Third Time's the Charm

The last 3 weeks of my pregnancy was probably the most uncomfortable of all. I know this was perfectly normal and to be expected but it was my first time and I had no idea what to expect. I worked full time but this got more and more difficult because of the difficulty moving around. I decided that God knew what he was doing when he designed us to give birth at the point when we got the most miserable. By that point I was so uncomfortable and just ready to have the baby I did not worry so much about the actual labor and delivery process.

My biggest concern was whether or not I was actually in labor or not. I had a hard time deciding if I was having contractions or not. Sometimes they would feel regular but most of the time they were not regular at all. It was actually very frustrating! I had a doctor's appointment on Monday April 5th and was told I was about 50% effaced and that his head was "way" down there. I was not dilated at all. The nurse practitioner said this was good because I probably wouldn't have to push very long when the time came.

I seriously thought I would go into labor that week. By Friday I was pretty convinced something was changing and I really wanted to be checked out. I called and they told me to come on over. After an hour of sitting and waiting in the little room ,the doctor came in and 5 minutes later said I was still 50% effaced and not dilated. I was glad I went because I would have gone crazy all weekend but I was also pretty upset. I just wanted so badly to be in labor. I was ready to meet my little guy and I was tired of the unknown. I had called mom and dad and told them I was going to the doctor and they decided to come on over. Even after we found out nothing was happening yet they went ahead and came on. I was so thankful for that. I needed to see my mom. I needed a hug from her. We went and got some Mexican food Friday night and hung out on Saturday before they headed back home.

I had my 39 week appointment with the doctor scheduled for Monday morning. Zach hadn't been going to the doctor appointments with me because he really didn't need to miss all that work and everything had been going so well I didn't really think he needed to be there. This time, though, I had been thinking that I wanted him to come with me. Before I even mentioned this to him, he asked if it was ok if he came with me. I really wasn't feeling any different, but I was so glad that he was going to come with me.

I weighed, left my "sample", and had my blood pressure checked like I had every other appointment. My blood pressure had been running perfectly normal the entire pregnancy, but this time it was pretty high. The nurse practitioner came in and checked me with still no changes from Friday. They waited a little while longer and re-checked my blood pressure, which was still high (150/100). I asked what would cause this all of the sudden and she said that it was likely just pregnancy induced hypertension. I had no idea that it could happen so quickly and was very thankful that if it had to happen it was at the very end of my pregnancy. They did some blood work to check for pre-eclampsia and did a non-stress test on the baby. The baby was just fine and after about 20-30 minutes laying on my side my BP had come down some and they went ahead and sent me home with instructions to rest. No more working for me!

The blood work came back ok and they told me to just rest and come back on Wednesday morning. I borrowed a friend's BP machine and checked my BP off and on Tuesday and it was still running pretty high for me. We went back Wednesday morning and it was still high. They decided to go ahead and have me come in that evening and they would give me some medicine to help move things along. It wasn't ptocin but something that was supposed to "kick-start" my contractions. I was told to get a good dinner and they would be expecting me at the hospital at 9:00.

All the parents headed our way and everyone met at Cracker Barrel for a yummy dinner.


This was it.