Yesterday was so beyond normal. Other than the fact that my kid didn't take his nap, it was just a day in the life. In fact, it was the most normal day I've had since the accident. Shem went to work in the morning which meant that Luke and I got back to our 'normal' routine and I got a million chores done and we got to go and visit Grandma and Grandpa Heywood and go to lunch with my mom. So. Normal.
Shem had a church deal that evening and Luke and I went with him. Fun tip: If you're ever going to the stake center to support your husband as he is set apart for a calling, you should know that they probably want you in church dress. My flip-flops and t-shirt were basically the equivalent of screaming profanities. Loudly. During the prayer. Oh, and guess who DID scream loudly during the prayer? Right. Luke. So I took him out of the room to let him wander the halls.
Guess what? There was a basketball game in the cultural hall.
Have you met Luke? The kid is obsessed with that game. He took one peek through the crack in the doors before desperately pleading that I take him inside. When I opened the door, I noticed that the back area of the cultural hall (which in this particular building is a raised stage-type area) was chalk-full of all of the player's wives and kids. And they had extra basketballs up there. And they were just hangin out. And I knew a couple of them. So, we headed over there and I got some mommy time with other mommies and Luke got to clutch an extra basketball with as much love and adoration as a new mother clutches her newborn while he sat at the edge of the stage and watched the guys play basketball with an attention-span the likes of which no one-year-old has ever known.
(P.S. Shout out to Lori Moncur for watching the Duke while I went to be with Shem for his setting apart!)
So as I'm sitting in there, waiting for Shem, I start having Braxton Hicks contractions. Which are totally normal and I get them all the time. But these ones were starting to get more and more frequent. So, I made a mental note and then ignored them. Apparently, that made them mad because instead of giving up and going away, they decided to inflict small amounts of pain along with all the tightness. Still not entirely worried, I chatted happily and watched my kid watch basketball.
For about an hour this went on and the contractions were just not quitting. (As a side note, the game had ended which meant the court was open and my kid had a basketball in his hand. His determination to make it into that hoop knew no bounds. He played with a couple of other kids for that entire hour and STILL screamed bloody murder when it was time to leave. Dear universe, please let him get tall.) As Shem and I drove home, I casually mentioned to him that I'd been having contractions for about an hour and I was pretty sure they were consistent and thought we might want to time them just to be sure.
We timed them when we got home and sure enough, they were coming every 2 and a half to 3 minutes. Which is a great sign if you're full term! And is a really not great sign if you're not full term at all. Guess which one I am?
Let me tell you something about yours truly: I haaaaate being in the hospital. (I mean really, who loves it? In all honesty, I probably hate it a normal amount.) So my desire to go and wait for hours in the ER only to be checked into a room where I would basically be tortured with needles and intravenous drugs all whilst donning one of those super sexy hospital gowns was basically at a negative eleventy. But alas, after another hour or so and a shower for me (I refuse to be stinky and naked simultaneously in front of strangers) I laid down to count the contractions and like clockwork they came. Le Sigh. Also, they were still painful. Double le sigh.
I will now finish this entry in list form. Here is how the rest of the night went:
1. Adam and Shem gave me a blessing. Conveniently, Adam was already at our place because Shem had invited him over to play StarCraft in hopes that it would send his wife into labor during the night since that's what Shem was doing the night before I went into labor with Luke. His wife, Katelyn, whose due date was yesterday, never went into labor. Guess who did? Cruel irony.
2. Adam left.
3. We packed a bag for Luke and ourselves and called my parents to let them know we were on our way. (we'd already called them previously to let them know there was a distinct possibility of hospitalage. --It's a word.)
4. Stopped at a gas station for mixed nuts because hot dang I was hungry. Oh p.s. before we left, I'd downed 40 ounces of water because Mylinda (my sister-in-law who is a Labor and Delivery nurse) told me to. So. I reeeeeally had to pee.
5. ER. Ew. But if you want to be seen really close to immediately in an ER, tell them you're in pre-term labor. We only waited for, like, five minutes. Maybe.
6. Wheelchair rides are super awkward. And also secretly super awesome.
7. Met my labor and delivery nurse who was AWESOME. I wish I could request her for his actual birth. I loved her.
8. Monitors. One for contractions one for the baby's heart beat.
9. Suspicions confirmed: the on-call doctor and my nurse came in to inform me that I was indeed in labor. Treatment: IV fluids (let it be known that I knew that wouldn't work because I'd already downed 40 ounces of water in addition to what I'd already had to drink throughout the day.)
10. IV administration. Low point of the night. I wanted to vomit, pass out and die all at the same time. Which is stupid. Because how many IVs have I had in my life? That's right. A million.
11. 45 minutes of a super freezing arm and the worst television show ever made. TLC really has some winners. Long Island Medium? My only excuse is that I was too tired to search for something decent. Thank goodness they had a TV in there, though, because my sweet husband totally crashed in the highly uncomfortable chair they'd stuck in there.
12. The fluids failed. Shot time. Not nearly as bad as the IV, but still obnoxious. They shot me with Terbutaline which effectively stopped the contractions after another 45 minutes and also made my heart race and my body shake uncontrollably. Have I mentioned how much fun hospitals are?
13. We were discharged.
For some reason I have a sinking feeling that this might not be the end. My goal is to make it to my appointment with my OB tomorrow without having to take another trip to the hospital. (for reasons why I would hate my life if the hospital were the only option, please see numbers 5-12) I'm having contractions and have been all day long, but they are neither consistent nor painful so I've decided to just continue waiting and stay down a lot and drink tons of water and hope that these suckers don't get worse.
For the record, I went into the hospital on Katelyn's due date (April 16th) and was still in the hospital April 17th which is my friend, Nicole's due date. Funny joke, universe. We all really appreciated that.
