At 36 weeks, my doctor informed me I was dilated at a 1-1 1/2 and 70% "thinned out". She said that she wouldn't necessarily expect me to go into labor that week, but the following week wouldn't be far-fetched. John and I got pretty excited about it... and he began to watch me like a hawk even more than he had been before. We had plans to go to Sallisaw to spend some time with his family that weekend so all we could do was hope that she'd hold off till after that.
Thankfully, she did. We did go in to hospital at 1:30 am that Friday night / Saturday morning because I woke up and could still swear to this day that my water broke... but we were told that it hadn't and "what it will really be like when it does". Still a little hormonal about that. I told John on the drive back to Sallisaw that if that wasn't my water breaking, how in the world would I know when it really was?! The entire rest of the weekend, I chalked up what was happening to my body as my little girl just pushing on my bladder too much.
My next doctor's appointment (at 37 weeks) revealed I was dilated at a 2 and 80% effaced. I'd already been having sporadic contractions for weeks and as low as little Abigail was sitting, the doctor said she'd bet money that this baby girl would arrive before I made it back for my 38 week appointment. She had me make one... just in case... but figured she'd see me before that.
Pretty much as soon as that appointment was over, I began having fairly consistent contractions... the strong ones! I'd been told by everyone (my doctor and the nurses in labor/delivery) not to come in until they were 5 minutes apart for one hour, so John and I began timing them. Over the following 2 days, they stayed strong and consistently inconsistent (ranging from 8-45 minutes apart). They were so strong through the night on Monday night, that I took a Tylenol PM before I went to bed on Tuesday just so I could get some sleep. Still had some contractions that night, but they weren't as bad. In fact, Wednesday morning, I thought they were gone completely! Then they came back and resumed their inconsistent ways.
Finally, Wednesday night, John and I went and rented a movie, picked up some food, and came home to settle in for the night. We made it about halfway through the movie when I became incredibly anxious. I'd started bleeding and, though it wasn't as bad as when I thought we were losing her at the beginning of my pregnancy, it was still enough to worry me. John called the hospital and they told us to come in. No sooner did we get into the car than my contractions became 5 minutes apart... and stayed that way all the way to the hospital!
On this trip to the hospital, I was dilated to almost a 4 when I got there... so they kept me. Oh. And they also asked me if I knew when my water broke because they couldn't feel it. I told them about my weekend visit and the nurses on shift didn't seem too happy about it. (I sure wasn't.) Now that there was no telling when it happened for sure, there was a high risk that our little girl could have an infection... so they started me on antibiotics.
The only thing I will really post about actual labor is this: Epidural's are wonderful!!!!!! After enduring strong contractions for 2 days and then my body going into shake-down mode (which makes them worse), those drugs became my best friend. =) I still respect those who go through labor without it... but... wow! That would definitely not be for me! (Or John, poor guy.)
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