Carter's Birth Story...The Beginning

Our little man's birth story starts on Thursday, October 25th.  It started out as just a normal day.  I took my 38 week picture from the last post before work.  I made the comment that I was hoping I wouldn't have to take the 40 week picture, but little did I know just how quickly he was going to come!
I worked that day as usual, and took off early around 3 to head to my weekly doctor's appointment.  I picked Brent up as he was getting off work and we got checked in to the doctor's office.  When they called me back, they checked my blood pressure & weight like always.  I was curious to see my blood pressure reading as they said it was a bit high and rechecked it the week before at my 37 week appointment.  As soon as the nurse took my blood pressure, her facial expression completely changed and Brent & I both could tell something was up.  When we got to the exam room and the doctor came in, the first words out of her mouth were that we wouldn't be going home!  She said that my blood pressure was way too high and that it could be either just high blood pressure or pre-eclampsia, which would explain my major swelling as well.  She sent us to labor and delivery to monitor my blood pressure all night and to do a 12 hour urine collection which would tell us if I had pre-eclampsia and needed to be induced.  Even if it was just high blood pressure, I would likely be induced about a week later at 39 weeks.
I had been waiting so long for the time for Carter's big arrival, but when the doctor said that I immediately felt nervous and worried.  He was really coming, and our lives were about to change!  Plus, our bags were packed, but they were at home, and there were a few last minute things that I would have liked to have been able to throw in there.  And Brent was in his dirty work clothes!
So Brent & I headed up to labor & delivery, got checked in, and I was hooked up to the blood pressure machine, had an IV put in, and was shown how to do the urine collection.  Once I was settled, Brent made a run home to shower and pack his part of the bag (he never would because he said it would jinx us).  I just laid there and tried to concentrate on watching some TV and resting the best I could.

Brent brought us back some Taco Bell for supper.  Then my mom & little sisters came to visit us for awhile before it was time to get some sleep.  I felt really bad because my mom had planned her annual friends shopping trip to Nashville for the next day, but she couldn't go since it was very likely I would be having a baby!  But I'm sure she didn't mind too much since she got her first sweet grandson out of the deal.

Thankfully, my doctor stopped by around 11pm and offered me a sleeping pill so I could get some rest and save my energy in case we would induce the next day.  It definitely helped, because I had all this nervous energy that made it impossible to sleep, not to mention the blood pressure sleeve that took a reading every thirty minutes to an hour.  I was able to get a decent amount of sleep anyways.

The next morning around 8, my doctor returned with the results from the urine collection.  My results: I was one gram of protein below the definite pre-eclampsia measurement.  Because I was so close and my swelling was so bad, she got permission to start the induction.  And that was that, I was started on the pitocin drip and it was just a waiting game from there on out.  She said it could take longer than one day, and if by that night I hadn't made much progress, they would turn off the pitocin to let me get some rest and start it up again Saturday morning.  I prayed that would not happen!  I was ready to meet my little man!