Wild Ride

The past two days have taken us for quite a ride.  I woke up yesterday morning with pretty consistent contractions and a few other potential signs of labor.  I waited until the contractions started getting stronger and closer together, and then we went to the hospital.  Mind you, these contractions were not the crazy painful ones that you have to stop functioning for the duration just to get through them.  But, given how quickly Audrey came, I was being cautious.  They were closer together than the 5-1-1 rule, which is the standard for going to the hospital. 

Once we got there, they had me sit on a bed and hooked me up to the monitors.  Baby boy's heart rate was great, but the contractions started to dissipate.  We walked for an hour which produced more contractions, came back, and they checked me again.  This time the contractions remained consistent even when I sat.  They continued while I sat for over an hour.  The nurse was convinced I was in the early stages of labor, and so was I, but nothing else was happening.  That is when she gave me a choice. First, I could stay, they'd break my water, and we'd hope that the labor picked up after that.  Second, I could go home and wait it out. 

At this point, Billy had left to go get Audrey from school, so I was on my own with the decision.  The control-freak planner in me wanted to get things moving by breaking my water, but the cautious mother in me was worried about what would happen if breaking my water didn't make things progress.  I was worried that they'd have to augment labor with drugs like pitocin, which I would like to avoid if possible.  Moreover, my due date is still almost two weeks away, so there is no health risk to the baby to wait.  The swing vote came from my stomach though; I was starving and they weren't going to feed me anything at the hospital even if it took me another 24 hours to have the baby. 

As we left the hospital a little past 7 last night, the nurse told us that she thought we'd be back soon.  One day later, I am still at home waiting.  When I had Audrey, I was so proud that I was patient and didn't go to the hospital until almost the last minute.  This time, I have to resign myself to the fact that I was wrong; however, it does make me feel a little better that the nurse was as convinced as I was.  So, for now, I am at home trying to have patience to wait for God's perfect timing.  He has really put this control-freak planner to the test, but I know in the end I'll only be stronger from it.