I'm Not Quite as Ready as They Thought

The important summary details: I'm home, and the baby is not here yet. We're both doing well. Lots more details follow...

We arrived at the hospital last night and settled in for our evening induction. After getting settled with a hep lock /soon to be IV, and an hour of monitoring the baby's heartbeat, I received the first of two planned prostin gel insertions. That was lots of fun, but the bigger issue was being so tied down to machines - I had two monitors (baby's heartbeat and a contraction monitor), and the IV fluid line.

That was around 11:15, and then L and I tried to settle in and get some rest before my second gel insertion which was schedule for 4 hours later (i.e. 3:15). Unfortunately, between the straps and lines and beeping and the nurse coming in to adjust the monitors or turn of the IV alarm which kept going off, it made for a very rough night. L was about 5 feet away in the guest area of the suite but the privacy curtain didn't let him miss much of the commotion, so he didn't get a lot more sleep than I did. I think I managed about 1.5 or maybe 2 hours total, split up in 30 minute segments, and he *maybe* doubled that, also in broken up segments.

The second dose of prostin was as effective as the first, which is to say not at all. My cervix didn't budge, and no contractions started.

I expected the pitocin to be started around 7:30, but instead my nurse contacted the doctor and filled her in on the lack of progress. Because my blood pressure had been dropping all evening and was looking great, the doctor was willing to discuss sending me home on strict bed rest instead of continuing on with the induction since apparently this baby wasn't ready to budge.

I was *thrilled* to have that option. After the long night, I was exhausted and hungry and uncomfortable, and labor hadn't even started - I wondered how I'd manage and thought it was just setting up to really make a c-section more likely.

So finally after instructions and an appointment set up for tomorrow morning involving an ultrasound/blood work/blood pressue check/etc, I was sent home.

Where I took a shower and planned to update the blog but instead fell asleep on the couch and have only just woken up enough to write this update. :)

Tomorrow at 11:00 I've got that appointment, and we'll see. I hope that my blood pressure continues to look good enough and he looks good enough that they let me start labor naturally. It's just a real wait and see time.

Oh, and since I haven't said this clearly enough, the only other reason they allowed me to go home was because the baby looked GREAT. He was monitored for around 15 hours at the hospital, plus 2+ hours in triage yesterday afternoon and his heartbeat was always fantastic. I was the one in bad shape yesterday.

I'll try and update tomorrow after my appointment. If nothing else, I've been in text contact with Jennifer and she may be willing and able to put updates in the comments if & when things get started for real.

Thanks everyone for your well-wishes and prayers (and continued prayers.) :) Hope to have good news soon!

Updated to add the super fun chore I do have to do as part of my condition to coming home. Collecting all my urine for 24 hours so they can test it for protein to make sure my kidneys are functioning well. Yes, that's right, I'm collecting my pee. Pee into a "hat" that's set in the toilet, pour it into a measuring cup and record how much I peed and when, and the pour that into the collection jug which is kept in the fridge. Lovely. Fortunately the collection jug is dark so it's not quite as obvious what the jug in the fridge actually contains, but man this is weird. And I'm sure I'm going to love walking into the doctor's office with that jug tomorrow. What a fun prize for them!