October 16, 2009

Still No Baby

I didn’t get much sleep last night. The anticipation of labor induction kept me tossing and turning and thinking about the unexpected. I finally fell asleep sometime before 2 a.m., and awoke at 6 a.m. to shower before leaving for the hospital.

We got to the check-in desk of the ER just after 7 a.m. and I had to wait for the walk-in patient in front of me to be admitted. He was an elderly gentleman with a bloody nose. I noticed his handkerchief was stained red and most of his shirt and hands were covered. I felt sad that he had to endure such a trauma.

I was also nervous about the people in the waiting room wearing doctor’s masks. Visions of swine flu danced in my head, and I took a few steps back to avoid contracting a contagious disease.

I was admitted to my room shortly thereafter. After the nurse checked me in I completed the paperwork and answered the million admittance questions. Then I waited two hours to see my doctor who was in the OR for a cesarean section.

Dr. Boehm started the induction with a prostaglandin pill called misoprostal and after two hours I was sent home to “progess” in a more relaxing setting until tomorrow morning when I go back at 7 a.m.

Once I got home I took a two hour nap, checked e-mails, napped again and then woke up starving and feeling crampy. So maybe the prostaglandin is working, maybe it’s effacing the cervix or dilating it more. I don’t feel contractions yet, but I do feel mild menstrual cramps and lower back pain.

I’m going to use my massage chair, take a shower and then settle in with back issues of Real Simple magazine until I fall asleep.

I promise to post again as soon as I can, and I’ll be updating Facebook and Twitter via BlackBerry if possible tomorrow.