Today is Thanksgiving and I have so many wonderful things to be thankful for. One of which is still in my belly… Our little guy Holden.
This week was interesting to say the least. Monday, I had my 36 week appointment and after the appointment, I was taking a tour of Labor & Delivery among other places I’d need to know about in the hospital.
While in with the doctor (I will refer to her as Dr. O) she asked me the standard questions, “are you in any pain?” … “have you been having any contractions?”. The pain part I could answer. Yes… my ribs feel like their about to crack, I have awful heartburn (especially at night, when I’m doing my best to sleep) and when I do sleep I’m getting very little because of the rib pain, heartburn, and constant trips to the bathroom. Oh the joys of pregnancy.
The contraction question I couldn’t really answer without some guidance. This is my first pregnancy so I have nothing to compare it to and wouldn’t have the slightest idea what a contraction feels like. Dr. O then gave me a brief description of what to expect so I knew I had been experiencing some contractions, but they were minor. Dr O asked me when I had my last one and I told her walking from my Jeep into the hospital. She then told me after she did my exam (which included the yucky Group B Streptococcus test) she’d check my cervix. This made me happy and nervous at the same time.
Dr. O measured my belly (we’re right on target for growth) and then put the lovely goop covered doppler to my swollen belly. She asked if he is active, and I said “Oh yes… all the time.” to which she exclaimed, “I can see that. He’s moving around so much I can’t get a good read on his heartbeat.” It took a good long while with the doppler to find it, but she did. Dr. O then felt for Holden’s back to see if he was head down, and then did the not so lovely part of the exam.
Once the test was done it was time for the cervix check. Dr O quickly said, “oh yeah, you more than likely were having a contraction because you’re dilated 3 cm already. I can feel his head.” This sent me in two directions… excitement and panic. Excitement, because I could be having our little guy sooner than later, and panic because Matt just left. He not only left, he was now under water and unreachable. He wasn’t just on a trip where I could call him and let him know what was going on. Dr. O then explained that I could be dilated at 3 cm for weeks and some women are locked up tight (then she knocked on her desk) and don’t dilate without assistance. She then said that this was good and that it “means I won’t be pregnant forever.”
I left her office and was quickly back in the waiting room for a short wait before the tour started. This “short wait” was about 30 minutes, which in the grand scheme of things isn’t awful, but when you’re me and having a ton of things racing through your head, it seemed like days.
The tour started and soon we (myself and about 7-8 couples, I was sadly the only one without my spouse, which was surprising being at an Army hospital) were in one of the 10 labor and delivery rooms. A nice elderly lady was explaining the process of coming to the hospital… First call L&D Triage and let them know you’re coming. They’ll ask you some standard questions to make sure it is necessary that you come. Then proceed directly to L&D. I was pretty impressed. Each room is private. Babies don’t leave your room at anytime, unless they have to go to the NICU. An alarm band is placed on the babies ankle to prevent anyone from stealing the baby, and should this happen, L&D locks down, the hospital locks down, and the base locks down. Pretty crazy safe, right? Feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.
Questions were answered and then we were on our way to the Mommy & Baby unit on the other side of the hospital. In my head, I’m thinking, I should walk slow… I don’t want to go into labor until Matt’s home. Just cross your legs woman, cross your legs.
The Mommy & Baby unit was very similar to L&D. Same private rooms, more cushy for comfort, with the same alarm system. We were then taken to admin to get paperwork filled out, that way when we do come back, in full-fledged labor, we don’t have to fill it out then.
After I was done with admin I went to the pharmacy to pick up my prescription for heartburn meds (thank goodness). The wait, again, seemed like days. All the while I’m trying to call family and friends to let them know what’s going on, but having no luck with a signal, but text messages are getting out. After about 45 minutes, I’ve got my meds and I’m walking, ever-so-slowly, back to the Jeep. Thankfully, during my visit to the hospital, I also got my Stork parking pass. 🙂
I make it home, after a very grueling day, and sit, as motionless as possible making phone calls to family and friends to let them know whats going on.
Since Monday, I’ve done much of the same, with some fun stuffed mixed in. My friend Amanda took some maternity pics for me on Tuesday (which I’ll post once I get them in hand), I did some minor cooking/baking yesterday in preparation for today, and then late last night I picked Matt up from his office after his short underway. It was fun telling him about my week. I’m afraid a simple crossing of my legs isn’t going to keep our little guy from making his appearance.
Today we’re headed to Amanda & Larry’s house for Thanksgiving dinner. I’m bringing Pumpkin Chiffon Pie (Matt’s favorite), Blue Cranberry Sauce, rolls and homemade eggnog. It’s going to be a great day. Happy Thanksgiving!!!
