False Alarm

     Wellllll...we thought last night might have been go time. Around 5pm I started having belly pain, which is not that abnormal at this point, but it was getting worse and I was MAJORLY contracting.  I took some Gas-X, tried changing positions, and nothing really helped. We started timing the contractions and they weren't consistent which is very indicative of Braxton-Hicks but they were closer together than they've ever been. And, they were like 45 seconds to a minute long and did I mention they HURT.  So we called the doctor and the on-call nurse called back and told us to head over to L&D.  Well, I hadn't showered (or brushed my teeth...I mean, really who cares, I go nowhere) so I told Mason I was showering.  He threw me in there and worked like a madman getting our bags put in the car, the carseats back installed, throwing everything into the diaper bag, getting every pillow off our bed into the backseat, and making sure we had enough electronics in case we needed to be camped out there for any length of time.  I was struggling in the shower as the contractions were long and difficult to breathe through.  But I was finally out, stuffed into the only pair of leggings that still fits me and one of Mason's shirts and my teeth were brushed.  We got in the car and headed to the hospital.
    When we arrived we got the most unfriendly lady we have encountered so far...the only nice thing I can say about her is she moved quickly and within 10 minutes I had my bracelets on and was headed back to triage with the charge nurse.  They asked me questions, I gowned up, and they told me the nurse would be in shortly.  Since we weren't sure if this was it or not I had Mason snap a pic of me....

 

   Our wonderful nurse, Shannon, came in and hooked us up to the monitors.  Owen, surprisingly, stayed put on the monitor but McKenna kept moving and we kept losing her heartbeat.  Shannon told me the Dr. on call wanted her to check my cervix and see if I was dilated or anything.  When I was in 3 weeks ago I was nothing (what a joyful memory THAT exam was) so I prepped for that again.  Only to hear this "oh hi little guy, yes I feel that head"...ummmmmmmm, excuse me?  So it turns out, I was 2cm dilated and 50% effaced.  Mason cries from the chair in the corner "so she's in labor...this is it?" and Shannon says "well, it looks that way".  So, after a momentary panic attack I started asking my questions. How will this work if I want a C-section?  My doctor isn't on call, do we need to call him? Shannon told me she would be calling the doctor and would have some answers for me in a bit.  She left and returned a while back and told me the doctor wanted to try a shot of terbutaline to see if that wouldn't stop the contractions.  She said that if it was REAL labor the shot wouldn't work, or rather it would work and then in 30 minutes or so the contractions would be back.  Sure enough, she gave me the shot at 9 and by 9:35 I hadn't contracted again...so the Dr. said I could go home.  Let me tell you, I was disappointed mostly because it meant I would have to be pregnant another day, but there was NO ONE more disappointed in that room than Mason.  From the moment he heard the words "dilated" and "labor" he had planned that this was the night he was meeting his babies. In fairness to him, our doctor told us weeks ago at a previous appointment that he wouldn't try to stop labor after 34 weeks so Mason was confused.  Why if I was truly in labor was a shot given to me to stop it?  He strongly wanted them to call our doctor and discuss it with him but I tried to explain to him the "on-call" phenomenon and the premise of "false labor" but he wasn't having it!

    So, Owen and McKenna...your daddy is READY.  Maybe even more so than mommy is!  We see OUR doctor this Friday so we should have more details but as I type this I am still contracting away. I just really wonder if they will make it to the 26th...fine by me if they didn't!!!