Playing In Labor/Delivery: What I Learned On Our Trial Run

So Sunday I had some great pressure waves all day. They were 7 to 8 minutes a part pretty much all day and then around 6:30 pm they jumped to 3 and 4 minutes a part. I got excited. Sean had already left for work so I called my oldest son, Austin, over to stay the night. I simply told him I'd just feel more comfortable if he was here in case anything were to happen. 
I had called Sean a couple times at work letting him know how close things were...this was a first, I've never called him once work starts so he was pretty ready to go into the hospital just based on my own new behavior.
So, the contractions continue on for over an hour and after talking with my cousin, Tiff, I decide we'll just go in and get at least checked. Sean made it home and we decided to take Maddie with us until we knew for sure we'd be staying the night.

We arrived at the hospital around 9:30 p.m. and I was checked and put on a machine to monitor everything. I was 4 cm dilated and 50% effaced. I was really surprised that I hadn't thinned out anymore than I had, in the past, this was never an issue and seemed to happen fairly quickly, but this time around it's been three weeks and I've now only gotten to 50%. Anyway, I was still excited about the 4 cm. This still put us in the first stage of labor but only 1 cm over and we'd be considered active. :)
I realized quickly I was not enjoying the whole lay in the bed hooked up to a machine time. The bed was uncomfortable, the belts were tight, and the baby kept moving so I kept having to be readjusted not to my comfort but to pick up the heart beat. I ended up on my side where my hip began aching...by this time I was  frustrated and ready to go home.

Now, on a positive note here, this was my first enjoyable time in the labor/delivery area. My last two hospital births had been intense and intimidating. It was refreshing to meeting my nurse, Charity, and to actually have a moment to connect with her, share my fears of this only being false labor, and to really get comfortable in a hospital setting. It wasn't until later, with a different nurse, and all the monitoring that I began myself shutting down and wanting to return to my own place of comfort...home.
After an hour, Charity came in to ask how I felt everything was going. I explained that I felt more waves while walking rather than just sitting in the bed. We decided to spend the next hour walking the halls. She wanted to make complete sure we weren't in active labor before sending me home since this was my 4th baby.

Maddie and I walked around the hospital. She did an amazing job being such a big girl. We tipped-toe around since by then it was 10:00 pm and everyone was sleeping. We saw a couple of families waiting for their baby and we even got to see a woman wheeled off to a c-section {that was not a pretty sight. She laid there all quiet, not moving...I thought she was dead.} Anyway, I can't imagine a 10:00 at night c-section to be a planned event so I assumed it was being considered an emergency... definitely not a situation any mother wants to be in.
I knew Charity was going to check me again around 11:00 pm so Maddie and I headed back to my room. I was getting tired by now and I knew in my heart everything had stopped. We would be heading home. I wasn't too completely let down, I would rather be at home than stuck in a hospital bed for the night.
My doc and I had agreed that we'd do very minimal medical intervention so I knew I wasn't doing pitocin or other medications to soften the cervix, this was simply going to be a waiting game. We headed home, stopped off for food, since it seemed everyone was starving, and Maddie and I finally made it to bed around 1:00 a.m. She was a trooper I must say. Daddy was a great supporter. And I didn't cry when I realized I wasn't in full blown labor. :)
I now know for sure that I want to be in active labor when I go in. I also realize that it wont be as comfortable as my home birth but that's the compromise I'm making. My next doctor appointment is in a few days and depending on where my cervix is then, I may ask my dr. to sweep my membranes but that's about as far as we're going to go at this point. We'll have this baby, eventually. :)
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