Here's our story.....with a little backround info...
As many of you know, I tend to have quicker labors than most. My labor with Ryan lasted 5 hours. With Colin my labor was 2 hours and 45 minutes. With Blaine, my labor was 2 hours and 30 minutes; including a ride to the hospital in an ambulance.
When I found out I was pregnant with Dillon, my anxiety over getting to the hospital on time was greatly
COMFORTED by the fact that Tim would be here this time. Tim's work is 3 minutes away, and the hospital was only about 15 minutes away.
And then....Tim got his school date. January 22nd - March 20th. My due date was March 5th. There was no way Tim would be around for this baby. He would be in Virginia.
Once we were certain he would be gone, both my Mom and my Mother-in-Law started making plans to fly out to help me. I started making plans for childcare arrangements and getting to the hospital prior to my MIL's arrival (just in case I went early/early). Backups were found for my backups. Once again, the Lord has blessed us with some AMAZING friends who were a great support to me both before and after I had Dillon.
Tim's mom, Lenora, arrived the morning of Wednesday, 28 February. That afternoon we took a drive off post and I showed her how to get to the hospital. That night, I was up extremely late and was having trouble sleeping. Laying down was probably more uncomfortable than sitting or standing. When laying I felt like every cell in my body was on edge and every feeling was magnified. Dillon, like my other boys, dropped early and created an immense amount of pressure. It still felt much more than just pressure though....I felt like his head was just going to pop out of me. I also vividly remember my water breaking with Blaine. It felt like two soft punches inside of me and then a huge gush of water. With every little twitch Dillon made I felt like water was just going to rush out. There was a part of me that felt like I was in labor, without any of the contractions.
On Thursday, Lenora and I made another trip out to the hospital to help her familiarize the route. After dinner I started to feel a little "off" again. The boys went to bed and Lenora and I sat down and finished going over any/all details of who to call, where to go, what paperwork was needed, etc. During that time I was having some contractions and after a few trips to the bathroom, in a short amount of time, my body had naturally cleared out it's system (a good sign of labor for me). I was getting a little anxious, but unsure as to if this was it or not. Lenora had me lay down on the couch and after about ten minutes things seemed to calm down.
Friday morning, 1st of March, I had an appointment with my OB. I woke up feeling a little weak and shaky. I had originally planned on going by myself, but decided I would feel better if she came with me. (Especially considering I had to park the car and walk 3/4 blocks to get to the doctor's office.) I called my friend Marque and we dropped the boys off at her house prior to my appointment.
My doctor confirmed that Dillon was sitting even lower than he was the week before and she was confident that he would come on his own in the next two days. My doctor also knew of my history with quick labors and that my husband was out of town and my MIL was only here for a certain time. I think she saw the stress/anxiety that I was feeling and offered the option of going to the Klinikum (the hospital) and being induced. {Side note: Being induced in Germany is different than being induced in America. They do not use pitocin in Germany. They first offer you a drink, they call it a cocktail, that is supposed to help start contractions. If that doesn't work then they give you a pill to take that is supposed to help soften the lining of your uterus.)
At this point, I was tired, stressed, anxious, and generally immensely uncomfortable. (But of course, what pregnant woman isn't?!) I couldn't make the decision. I prefer for labor's to go naturally and I didn't really want to be induced...although in my mind I qualified the "cocktail" in a different category than being induced with pitocin and figured it would just be something that would be enough to put me over the edge. At the same time, I was feeling stressed and SUPER uncomfortable and I wanted to get it over with. We called Lenora in and my doctor explained the option again, and she thought it would be a good idea. My doctor made some calls and after my appointment we headed straight to the Klinikum.
We probably got to the Klinikum around 12:30 PM and waited around for at least another hour before I was called back. At that time one of the midwives examined me. After speaking with the doctor on duty, they agreed that inducing me was not a good idea. Dillon was sitting too low and they were afraid that even the cocktail drink would make him come too hard, too fast. I was also having some steady, but not real painful contractions at this point. They wanted me to do some more time on the fetal monitor and then do some walking to try and see if labor would progress on it's own.
At this time, they also decided to start an IV line. I tested positive for Group B when I was pregnant with Blaine. Once positive, always positive. They wanted to go ahead and get a dose or two of antibiotic in me. This to me was encouraging. I figured if they were going to start poking holes in me, active labor was close!
Somewhere around 3 or 4 PM (I really didn't keep good track of time during all this.) the Midwife came in and told us that they were assigning me a room. She suggested taking my things up to the room, getting something to eat, and then walking around for a few hours. I was then to come back in a few hours to be checked again.
This was all new to me as I have never been in a hospital that long before giving birth, and I have never been checked into a room before having a baby. And from what I've heard in the states they send you back home if you aren't progressing...they don't check you in. So again, I was a little encouraged by this...but still unsure and confused.
I was definitely hungry at this point. All I had eaten so far that day was a fried egg for breakfast. Lenora and I went downstairs to the restaurant for an early dinner. After that, back up to the room and lots of walking.
Somewhere around this time I made some phone calls to Tim, my mom, and Marque. I had spoke with Tim around 1 PM after we initially got to the Klinikum, and Marque had been calling him to keep him updated, but with no changes in my status, it had been a while since he had gotten a call. The general consensus was surprise that there was no baby by this time. Tim's words, "Why hasn't anyone called me?! It's been six hours." I think we were all expecting another quick labor.
As the day went on, I started to feel much more "normal". Not nearly as uncomfortable or stressed as I was that morning. Walking was even much more natural and not a painful waddle. At some point that evening we went back down to LandD for more fetal monitoring. Throughout the day my contractions were getting much stronger, but they also started getting further and further apart. Things did not seem to be progressing at all.
The options at this time were the following...
1. Get a enema now to see if that will help contractions start.
2. Go sleep/rest, and then be rechecked in the A.M. If nothing changed..
a. I could talk to the doctor again about being induced.
b. Be sent home to come back when I was in active labor.
I couldn't believe I was doing it, but I agreed to the enema. Then more walking, and then back for some more fetal monitoring. Still nothing. No changes. No progression. Contractions were few and far between. My midwife was clear in stating that she would not classify me as being in labor. While I thought the same, it was somewhat disheartening to hear it. I even asked if I could go home at this point, but the answer was "no", so we we moved on to option 2...going to bed and starting over in the morning.
I was extremely discouraged at this point. Not just the fact that I wasn't in labor...but I felt like I had "jumped the gun". I felt like in my weariness and unclear thinking I agreed to being induced, which landed me in the hospital, NOT in labor, stuck with an IV line, away from my boys, and unable to go home and sleep in my bed, and just feeling somewhat foolish for trying to rush it.
There is no space for a visitor to sleep, so I sent Lenora home to hopefully get some rest with the promise that I would call her with the slightest change. I was still discouraged and a little on edge again thinking about the decision I might have to make in the AM if I didn't start progressing naturally. Now that I was feeling better and thinking more "rationally" I wasn't sure I wanted to be induced. There was a security in already being at the hospital though. I was able to talk to Tim again and go over the options with him. He encouraged me that if I didn't progress at all and they offered me the drink in the morning, to take it. I was already there, his mom was there, the boys were taken care of, etc. With that, I headed to bed around midnight.
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click here for Part II)
