October 3rd...should I just stay in bed this year?

I'm going to chronicle the day I had exactly one year ago...it's long, just to warn you!

October 3rd marks one year since the first signs of trouble in my pregnancy with Evan. It was exactly a year ago today, that all through the early morning hours I lay in pain on the couch, thinking that it was only the start of the third-trimester-woes of childbearing. The pain came and went, which is such a dangerous attribute of pre-term labor, because it deceives you...you think that when it goes away, that it was nothing. I had not been feeling great the previous evening, and decided to stay on the couch that night. The pain was very very low, but sometimes would radiate from my lower back around to the front. And sometimes it was very similar to gas/diarrhea pains. I truly thought that's what it was. But everything was normal in that department when I'd visit the restroom. (Sorry if this is TMI!). So, Paul went off to work and we planned on my going to Wabash to see my clients, then meet him at his new job for lunch. He had only been working there for two days. I was excited to do lunch with him, so I just kept passing off the pain as digestion issues. I got ready for work, then sat on the couch, made a few calls to those that had been previously pregnant and delivered, asking them what their labor felt like. I decided to call my OB, and the receptionist convinced me to let them look at me. I called off my morning clients, but still had afternoon clients, and was planning on seeing Paul for lunch. Dr. Stamm did a cervical exam, and said that it didn't really feel like I was dilated, but wanted an ultrasound just to be sure. The ultrasound showed "funnelling." Funnelling of the cervix is what happens prior to dilation. The bottom of my uterus was starting to open, but hadn't yet. He placed me on magnesium sulfate by IV, and had me stay the night in the hospital in Huntington.
One of my favorite memories of the day was when I called Paul to tell him what was going on, and urged him not to come see me until his work day was over...he had just started for goodness sakes! He had two weeks without pay prior to this! His new co-workers, bless their hearts, thought they needed to help him understand that my telling him not to come was actually my warning him that if he didn't come see me, there would be hell to pay. With most women, I think that is what that may mean...but with me, I was serious. I really wanted him to stay! Of course, at this point, I had no idea what kind of danger Evan was in.

So, I stayed overnight, and went home the next day. I spent the next three days in pain off and on, taking meticulous notes describing it. We visited labor and delivery one more time because it still hurt. That was Saturday night into Sunday morning. Then October 8th, I went in for a follow-up appointment with my OB, who checked my cervix and said that I hadn't yet dilated, but felt more effaced (thinned out). Another ultrasound, just to be sure. I almost declined. Praise the Lord I didn't. The ultrasound tech chatted with me, very casually, while conducting the ultrasound. I found out later (she's a cousin of one of our primary nurses, Laura) that she thought I was going to deliver right on the table after what she saw. She WALKED me back to L&D, where a nurse told me to get undressed and provide a urine sample. I asked her if I was going back home. She looked at me with her eyes as round as half-dollars, and said, "let's just wait until the doctor gets here." He did a sterile exam, which meant visually looking at my cervix through the speculum, aided by this very bright light.

I was 3 to 5cm dilated, with bulging membranes stretching 5cm outside my cervix. I immediately started crying. If this is all foreign to you, picture a large water balloon (Evan's amniotic sac...it holds the "water" that he floated around in). Then place the water balloon on top of a small cup...the balloon will stretch into the opening of the cup. This is what was happening to his amniotic sac, but it is much thinner than a balloon. The balloon could break at any time. Remember I was only 24 weeks along right then, slightly less than 6 months pregnant (a month is not 4 weeks long...it's roughly 4.4 weeks long). Dr. Stamm looked at me and said, "Okay, Misty, this is it. You're going to Lutheran. We'll get you ready for the ambulance ride, keep you on the magnesium, and pray for the best." Paul rushed to the hospital. He was crying, and asked me if Evan was coming right now. I said no. I was still sort of in denial, but still very scared.

I will never forget the absolute idiot nurse that tried to start my IV for the ambulance ride. Now, don't get me wrong...I LOVE nurses. I LOVED Evan's nurses. I LOVED my nurses. But this one. This one was a treat. She rubbed and rubbed at my veins, turning my arms over and over, looking at my feet, trying to prep them for entry, then dug around at least three times in each of the four sites she attempted, still not able to get a vein. And the worst part about it was that the whole time, she was looking over her little glasses, talking through her nose, going, "Nope, I just don't see one. Well, hold on, let's try this one," all the while rubbing at me. I'm a very easy patient. Really...I can admit it when I'm difficult. But I'm a dream come true...the entire practice of doctors (8 of them) that dealt with me during my bedrest in Fort Wayne said so. But I so seriously could have decked her one. Finally the nurse manager, a man in his 50's, came in and got it in the first try. The bruises she gave me lasted through to Thanksgiving. AND she had blown all of the sites that they could have used while I was on bedrest in Ft. Wayne! Then she was the one that had the priviledge of escorting me in the ambulance. Goody!

I'll spare the details of getting a catheter for the first time ever. Let's just say, I could have sworn it should have been coming out of my nose by the time she was done inserting it.

The ambulance ride was a blur, as I was hopped up on magnesium sulfate, which makes you very tired. They took me to Parkview because the doctor at Lutheran was unavailable for three more days. I'm SO GLAD for that. I LOVED my nurses, and the NICU at Parkview. I was wheeled into room 394 in Labor and Delivery, and stayed there until October 19th, 2007 at 11:34pm, I was taken to the operating room for an emergency C-section.

I think I'll reminisce about that day when the time comes.

Thanks for listening (reading)!