Crazy Daizy

I had my first exam today for this pregnancy.  My blood pressure was wonderful and I have gained three pounds.   The midwife told me that because my body had not fully recovered from the last pregnancy I would feel the pains of this pregnancy sooner and more intensely.  She was mashing around on my abdomen and she hit a spot on my right side that almost made me come up off the table and I was almost in tears.  She moved on to the left side and was happy that I was having no pain in that side.  She tried to find the baby’s heartbeat, but couldn’t so she did an ultrasound to make sure the pregnancy wasn’t ectopic.  I was pretty nervous, but when she did the ultrasound she said the baby was in the uterus, but just to make sure she didn’t miss something she would refer me to the local hospital for another ultrasound ASAP since their equipment is better.  My next appointment is in five weeks.  I did get three pictures of the baby and I tried to figure out how to scan them, but I really don’t have a clue what I’m doing.  Maybe the hubby can explain how to scan when I talk to him again!

I have been having strong contractions for a couple of days, they have been pretty regular too.  I have been trying to go about my everyday business waiting for my water to break or something.  Today, we took Monkey out, did some walking, and then came home.  My contractions were five minutes apart, I couldn’t get comfortable, and I finally decided to go to the hospital.  We get there and they hook me up to the monitors.  The monitor picked up the contractions and the baby had a good heart rate.  Of course, when I time my contractions they are five minutes apart and hurt like crazy, but the monitor always tells a different story.   They decided to check and see if my water had broken, which it had not and then they checked my cervix.  Everyone was hoping for a 4, but nope, I was only a three.  Oh, good grief!  So, I was told to get dressed and they were going to call the doctor.  When they returned I was told that the doctor wanted me to go walk around for a couple of hours and come back so they could check me again.  Alright, it’s like 3 degrees, everything except Wal-Mart was closed, and I really didn’t feel like walking every aisle in Wal-Mart with my three year old that would be begging for every toy ever made.  I was also told I could come home, sit in a rocking chair, and rock at a steady pace.  All this in the hopes of getting this child to drop.  Upon leaving, I asked if I had to come back in two hours and I was told that I didn’t have to, but if I had a lot of pressure, my water broke, or my contractions were three minutes apart (instead of the five minutes I’ve been told every other time) I should come back.  Needless to say, we came home.  I’ve done some walking, but my pelvis feels really weird with every step.  So, I guess now we just wait and see what happens.  I am so incredibly frustrated!

I had my 39 week appointment yesterday with a new provider.  I went in with the hope that she would induce me, but nope.  She told me she could strip my membranes, again, but I declined that offer because 1.) do they grow back? and 2.) that really, really, hurts.  She offered to check my cervix and I was all over that, but then she said that it really wouldn’t change how we progressed, so I was sent home to wait.  I explained that I had an almost four year old and that my husband was about to deploy and I’d really like to have this baby so he can spend some time with her and so that I can be mostly recovered before he leaves.  I was told that I was due Monday, so I could go into labor at any time.  I know that, but as I explained it to her, my Monkey was stubborn, a week late, so I had to be induced.  I really don’t want to go through that again and this child being a week late just won’t work.  I have been having contractions that are pretty strong and pretty regular.  I was told to come in if my water broke.  What do I do if my water doesn’t break?  It didn’t break with Monkey.  Since I was induced and everything happened at the hospital and since I get different answers from every provider that I see here I am confused.  Do I go to the hospital when my contractions have been five minutes apart for an hour and are so painful that I can’t walk or do I wait and see if my water breaks?  Even though my hubby is a medic and worked as a paramedic and delivered a child before, I really don’t think he wants to deliver this baby.  Please help me!

I went to the doctor this morning and after some initial conversation about coming in tomorrow for a three hour glucose test I gave my speech, just as I planned it.  I really expected some discussion or some resistance on her part, but no.  When I finished my speech she said, “Well, everybody gets uncomfortable at this stage, but we can strip your membranes and see if that will speed things along and maybe help with some of the discomfort.”  I was almost speechless!  Then, she said “Oh, you have that placenta issue and I don’t have the ultrasound report so I don’t want to do anything until I see how that stands.”  I told her that the ultrasound tech told me the day I had the ultrasound that my placenta was well out of the way of my cervix, but I understood that she didn’t have the report and she needed to see for herself.  She left me to go track down the report and when she returned she said “Yes, your placenta is out of the way and the baby’s head is down.”  All good!  She listened to the baby’s heartbeat which was very good and up higher than it’s been, so that was another issue.  Was the baby still head down or had she flipped since last week?  Out came the ultrasound machine.  Yes, the baby is still head down!  Then she checked my cervix,  I am dilating and then she did it, and it was SO incredibly painful I almost came up off the table.  She told me that there was a 50/50 chance I would go into labor within three days!  Then she said “You may have some bleeding and cramping now.”   I thought “Great, I’m already in pain what have I done?  What if this doesn’t work I will have suffered for nothing, but maybe it will work and I will be glad I chose to have it done.”  Glass half full here:  It’s going to work!  It has to work!

She was making my appointment for next week (in case this whole painful thing I went through today doesn’t work) and she said “You’re doing NST’s twice a week.  Why do I have you doing NST’s?”  I thought she was kidding, but no, she really didn’t know why.  So, I said “I think because I’ve had some bleeding issues.”  “Oh that’s right, you were having some bleeding, that’s why you’re doing NST’s.”  I wanted to say “You have no clue, I could’ve come up with anything and you’d have gone with it.”  Then she says “I didn’t write it down.  I see lots of patients everyday and can’t remember everything.”  Ok, isn’t that why you have a chart?  Isn’t the idea to write these things down?  I understand that she sees lots of patients and I find the whole thing amusing. 

Now we will just wait and see if the whole stripping thing works out!  Keep your fingers crossed!

I went to the hospital Friday for another NST, the nurse seemed pretty confident that I would be back this weekend or early in the coming week to have this baby.  Around midnight Friday night I started having some serious contractions, I couldn’t get comfortable, I couldn’t walk, my back was killing me.  Hubby timed them and they were 2 to 3 minutes apart lasting a minute a piece.  We loaded up and went to the hospital, confident that our baby was on her way.  Nope, I was sent home and told that when my contractions were worse or my water broke to come back.  Well, with Monkey I was in labor a long time before my water broke.  Anyway, I have an appointment tomorrow.  Apparently my glucose test came back elevated so I was told to prepare for a long visit to do the three hour test.  They checked my blood sugar at the hospital Friday and it was fine.  Come on, I will be 38 weeks tomorrow and by the time I have another appointment to get the results from the three hour test I will be 39 weeks.  Are they going to put me on a special diet for a week?  So I have prepared a speech to give to my provider: “I can’t eat.  I haven’t been able to eat more than a few bites of anything in weeks.  I can’t sleep because I can’t get comfortable.  My pelvis hurts all the time and it hurts to walk.  I have to sit on the floor on my hands and knees just to get in some sort of comfortable position because my lower back hurts like you would not believe and please don’t tell me to take a warm bath, it doesn’t help.  And apparently my sugar is an issue, instead of enduring a three hour glucose test can’t we just move this along?  I am considered full term.”  She probably won’t agree with me, but I figure it’s worth a shot.  Maybe if I cry a little it will help.

I am so ready for this baby to be born!  I went to the doctor Monday and what an interesting visit it was!  I am measuring exactly where I should be and I’ve only gained a couple of pounds.  The baby is head down (which makes me hopeful that she will make her appearance early) and she has an excellent heart rate.  All good news!  I finally got my ultrasound scheduled so they can get a look at my placenta and I did my glucose test.  It seemed sort of pointless since I only have four weeks left, but it’s done and hopefully it’ll be alright.  I have to go in twice a week for non stress tests (NST’s) because my uterus isn’t resting like it’s supposed to be, I’ve had some bleeding, and sometimes when I have a contraction the baby doesn’t handle it so well.  I keep hoping they will decide to induce me early or that nature will take it’s course and she’ll just decide she’s ready.  I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, I can barely walk, and I feel lousy the majority of the time.  Tonight however would probably not be the night to go into labor, since my hubby, who has been up for over 30 hours has crashed on the couch and Monkey has passed out in our bed!  Tomorrow, however, well, that would be fine!