visit to the hospital

 Let me first start off by saying all is well.  I am doing great, but most importantly Judah is still doing great and kicking up a storm daily.  I've never been more thankful to feel those kicks and hiccups.

A couple days before I turned 37 weeks (last Thursday),  I had a scare that I was not prepared for.  I felt something and figured it was just normal, but then I felt that the top of my leg was wet and went running to the bathroom only to discover it was anything but normal--blood-soaked underwear awaited me and I've never been more terrified in all my life.  I immediately called my doctor's office and they said to come in asap.

I was surprisingly calm driving to the hospital, but desperately praying to feel Judah.  "Just let me feel him kick one time, so I know he's ok."  With that, I felt a little nudge.  You would think it would calm my nerves, but I wanted more nudges and kicks.  Joel met me at the elevator and we were rushed right in for examination.  We waited what felt like an eternity, but thankfully Judah's kicks became more consistent--but I wanted answers.  My calmness began to fade, but Joel was steadily calm and keeping my worry at bay by reminding me of what I already knew.

The NP came in to check me out, but said my doctor wanted to see me as well--I had dilated a half cm from when I was checked on Monday, but she still couldn't tell why I was bleeding.  My doctor finally came and checked me again said she wanted me to have an ultrasound done and then go to our labor/delivery hospital for monitoring. She wanted to check the placenta (that it was still in tact) and my fluids (to make sure my water hadn't broken and that my amniotic levels were ok).

We waited for an ultrasound for an hour--I was going crazy at this point.  Even though it was an emergency, it still didn't get priority over anyone else.  We finally get in and out and head back up to the doctor's office.  She says everything looks good, but she still wants me to get monitored and that she would come check on me later that afternoon.

So we head to our labor/delivery hospital, get registered, and I get hooked up.  It was such a wonderful sound to hear his heartbeat on the monitor.

Once I'm all situated, I immediately turn on baseball, because as luck would have it, it was Opening Day that Joel had been looking forward to for months. It made me so sad for him that he ended up in the hospital after all this time.  I had even made him a little Opening Day basket that morning with all his favorite snacks and a couple things for his softball season coming up--to which he didn't even get to enjoy.

After a few hours, the nurse comes in and said that the doctor will probably send me home, but wanted to get an IV started since I had been without food or drink for a while.  I've never been in a hospital bed before, much less get an IV.  This was so not pleasant and as the nurse was getting samples, blood started shooting everywhere.  I couldn't look, but I felt it dripping off my fingers.  The nurse's response was, "Oh wow, you have great veins!"  That's nice, please seal it off now was all I was thinking.

My doctor comes a little later and says that I'm contracting and she is going to keep me overnight.  Then she checks me again and sees that I've dilated a little more.  From there, she gives us two options.  Option 1: Stay the night on the monitors and see if I progress on my own and if the bleeding stops.  Option 2: Induce.

What?!? Me and Joel exchanged glances like, "I'm sorry, what?  Come again?" She went on the explain that since she doesn't know why I was bleeding, and I am contracting regularly and dilating, then she wants to give us the option to get the baby out.  Since I was basically 37 weeks,  she said she was more than comfortable in  inducing and us having a baby by morning--in fact she said there was a 60% chance we would.  I asked what the risks were with each option and she said none, so we decided to wait and see if overnight my symptoms stopped.  From there, we prayed that it was a clear answer.  We didn't want to have to decide what to do if I kept contracting, stopped bleeding, and kept dilating or if I kept bleeding, stopped contracting, or kept dilating, etc.  We prayed for either all three to still be present or all three to be gone.

After the doctor left, we realized that we had ZERO baby things and  no clothes or toiletries. Our friends Cody and Brittany came to the hospital and while Brit kept me company, Joel and Cody left to bring our civic back that was still in the other hospital's parking lot, grab some clothes, pack a baby bag (just in case), and get the car seat in the car.  All these things were on my 37 week pregnant to do list.  Thanks babycenter.com! :)

I feel asleep before they got back, but woke up again around 1 am and went in and out of sleep all night.  If I had labor waiting for me in the morning, then I was going to be exhausted.

Thankfully, that morning when the doctor came in, she said that the baby looked great, my contractions had slowed, she didn't see any new blood, and I wasn't dilated anymore than yesterday.  And that she was going to let us go home--no more talk of induction.  Praise God!

Joel and I later admitted that we were a bit sad not to get to have him quite yet, but we agreed that a little more time in there is what he must have needed.   It's definitely no coincidence that the Lord is teaching me trust and this happens--so I'm continuing to lean on that and what I've learned and continue to learn to get me through these next couple weeks.

Thanks to everyone who called, texted, and emailed.  We definitely felt your prayers and continue to feel them.  We're praying that it all happens quickly with no confusion or scary moments and that Judah continues to make his presence known.  :)