There are a lot of old wives tales out there, but there is one I hear more than the others--that babies come when there are full moons. Our little man's official due date actually falls on a full moon. However, I never thought to worry about the full moon the month before he was due.
Don't get excited...baby has not made three yet. However, he must have been listening when the doctor told us that once we made it through the 36th week, he would be considered full term and we should be prepared that he could make an appearance any time. Because at exactly that point, baby boy decided to shake things up.
It started out innocently enough--Husband and I were sent to the hospital last night to have some swelling checked out. We had to check in at Labor and Delivery, where at least a half dozen women in various states of pregnancy checked in while we were there.
"It's the full moon," the lady at the front desk said. "It'll keep me busy tonight."
We were sent to a room, where a very sweet nurse said it was standard procedure that they hook me up to a fetal heart monitor and a monitor to watch my uterus while she examined me for the problem we had come for. Well, the swelling was quickly forgotten when the nurse realized I was having fairly regular contractions. She decided it would be a good idea to check my cervix just in case I was dilated and in labor and, oh, hadn't noticed.
(Things they don't tell you in "What to Expect When You're Expecting" #1: Cervical exams are extremely painful and not at all fun. )
There was nothing to report there, so the nurse went to speak to the attending doctor. While she was gone, Husband and I chatted about where we were going to eat on the way home.
When she came back, she had reinforcements...another nurse and a Very.Big.IV.Needle.
(Things they don't tell you in "What to Expect When You're Expecting" #2: The IV needles they use are the size of drinking straws. )
The nurse explained that they wanted to give me IV fluids and watch the contractions--if they were braxton hicks, like I had assumed they were, they would stop with the fluids. If not, it could be a sign that I was in labor.
Labor? LABOR?!? I came in for swelling, people! Not labor! My mind went a mile a minute--I hadn't eaten since lunch. My phone battery was almost dead. We didn't have a change of clothes or our hospital bags. I needed my bags!
The nurse assured me that even if I was in labor, there would be plenty of time for Husband to go home and retrieve everything we needed. I tried not to think about the fact that the bags weren't even packed.
(My bags! I want my bags!)
I didn't have time to worry for long, however, because the nurse stuck the straw IV in my arm and, despite my "excellent" veins, had to start over on the other arm. Ouch.
And then I was distracted by our little man's heartbeat on the monitor, along with his movements...it was fun to "hear" him respond to the nurse when she poked my belly, and to the sound of his dad's voice. Husband and I were then left alone to mull over the fact that there was a possibility we'd be taking our baby home at the end of this trip.
(With no bags!)
By then, it was well past 2 AM, and we tried to get some sleep--just in case we needed the energy to have a baby the next morning. Husband managed to doze off, but I remained awake most of the night--mainly due to our son acting in the way that has become typical of him: every time the nurse would get the monitor picking up his heartbeat, he would move away, causing the nurse to return to our room and relocate him. This happened at least a dozen times, and we located his heartbeat on all four corners of my belly. The nurse was absolutely stumped as to what position he may be in. He was obviously enjoying his game, and luckily, we had a nurse with a good sense of humor.
It was a very long night. Thanks to all the fluid they were pumping into me, I went to the bathroom a gazillion times.
(Things they don't tell you in "What to Expect When You're Expecting" # 3: It is very difficult to go to the bathroom when you're in a hospital gown, dragging an IV pole attached to the garden hose in your right arm, with a bleeding first attempt at the IV insertion on the left arm, two monitors and cords wrapped around your belly, and swollen feet.)
However, it wasn't what I would call a bad night. In between the bathroom trips and the monitor adjustments, I was comforted by the sounds of my baby on one side of me and my sleeping husband on my other. I watched Husband's face while he snoozed, relaxed and with his long lashes shut--I hope our little man has his daddy's eyelashes.
Around five AM, the nurse came in to adjust the monitor and stayed to chat. My contractions, which had gotten stronger as the night wore on, were now coming two minutes apart. Very kindly, she told me to prepare for the idea that labor later that day was pretty likely.
(Even though I didn't have our bags).
Several hours later, Husband and I waited anxiously for the new shift nurse to come in and see what was going on in my lower half. I have to admit, I felt a pang of disappointment when there was no change to my cervix and the nurse told us we could go home. Since I was still having contractions (not as close together as they had been, but stronger) it could be hours--or weeks--before our baby made his appearance.
(Things they don't tell you in What to Expect When You're Expecting #4: Just because you're having contractions doesn't mean you're having a baby. )
So home we went, still contracting, still swollen, and with no baby. But we have a doctor's appointment tomorrow and everything will get checked again--we'll also have an ultrasound to see if baby is breech. If he is, that could explain why I had contractions all night and nothing else. If that's the case, we'll talk about our options of getting him to turn and c-sections. But that's a worry for tomorrow.
For the rest of the night, I'm just going to worry about packing our bags.
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