Slow start to the day
Aug. 10th, 2004 11:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dampscribblerYesterday reached 100 degrees here in Portland, which made sleeping last night difficult, which made waking this morning difficult, too. Today will reach 90, which sounds hot, too, but isn't quite as bad. Right now it's still in the 70's, which means I ought to be outside doing things before it gets hotter, rather than in here updating my LJ, but I know some of you are waiting for news, so here it is.
I was expecting a quick appointment yesterday, but I was there for over an hour. Eric went with me, and we arrived a little early, but the nurse was ready to get me started. She asked how I was doing, and I mentioned that the baby had slowed down a bit. I've heard several places that this is normal shortly before birth, and I was still getting 10 kicks an hour, and the baby had even kicked me in the car on the way over a couple of times, so I didn't feel concerned. Unfortunately, the look on the nurse's face said "holy mother of God!!" which scared me. A lot. I tried to be cool, and she calmly said, "that's normal, but let's put you on the monitor," and she dashed off to get a portable monitor while I changed into check-up gear and kept trying to act very cool and calm.
Eric sat in the chair.
The nurse came back with the monitor which had two straps -- a baby blue one, for my upper abdomen to check for contractions, and a pale pink one (blue and pink--get it??), for my lower abdomen, to read the baby's heartbeat. She had me lay back while she attached the straps. She had a lot of trouble finding the baby's heartbeat, which we both chuckled about, "ha ha, babies always hide from me," she said, and "ha ha, isn't she an ornery little thing" I said while inside I was thinking "shitshitshitshitshit." I reminded myself to breathe, but it didn't seem to help. The world around me was getting fuzzy around the edges and far away. Finally, she found the hearbeat, fastened up my strap, and left, telling me the doctor would be in soon.
I broke out in a cold sweat. I asked Eric to help me sit up so I could get some blood to my head. Being flat on your back when 9 months pregnant can put pressure on a major artery running up the inside of your spine, seriously affecting your body's ability to get blood where it needs to go. And considering my blood pressure was a "great" (meaning low) 100/70, I wasn't too successfully getting blood to all the places it needed to go. Eric pulled me up and the world came back in a noisy rush. I asked Eric if a fan had just come on or something, and we made small talk about hearing and noises until the doctor came in. Squiggly lines printed out of the monitor, and I watched the baby's heartbeat readout range between 130-140, which I knew was good based on what the doctor had said at earlier appointments, so I felt proud.
The doctor came in, greeted me, greeted Eric, and looked at the printout. "The heartrate is good, but I'm not seeing any accelerations," she said. "I'm going to get you some juice." Accelerations? What is this? I am no longer proud, but disappointed. My baby is not performing. What am I doing wrong? "Have you been having contractions?" the doctor asks. "Not as many as a couple of weeks ago," I confess. "Unless I've just gotten used to them."
I am a failure. My baby's not accelerating. My uterus isn't contracting. I suck down the apple juice that the nurse has brought in. The doctor is talking to me about scheduling an induction "and unfortunately, I'm on vacation next week," she says. I had sorta figured that would happen. So the next time that she personally would be available to do an induction would be August 27th, at the end of my 42nd week. As much as I would like to be a person who can be that patient, I am not that kind of person. She gets the on-call schedule to tell me who will be at the hospital when. I've not met most of these other doctors, so I don't know them. I pick the 18th or 19th. She says that the doctor on call on the 18th is probably a good match for me based on the preferences I've talked with her about in the past. So, she calls the hospital and they say come in on the 18th at 5am. I'm okay with that, except for the 5am part. Like I'm going to get any sleep the night before that.
Meanwhile, I still have over a week for nature to take over and start this thing. I've been looking forward to spending my first hours laboring at home with my husband rubbing my back and my feet while I nibble on crackers and sip juice and tea. There's still time for that. But I'm pretty sure that by next Wednesday, I'm going to feel ready to just do it however.
When she got back from making the phone call, the doctor read the printout again. Three accelerations. Hooray! She did the manual internal exam. "You're one centimeter dilated, and the cervix is still about 1 centimeter long. Would you like me to strip your membranes?" What an awful expression. It's something she can do to "encourage" labor to begin, but no guarantees. I had read about it, and it didn't sound nearly as bad as the name suggests. But I was uncomfortable already from all the stress. I wanted a couple of hours to rest. "What does it feel like?" I said. "It's more uncomfortable than the exam," she answered.
"I think I'll pass today," I said. I want to be in labor, but I also wanted a little space. If I could have gone back at the end of the day, maybe I would have done it then, but I just felt tapped.
I did feel more contractions last night than I had noticed in a while. Maybe the membrane thing would have done the trick. Maybe not.
So, there you have it. I'm still hoping the baby will come this week on her own, but if she doesn't, we'll go the medical route next Wednesday. Meanwhile, I try to make sure there's not too much laundry piling up around this place.
I was expecting a quick appointment yesterday, but I was there for over an hour. Eric went with me, and we arrived a little early, but the nurse was ready to get me started. She asked how I was doing, and I mentioned that the baby had slowed down a bit. I've heard several places that this is normal shortly before birth, and I was still getting 10 kicks an hour, and the baby had even kicked me in the car on the way over a couple of times, so I didn't feel concerned. Unfortunately, the look on the nurse's face said "holy mother of God!!" which scared me. A lot. I tried to be cool, and she calmly said, "that's normal, but let's put you on the monitor," and she dashed off to get a portable monitor while I changed into check-up gear and kept trying to act very cool and calm.
Eric sat in the chair.
The nurse came back with the monitor which had two straps -- a baby blue one, for my upper abdomen to check for contractions, and a pale pink one (blue and pink--get it??), for my lower abdomen, to read the baby's heartbeat. She had me lay back while she attached the straps. She had a lot of trouble finding the baby's heartbeat, which we both chuckled about, "ha ha, babies always hide from me," she said, and "ha ha, isn't she an ornery little thing" I said while inside I was thinking "shitshitshitshitshit." I reminded myself to breathe, but it didn't seem to help. The world around me was getting fuzzy around the edges and far away. Finally, she found the hearbeat, fastened up my strap, and left, telling me the doctor would be in soon.
I broke out in a cold sweat. I asked Eric to help me sit up so I could get some blood to my head. Being flat on your back when 9 months pregnant can put pressure on a major artery running up the inside of your spine, seriously affecting your body's ability to get blood where it needs to go. And considering my blood pressure was a "great" (meaning low) 100/70, I wasn't too successfully getting blood to all the places it needed to go. Eric pulled me up and the world came back in a noisy rush. I asked Eric if a fan had just come on or something, and we made small talk about hearing and noises until the doctor came in. Squiggly lines printed out of the monitor, and I watched the baby's heartbeat readout range between 130-140, which I knew was good based on what the doctor had said at earlier appointments, so I felt proud.
The doctor came in, greeted me, greeted Eric, and looked at the printout. "The heartrate is good, but I'm not seeing any accelerations," she said. "I'm going to get you some juice." Accelerations? What is this? I am no longer proud, but disappointed. My baby is not performing. What am I doing wrong? "Have you been having contractions?" the doctor asks. "Not as many as a couple of weeks ago," I confess. "Unless I've just gotten used to them."
I am a failure. My baby's not accelerating. My uterus isn't contracting. I suck down the apple juice that the nurse has brought in. The doctor is talking to me about scheduling an induction "and unfortunately, I'm on vacation next week," she says. I had sorta figured that would happen. So the next time that she personally would be available to do an induction would be August 27th, at the end of my 42nd week. As much as I would like to be a person who can be that patient, I am not that kind of person. She gets the on-call schedule to tell me who will be at the hospital when. I've not met most of these other doctors, so I don't know them. I pick the 18th or 19th. She says that the doctor on call on the 18th is probably a good match for me based on the preferences I've talked with her about in the past. So, she calls the hospital and they say come in on the 18th at 5am. I'm okay with that, except for the 5am part. Like I'm going to get any sleep the night before that.
Meanwhile, I still have over a week for nature to take over and start this thing. I've been looking forward to spending my first hours laboring at home with my husband rubbing my back and my feet while I nibble on crackers and sip juice and tea. There's still time for that. But I'm pretty sure that by next Wednesday, I'm going to feel ready to just do it however.
When she got back from making the phone call, the doctor read the printout again. Three accelerations. Hooray! She did the manual internal exam. "You're one centimeter dilated, and the cervix is still about 1 centimeter long. Would you like me to strip your membranes?" What an awful expression. It's something she can do to "encourage" labor to begin, but no guarantees. I had read about it, and it didn't sound nearly as bad as the name suggests. But I was uncomfortable already from all the stress. I wanted a couple of hours to rest. "What does it feel like?" I said. "It's more uncomfortable than the exam," she answered.
"I think I'll pass today," I said. I want to be in labor, but I also wanted a little space. If I could have gone back at the end of the day, maybe I would have done it then, but I just felt tapped.
I did feel more contractions last night than I had noticed in a while. Maybe the membrane thing would have done the trick. Maybe not.
So, there you have it. I'm still hoping the baby will come this week on her own, but if she doesn't, we'll go the medical route next Wednesday. Meanwhile, I try to make sure there's not too much laundry piling up around this place.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-08-10 12:34 pm (UTC)(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2004-08-10 02:16 pm (UTC)Thanks for the update. It was great fun to read (once I knew there would be a happy ending). Here's hoping the baby will show up this week so you won't have to be induced at some heinous hour of the morning (5 am!!!! What are people thinking?!).
(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2004-08-10 03:11 pm (UTC)(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2004-08-11 09:04 am (UTC)(no subject)
From: