Monday, October 4, 2010

The Longest Labor

This is so frustrating, especially considering I have been having start and stop labor for the past 3 weeks!
About 3am yesterday (Sunday) morning I was awakened to much stronger, painful contractions. I was able to get back to sleep only to be awakened by more contractions. Yay, this must by it, right?  
We started the day thinking that this was going to be it.  Contractions came all day long at 10 minutes apart and lasting a good solid minute.  Late in the afternoon I called my doctor.  She thought 10 minutes apart was a good time to come in given the fact we are almost an hour away and I was already 3cm.  
I put together an overnight bag for the kids who would be sleeping next door at my parents and we went over to have dinner (I wasn't hungry at this point).  

We got to the hospital at 7:30 and on the drive the contractions were closer to7 minutes apart.  Got set up on the machine and they were coming 5-6 minutes.  Got checked and was told I was 4cm.  

After being there over 3 hours there was just one problem....... the contractions were just not getting stronger or closer together, even though I was sitting on the birth ball, walking and squatting.  Got checked again at 11pm and I was still 4cm.  
We were given the choice to try and sleep there or we could come home.  I was so discouraged and tired I just wanted my own bed.  We came home and shortly before getting home I was hit with contractions that were starting to really make my squirm.  I went strait to bed and the harder ones kept hitting in the light sleep state I was in.  I was finally able to get to sleep and when I woke 2 hours later, they had slowed down.  Got back to sleep and by 6am I knew they had really slowed down.  

So, here I am this morning still having contractions every 10-15 minutes........ how much longer can this go on for?!!!    

10 comments:

Larissa said...

Wow - that totally sounds like what I went through with Jonathan. I wonder if your little baby is posterior?
Have you been on all fours doing pelvic rocking? That helps encourage baby to be in the right position. Soon!!!

The Cormier Family said...

Happy Birthday to you...hope your baby will make his or her appearance today! We are still praying...

Yvonne said...

4cm is great. Today is the day. Have you been holding out for your birthday???

Yvonne said...

Did they feel what position the baby was in? It is just so like my labour too and little one was oblique at first so wasn't pushing down but when she moved pow! 4-9 and 8 pushes later she came into the world. A senior midwife had a feel of my belly and got in another senior midwife to confirm oblique presentation. Big hip circles shifted her. Has anyone had a good feel of the baby for you? It is rare to be oblique so I'm not wishing it on you but your off on contractions and labour plus being at 4cm for a while are an exact match with my situation. All went well here, natural birth on gas and air so I'm not trying to frighten you. It's just your description could be mine it is so alike.

Yvonne said...

Btw, your ob said the other day about baby position when she thought it was hitting a nerve. I was told baby was 3/5 engaged two days before I went into labour thenafter day of labor I was told baby was oblique so baby must be able to move a lot. I am sure you are on top of it and have the best care, it's just when I only have your blog posts to go on I want to suggest anything that might be useful to know. I know really you're way more experienced at having babies and that I'm just a stranger on a different continent but I would like to know you and your baby are being really well looked after.

Niki said...

Congrats on the baby. I am so happy to find your page as my daughter is 15 wks and has been throwing up since she was 6 wks. We have been to the er so many times for rehydration, zofran, regland and pepcid ac. This past Friday & Sunday was in er doctor advised she needs a picc line done. Called her OB dr to move her appt up and advised why. They only called back to advised they can't see her now as she is high risk. Now, were on a hunt for a new doctor, so far the doctors we talked to will not take her on as a patient. Waiting on a call back from one doctor, the nurse took her case information and said she would talk with doctor and let us know. She gets sick like between 10-20 a day. Only thing that helps is zofran in the iv form.

Janet said...

Hi Sleepwalker. Thanks for your care and intrest of me! I think it's neat you found my blog!

I just googled oblique and am just about positive this baby is not in that position. actaully I just had an u/s this morning for lack of baby movement and to check fluid levels. Baby's head is straight down sitting on my cervix and the body come and the bottom is between my rib cage.
I tell you this stop and go labor is awful. I can put put when the "real" labor hits, it will be fast - as long as I have 50 minutes to get to the hospital!

Janet said...

Niki,
I am so sorry your daughter has HG! You really need to find a doctor who has some experience with HG. On my sidebar there are links for a few websites, one of them being the HER foundation. Here is a link from them to find a dr. in your area http://www.hyperemesis.org/mothers/referral-network/index.php

Also, read over the MotherRisk website, both of these have so much info on them. If she gets a PICC line, you have to be careful of infection from what I've read.

It sounds like she is really bad off and I don't know if it will help her much, but would you consider trying to get some Diclectin from Canada? Zofran did very little to help me, but the Diclectin helped A LOT!

I know how hard it is to be so very sick. Please give her lots of encouragement and focus on the baby she is growing. My worst HG pregnancy gave me a 9 pound baby, very healthy! He is sitting next to me right now.

Yvonne said...

That's great news that baby is in the correct position and I bet you do have a really quick delivery when the time comes. Stop and start is really frustrating. Glad you are being monitored though and you are doing everything perfectly by the look of things, baby is just taking it easy. That stork must have been a bit lost.

Niki said...

Good news, we found a high risk OB doctor and she will be seen next week. So many doctors out there will not take HG patients. We stay very positive and upbeat with her to keep her in high spirits.