March 12

This morning we had an appointment scheduled with my regular OB. We were hoping for some progress since our visit Thursday night but I was trying not to get my hopes up. At the hospital on Thursday/Friday morning I was only dilated about 1cm, this morning at my appointment she thought I was probably about 3cm! She thought things were probably going to start to get going quickly and was hoping we would deliver within the next couple of days. Early afternoon I started having contractions again, and they were feeling a bit  painful right from the beginning. They were only a few minutes apart but we wanted to make sure they didn't stop so we waited several hours before going in again. We got there and the Doctor on call, who we really liked, said I was about 4cm dilated but said for her to be sure these were real labor contractions she would need to see a progression from there while we were at the hospital. Once again we got sent out to the hallway for some walking, this time for 2 hours. We walked and walked, contractions kept going and got stronger but nothing else happened. The Dr. said she just wasn't sure so she couldn't admit us, so told us we could either stay there for a few more hours to walk some more (there was no way I could walk more after 2 straight hours of it) or go home for a few hours and at least be a little more comfortable. Part of me thought that if I left and went home my contractions would stop again, but Caleb reminded how uncomfortable those triage beds were and convinced me I would feel better at home. The Dr. told us since we lived so close we should get something to eat and come back if my contractions got worse, or even if they didn't to come back in a few hours to see if I was making any progress. She really made us feel comfortable and she was so caring.

The picture above is Cameron eating dinner at home with my parents who were waiting for updates. We stopped and got some dinner at Chipotle and went home to eat. Cameron went home with my parents so if we needed to go back he would already be up there with them, and we wouldn't need to wait for the to come down to be with him. I was able to take a shower which I ended up being very grateful for. After my shower we were going to head out to get some ice cream when my contractions seemed to kick in to high gear so we went right back to the hospital instead. I was dilated to 5cm so we automatically got to stay! 

Here's the labor and delivery room we were admitted to and this is where we stayed until Carter was born and we were moved to a postnatal room.