Giving Birth, Chapter 2

We arrived at the hospital approximately 20 minutes later and we walked up to the door, announced our presence, and were ushered into the "natural birthing room."  I was told to put on one of those lovely hospital robes that has no discernable shape that fits over the human body.  I had to ask Hubby to come in and help me.  I don't know how he knew how to put it on; he's never been admitted to a hospital before. He seemed to get it right, though.  At least, we never heard anything derogatory about how it was put together.  Is it weird that I'm apparently fixated on the hospital robe?

Anyway, I laid down in the hospital bed and one of the nurses came in to attach a couple of monitors to me and check to see how far along I was.  The nurse thought I was 90% effaced and dilated to a 4.  They decided to wait an hour before officially admitting me to the hospital.  If I had progressed, then I was almost definitely in labor.  If not, then they'd send me home.

We settled in to wait.  Before long, we were wishing we had brought books to read.  At the same time, Hubby and I have always had interesting conversations, so we talked.  We called my friend who was scheduled to come over to our house for dinner that night and told her we'd have to cancel.  We twiddled our thumbs.  We decided not to call family members until we knew more about what was going on.  Through all of this, the contractions faded somewhat, then picked up in intensity, then faded again.  They never comepletely went away, though.

At the hour mark, the nurse came back in to check me again.  Apparently I was dilated to a 5.  I had progressed, but not enough to really say I was in labor.  They decided to wait another hour before officially admitting me.

Through all of this, they were keeping in contact with my doctor.  She was delivering another baby at another hospital, but was advising them in what to do with me.  If I had been further along in the pregnancy, they may have given me something to speed things along.  If I had been less than 36 weeks, they may have given me something to stop me progressing any further.  As it was, I just at the border of every deciding factor, and so they mostly left me alone.  And so we waited.