Tuesday, December 1, 2009

False Alarm

We started the castor oil yesterday at 2:45. I finished up my last dose around 5:00. Austin and I played cards while we waited for it to kick in. I started having pretty good regular contractions around 6:30 right around the time the castor oil started doing its job. Shelley and Donnie came over around 7:00 and we played dominoes and talked through my contractions. I called Corinne and Melissa (midwife) at 7:30 because they were getting much closer together, stronger, and more consistent. They told me to put my feet up and get some rest. I climbed into bed while Austin showered and cleaned up around the house. I tried to sleep but mainly just watched TV and rested. I took a warm bath to help with my back pain and that helped some. I kept having strong contractions until around 1:30. They picked up pretty good at that point so I called Corinne and Melissa to come on over. Corinne got here pretty immediately to check my blood pressure and Andrew's heart beat. Andrew's heart rate was good but my blood pressure was high since Corinne took it mid-contraction. We laid around for awhile until I got too uncomfortable to lay in the bed. We came into the den and Austin fixed me a snack. Melissa got here around 3:00 and checked my blood pressure again which had come down considerably. We labored in the den for awhile longer and then Melissa decided to check me to see how far along I was. Since they were coming one on top of another and were really strong, I figured I was much further along than I actually was. I was still only 1 1/2 cm dialated. Super discouraging. I was having such strong contractions because of the castor oil and all of the crazy back labor since Andrew is posterior. They sent us to bed to rest since it looked like we may be in for a long night. Austin of course slept like a baby and I absolutely did not. Being in the bed felt terrible in any position I got in because my back hurt so bad with every contraction. I tried to sleep in the tub, but gave up and got back in the bed. I finally got to sleep around 7:30 and rested until 9:45. They came in periodically to check Andrew's heart rate and he was perfect every time. Melissa checked me again and I had progressed a little since she checked me last but not very much. We woke up to start our day and to see what moving around would do to my contractions. I showered and Melissa and I decided that I should just go on with my day like I normally would. Austin and I went to eat lunch and we walked around the block with Ramsey. My contractions tapered off enough to let me sleep and when I woke up, they had stopped altogether.

SO...that is where we are now. I guess that little Andrew realized that he needed to turn around before he could be safely born. We are hoping for some more action in the next couple of days. We are going to Southaven tomorrow for one last ultrasound to check on our boy. I feel much more relaxed and okay with the wait now. We have basically one more week to try to do this at home so pray for little Andrew's quick arrival.