The Situation

No, this isn't about the Jersey Shore. I started typing the words frustration and anticipation into the title and then thought those were too dramatic and kind of made me think of the Situation from Jersey Shore. I thought I would take a couple minutes to write about what's been going on, for me. Maybe some day I'll want to look back and remember this time. Probably not. Maybe it will help some other pregnant girl to know someone else went through this.

My due date is April 27th. I was born a few days after my due date. My husband was born a week after his due date. I was prepared for this baby to be late. I wasn't prepared for the doctor to tell me I was 2 cm dilated at my 38 week appointment on April 13th. I got all excited that he was going to come early! My mom told my dad he would have a grandson within 7 days. Then I started having contractions that night and the next morning. Everyone got all excited. My dad thought he was going to have his grandson on Thursday the 14th!

Then, I made it to my 39 week appointment on the 20th. I told them I had kind of been having contractions on and off and my dr checked me to see what kind of progress those contractions were causing. The baby's head had moved down a lot and I was dilated to 3-4 cm and 70% effaced. I was glad that I had made progress but knew not to get excited about it this time. Thursday, the 21st I had some contractions but didn't want to wake my husband up. Friday, the 22nd he got up to get ready for work and I got up too since I hadn't been sleeping. I ate breakfast and watched some tv and decided to try and lay down and get some sleep.

When I was laying down I started noticing I was having stronger contractions than I had ever felt. I thought to myself maybe I should start timing them just to see how frequent they were. I was surprised that they were about 5 minutes apart. I called my mom thinking she might not have left for work yet and she could tell me if I needed to call my husband or someone else nearby to take me to the hospital. My doctor has told me if my contractions are 3 to 5 minutes apart and intense enough that I can't walk or talk during them that I should go to the hospital. Well mom and I determined that they probably weren't strong enough yet and I should see how things progressed.

I continued to time them throughout the day. My dad came over for lunch and I was able to hang out with him and he didn't notice me being in too much pain. My parents were thinking I would continue to progress and that maybe my husband should come home a little early. When I talked to him at lunch we kind of decided that I would tell him to come home if the contractions got back to 10 mins or so apart. After my dad left I timed my contractions for about an hour and they were about 10 mins apart and I thought about texting my husband but I tried to take a nap first. I was able to sleep for an hour so I knew it wasn't time to go to the hospital yet.

Saturday, the 23rd, at about 4am I was having contractions that were way more intense than I had ever felt. I would say they were about a 5 or 6 on a scale of 1-10. I decided to wake my husband up and we started timing the contractions. We timed them for an hour or two and they were pretty frequent and intense. I really thought it was about time to go to the hospital. Then after awhile I was able to fall asleep and woke up disappointed.

I guess this is pretty common, but its pretty frustrating and confusing. I keep saying it would be so much easier if my water broke! I'm trying to look at the bright side and think at least I won't be in labor for a long time at the hospital since my body is slowly dilating. I will let you guys know on twitter most likely when we finally do end up at the hospital! Keep sending "get that baby out" thoughts my way!