricane Ike apparently! Jon was going to finish work, pick up the hospital bags and Cord Blood kit at home, grab something for dinner etc before heading out to the hospital. Mom would stay with me and keep me company in the meantime.
I wasn’t too nervous considering I had been through part of the drill the night before (kind of like how I always pre-drive to a job interview to get the feel for things, but that's another story). After checking in and heading upstairs, they shoved me into the tiny bathroom to get ready. I had to get dressed in one of those lovely backless hospital gowns, put all my belonging into a plastic bag, open up this package of medical supplies, give my urine sample etc. When finished, I realized there was no lid for the urine sample. I’m holding the full cup, plus their bag of medical crap, my bag of clothes and trying to open the locked door all at the same time. Can you see where this is going? Yeah, I spilled half the sample down the front of my gown!
Luckily, by that time they had found me a delivery room which meant I needed to get changed into a different gown anyway. The nurse handed me the new one and I went to change again this time in my private bathroom. Well this gown came disassembled and it was all flaps and snaps. I kept holding it this way and that trying to figure out what would be a neck hole versus arm holes etc. I didn’t really have the patience to figure it out so I just opened the door and confessed my idiocy again. The nurse laughed and snapped me up in about two seconds. I tried not to be discouraged that in the first 5 minutes I had already managed to pee on myself and had a wardrobe malfunction.
They put me in bed, hooked me up to the monitors again, and then… nothing. Hours came and went, nurses came in to take my information, shifts changed, my Mom left, Jon came, we watched a movie, and Jon left again for another dinner/late night snack. (FYI: He does not recommend eating at a Chinese buffet after 9pm – not the freshest food left nor are they restocking.) I was only allowed some clear liquids so I feasted on broth and jello. That would be the last time I ate or drank until after the delivery. The rest of the time, it was ice chips only.
Around 10:00 pm, they hooked me up to an IV. Thankfully, I have great veins and the nurse got the IV in my hand on the first try! Then the waiting began again as the IV drug (whatever it was) needed to drip for 12 hours to help ripen my cervix before they could give me the actual Pitocin to induce labor. Jon slept on and off all night in the recliner. I rested, but was never able to sleep. I was having severe back pains and was just overall uncomfortable being hooked up to the IV, fetal heart rate belt, and blood pressure cuff. It made for a long night!
Stay tuned for Day 3 (labor!) tomorrow... :)
4 comments:
Can't wait for day three--that's when we end up with Rylee!
I make a point to tell all my moms to just leave the pee at the sink and I will deal with it. The gowns on the other hand require a masters degree. It is like some horrifying logic puzzle that test spacial awareness.
When you come in at night and we need to ripen the cervix, you become a sleeper. The goal is to get you all set up and tucked in by 11pm so that we can leave you alone to sleep as much as possible. Once we start the torture of pitocin, you will not get much sleep.
Unfortunately elevated blood pressure is one of those things that we have to take really seriously and that usually means blood pressure checks every 30 minutes. While you are sleeping, the nurse has to sit and watch that fetal strip to translate what your baby is saying. We chart every 30 minutes on baby's heart rate, contractions and mom's condition. There is long list of things we must keep a very close eye on with preeclampsia.
I do make a point of hanging out and getting to know my patients if I only have 1-2. I like to get familiar with the family and help them to be more comfortable. I'm that crazy nurse the brings even Grandmas popsicles.
I love to hear birth stories. It is all worth it in the end. My advice always is to not put on the hospital gown. I wore a tank top with a built in bra. Much nicer and I didn't care if it got ruined. Remember that for next time.
I don't remember any gown drama. I do remember having to change in the small bathroom for triage and the miniature area with the three beds where they monitored us. At least they didn't make you walk the halls from 4-6am. That sucked. If I had known that, I would have worn tennis shoes rather than flip flops! I will totally be prepared for baby number 2.
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