It's been an exciting and frustrating couple of days here. Thursday night as I was waiting for Ross to get home from work I began to feel an uncomfortable feeling of pressure. So much so that when we went out to Ihop for dinner (yay!) I couldn't even finish my country omelette (boo!) I thought maybe it was indigestion but it got worse throughout the night and I was constantly getting up to pace to try to work out the tension in my back and pelvis from all the pressure.
The next day I knew I had to distract myself or I'd go nuts so I went to Kohl's to buy myself a mother's day present (new purse!) It felt good to get out of the house and stretch my legs, but the pain in my back got worse and worse. I was still feeling a lot of pressure in my abdomen and couldn't finish my lunch. I went home, planning to rest my back, but found that it was even more uncomfortable to sit, so I did another round of cleaning around the apartment and by the end of that I noticed that I was definitely having menstrual type cramps. Around 8 o'clock I started to time them and they were about 10 minutes apart. By 10 they were about 7 minutes apart and getting stronger. By 11 they were 5 minutes apart, with a few breaks, and by midnight they had me doubled up in pain. I called the nurse on call with my practice and she said to go straight to the hospital.
Getting into the car to drive to the hospital I had my last really intense contraction of the night. I was still experiencing pain but not scary pain. When we arrived at Labor & Delivery I was already starting to feel a little more relaxed. They hooked me up to the monitor and right away could see that I was having contractions every 1.5 minutes, however I couldn't even feel most of these contractions, and I knew that was a bad sign. The nurse checked my cervix and found that I was exactly the same as I was on Tuesday - 1-2 cm dilated and 70-80% effaced. I knew at this point they were going to send me home and I felt so frustrated.
As we waited for the final word from the doctor I had some time to come to terms with the fact that we weren't going to be having the baby that night. I was sad about it, but I have to admit I was also glad at the prospect of going home, because even with the lighter contractions, I was super uncomfortable in the hospital bed. When the nurse came back she explained that I was experiencing Prodromal Labor, which is labor that does not progress. She said the doctor had ordered that I go home and get some rest, and come back when the contractions were more painful. With the release orders she gave me a shot of demerol, to ease the pain and help me get some sleep.
I was worried that the Demerol would stop the contractions and further reduce any chances I had of going into active labor, but I noticed, when the drug kicked in, that I could still feel the contractions, just without so much discomfort. By the time we got home from the hospital I was slurring my words a little and feeling rather chipper :P Ross and I ate a quick breakfast and around 4 o'clock finally went to bed for the night.
I was awoken three or four times by strong contractions but they never seemed to get closer together. By mid-morning the pain was getting less and less. I felt sad that I wasn't going into active labor, but thankful that the prodromal labor was ending, because I know for some people it goes on for days.
Now it's evening here and it looks like it will be a much calmer and more relaxed night than last night. I'm sipping red tea and Ross is loading up the newest episode of Doctor Who. Maybe we'll run out and get some frozen yogurt later. Not as good as having a baby, but not too shabby either.
