Labor Day Weekend

I've always loved Labor Day weekends as school has usually started and it's a welcome break after the first couple weeks. It's the true end of summer in my book, and hopefully the end of the heat...yummy family BBQ'S or a picnic at the lake. So how did I celebrate my labor day weekend this year??

IN LABOR!!!!!

yep.

no baby yet, but I've been having consistent and increasingly painful contractions since Saturday evening. Oh the joy this child has brought me already. I can't WAIT to meet her and see what all her fussing is about.

I woke up Saturday just feeling different. Not my usual uncomfortable pregnant self, but I had a laundry list of things I needed to get done. One of which was finally pack a bag for the hospital...glad I did that. By Saturday evening, I was so exhausted I hopped into bed and started feeling the first contractions every now and then. At first it was exciting to think this baby could be here in the next few days, and I started writing them down as they became closer together. By midnight, they were 5 minutes apart like clockwork. Not terribly painful, but enough I couldn't sleep through them. I became a master at the 3 minute cat nap. At 3 in the morning I was so tired we decided to call the doctor and get some advice. She said people usually come in about that time, or that I could wait it out at home. I like my bed a little more than a hospital room, so we hung around the house.

I did have another "first" moment. My first 3am shower. Not quite the invigorating type, but I didn't want to be in more severe pain and rush to the hospital without one. I hopped back in bed and this time the contractions picked up intensity. No sleep for me!! This went on ALLLLL night, and ALLLLL day Sunday. They'd pick up the pain level about every 4 hours and by 2 Sunday afternoon I finally decided we should just go and see how far along I am to put it to rest. And then maybe I could get some rest!!

We got all checked into the hospital, they gave me a lovely outfit and hooked me all up to the monitors...checked my progress and held me for observation for 3 hours to see if I had any changes. Those were a very long 3 hours. Uncomfortable hospital bed + tight monitors across your stomach, it was 5-star luxury. Ugh, I'm so glad I waited THIS long to come. Brian snapped another picture, you know, for the "posterity only" album, but here you go:



He took it on his cell phone, that's why it's so blurry. But I'm glad it is, because you can't really see how utterly exhausted I was...and am.

Long story short, they sent me home. I happily accepted. I was dilated to a 2 and had no changes while I was there. In fact, my contractions slowed down near the end. I think I was so anxious before I got there that I was finally able to relax a little when I knew baby was good, and everything looked normal. I do have one stubborn baby inside of me. I would have a contraction, push baby down a bit and then afterward, she'd wriggle around and out of whatever position she had just been put in.

The saga continues. (you knew it would) They gave me the BEST drug to help me sleep to make sure if I came back the next day I would have energy enough to push the baby out. I slept like a log for a good 6 hours and then started getting SUPER painful contractions. Ugh. I was NOT going back to the hospital, they just sent me home. This time they were 7 minutes apart but much longer and sharper than before. I figured I'd go back to the hospital when they hit like 4 minutes apart. So, I got longer bits of cat naps this time around, but the rest of the night into early afternoon today constant every 7 minutes. They eased up this afternoon and now they're about 10 minutes apart and not so bad. OR, I've just become used to them. Luckily I have an appt. tomorrow and I'm hoping the doc will say, you need to head to the hospital now!! Wouldn't that be nice?

So, here we are...almost 48 hours of contractions. A record of my labor on Labor Day. No longer will family BBQ's be what I reminisce about on Labor Day Weekend.