Frustration... (some TMI information, just to warn you)

This weekend has been a just a tad bit frustrating.

Friday I went to my OB and had an internal. I was 2 cm and after the internal I became immediately crampy and uncomfortable and was also spotting with some clots. I also went to the Chiropractor and got adjusted. By about 8:00 on Friday night, I was feeling really uncomfortable - my entire groin/lower stomach area was in pretty severe pain. Sort of menstrual cramp-like feelings plus a ton of pressure.

Jay was convinced I would go into labor Friday night but I knew he was wrong. He was insistent though so we timed contractions for a few hours before I finally told him I needed to go to sleep, which I did easily through the contractions. Jay, on the other hand, was so anxious he barely slept Friday night.

Saturday during the day I had no contractions at all - not even BH contractions, which was sort of strange. Then, all of the sudden around 7:30 I started having them regularly and they were a lot stronger than normal. I didn't say anything to Jay because I didn't want to get his hopes up.

Also, by Saturday it was pretty clear from looking that the baby had dropped.

We went to bed around midnight and as soon as I got in bed, pain started radiating from my back to my front and I thought - hmmm........

I got out of bed and walked around, started timing the contractions and finally told Jay that maybe he should stay awake too.

I was in constant pain, even between contractions, which were anywhere from 2 to 5 minutes apart and lasting 30 seconds to just over a minute. Our doula, Lorraine, said to just keep timing them to see if they got longer/stronger and let her know when I started to see pink/bloody discharge when I peed.

At about 1:15, after taking a shower, I started to see pink every time I peed. I got in the tub and the contractions got stronger, rather than weaker and were getting closer together.

We called Lorraine and she decided she would come over in about 1-2 hours. We were so excited - we were going to have a baby!

By the time she got to our house around 3:30, I was having contractions between 45-55 seconds every 2 minutes or so. We timed them on the couch and birthing ball until about 5:00 and then decided to go on a walk around the neighborhood.

We went on a walk for about an hour and the contractions stayed about 2 minutes apart but increased in length to between 55 and 75 seconds. She wanted them to consistently stay well over 60 seconds before we went to the hospital.

We went back home and listened to a Hypnobabies track meant for during labor and I fell asleep, but woke up to way more intense contractions, although they hadn't gotten any longer or closer together.

Then over the next hour or so, they just completely stopped. We tried to walk again to get them to start but .... nothing.

I'm not even full term yet, so it's not the end of the world that baby is still safe and snuggled for now, but I had it in my mind that today was the big day and it is just so hard to wrap my head around the fact that I have no idea when this is happening - or that I could go through contractions like that for 9 straight hours and have it just stop.

It's funny because I think if we had not have hired a doula I would have probably gone to L&D around 6 am when the contractions were around a minute long and 2-3 minutes apart, because that's basically when they say you should go. I bet if we had gone, they would have admitted me. And then I would have stalled. And then I would have been given pitocin and an epidural and god knows what else.

So, I am glad I avoided that whole situation if he is just not ready yet.

So now, after taking a nap, we are going to eat some lunch and then run some errands and hope that the activity will help things speed along.