False Labor

I had never heard of false labor until recently.  I thought you were either in labor or not.  Yeah, I was wrong.  There's a lot to think about when you're waiting for your Sea Monkey to arrive.  You've got Braxton Hicks contractions, real labor and now I come to find out, this nasty thing called "false labor".  Basically, false labor is when you think it's the real thing and then come to find out it's not.  Take yesterday as an example ....

Starting at 9:30 in the morning, I was feeling contractions.  Nothing crazy but I could tell my body was gearing up for something.  They came pretty regularly every hour and I was starting to get a little excited.  Around 7:00 at night, they got closer together - about every 40 minutes or so.  I got even more excited because they got closer together.  But of course, as soon as I went to bed .... BAM!  They stopped.  Nothing.  Not even a tiny little twinge of a contraction.  What the heck?  It's really not fair.  Especially since this has been happening to me for the past several days. 

I talked to my doctor about it and she smiled and sympathized with me.  I told her how everyone keeps telling me that "you'll know when it's real".  But will I?  I've thought it was "real" so many times already ... just to get a little excited and then shot down when everything comes to a screeching halt.  It's very frustrating.  But my doctor assured me that yes, I'll just "know" when it's the real thing.  She said if I was trying to figure out if it was real or not, it's not real. 

So I guess I need to be patient.  (Not one of the qualities I'd use to describe myself) ... Just like I don't know how to relax, patience is something I struggle with.  What in the heck is Sea Monkey waiting for?  Everything's ready for him.  His room is all set up, we have literally everything we need for him, his clothes are washed, the car seat is installed, my hospital bag is packed, Grammy & Pop (my parents) are in town .... We are all waiting for you little guy!  I feel like I'm all dressed up for a party but have nowhere to go.  But we all continue to wait.

Even Mike is getting a little impatient.  When I was at my doctor's appointment on Tuesday, I texted him from the waiting room to see if he had any questions for the doctor.  His reply was, "Ask her what's taking so long."  LOL!  Yeah, like she's gonna know why Sea Monkey refuses to be born.  Any serious questions honey?  No ....

As usual, the nurse took me into the exam room - took my weight, and blood pressure.  She never told me what the blood pressure was because it's always perfect (of course, I mean look whose blood pressure you're taking!)  She asked if everything was going ok or if I had concerns.  I told her I just had the normal complaints but nothing was really "wrong".  A few minutes (more like 15, but I really don't mind because I love my doctor) Dr. Mahoney came in.  Here's how our conversation went:

She took one look at me and said, "What's wrong?" 
Me: "I'm still pregnant".
Dr. Mahoney: "Yeah, but you look more upset than usual."
Me:  "I'm still pregnant". 
Dr. Mahoney: (laughed)
Me:  "How can we change that?"
Dr. Mahoney: (laughed again)

Basically she still can't do much for me until I'm 39 weeks (which happens Sunday the 28th, but whose counting?).  She said she'd do an exam and check to see if I was dilated. YAY! I'm dilated 1 centimeter (the visual comparison most commonly used is a cheerio).  While she was doing the exam, she also "stripped my membranes".  Sounds fun, right?  Basically what she did was separate the bag of water from my uterus.  Supposedly it releases a hormone that helps labor get started.  Yeah, so far it's done nothing for me but give me false hope that something was happening.  We talked a lot - Basically what came out of the appointment was that if Sea Monkey isn't born before next Monday, we'll check dilation again and discuss induction. 

If I've made a decent amount of progress in the dilation department, she will induce me.  If I haven't, she said we can still move forward with induction, but that I have to get all these other drugs first that will soften / shorten the cervix and help me dilate.  It could take a few days.  I'm thinking sitting around the hospital for a few days waiting for my cervix to do something doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun.  I think I'll pass on that part.

So we continue to wait .... and wait .... I'm trying to not get too excited about contractions when I feel them, but it's hard.  I want Sea Monkey to come out!  Not only because I want my body back, but we are all anxious to meet the little guy. 

We never know what each day will bring .... and each day I hope "this is the day" he will be born.  So I'll get back to work and try to distract myself and not watch the clock waiting to feel a contraction.  Hopefully (probably just wishful thinking) this is my last post before we get the party started.  If not, I'll be updating you after my doctor's appointment on Monday morning.