I've been meaning to write this down ever since I got home, but for some reason have had trouble sitting down for long enough (I wonder why?! :-) ), but it's really starting to fade from memory now so I figured I'd better hurry up and do it...
When I found out I was pregnant, I had a definite idea in my mind of what my labor would be like. I would work up until my due date, and go into labor when I was ready. I would have an all natural delivery without an epidural. I would have no problems because I come from hardy Czech stock.
So, for about 29 weeks, that was a great plan.
A couple of weeks after we got back from our babymoon in Seattle, I went to my regular doctor's visit expecting everything to be normal like always, but my blood pressure was high. I figured it was all the Dick's cheeseburgers we ate on our trip, but my doctor seemed concerned. She had my blood drawn for some tests, and gave me a bucket to collect my urine for 24 hours. This was not a fun task, to say the least! I ended up filling up my bucket and had to use a Gatorade jug for the rest, much to Charles's amusement. In the next week I didn't hear anything from the doctor, so I figured everything was fine. I did try to eat healthier and rest, and monitored my blood pressure at home and it was fine. No problem.
A month later I went back to my doctor. It turned out that my urine had shown an elevated level of protein, which along with high blood pressure is an indicator of pre-eclampsia. My doctor had gone on vacation that week and somehow it had slipped through the cracks. Now she seemed even more concerned, but I still just knew there was nothing wrong with me. She had me do the 24-hour urine collection again -no!! This time I asked for two jugs. Later that week they called and said they had found protein again, and I was to go on full bedrest. What?!! This was not part of the plan!
But, I have always been one to follow instructions, so I stayed on the couch for three weeks. It was nice to get to spend time with Charles, and I did lots of reading and a couple of jigsaw puzzles. Luckily I have a high boredom threshold.
Meanwhile, Zachary was growing bigger and bigger - at 34 weeks they estimated he was 6 lb 4 oz, in the 78th percentile. My doctor seemed a little concerned about this too, but I was expecting a big baby so I wasn't surprised.
By this time I was going to the doctor twice a week to get my blood pressure checked, and it was holding pretty steady. I never showed any other signs of pre-eclampsia, and a third 24-hour urine collection showed that the protein was gone. But then week 36 came around and my blood pressure shot up again. My doctor sent me to the hospital for observation and more tests, but everything came back okay and they let me go home. The writing was on the wall though, she wasn't going to let me go much longer. I really wasn't happy about the idea of induction, but I tried to get my mind used to it.
At the beginning of my 38th week, I went for another ultrasound and they estimated Zachary was now 8 lb 12 oz. That afternoon I went to see Dr. Schneider and she said it was time, and we scheduled my induction to begin that Wednesday evening. By this time I was getting excited about seeing my baby, and a little weary of the constant monitoring, so I had come to terms with the idea of induction and missing the mad dash to the hospital that I had always envisioned. But then she tells me that because the baby is so high and I am not dilated at all, I have a 50/50 chance I'll end up needing a c-section. Great, just great! I really did not want a c-section. I don't know why I was so dead-set against it, but it just made me really upset to think I wouldn't even get my natural delivery. I already knew that the induction would probably make labor more painful, so I was trying to keep my mind open about the epidural, but a c-section? No way!! I decided that just wasn't going to happen.
Oops, baby is waking up - to be continued...
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