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"Lots of false labor" induction story - very very long
Short version!
We went to the hospital/doctor 3 times that day.
Got no sleep for almost 40 hours.
Had contractions for 26 hours at home before the hospital admitted me. I was only 1 cm dilated, but I really really wanted to be admitted so I can finally get some pain medication and some rest.
Induction was successful. Epidural is magic.
Pushed for one hour, got a second degree tear.
Baby is beautiful!
Long version!
I started cramp-like contractions around 10 pm on Monday night (June 23). They were about 30-45 seconds in duration, about 10 minutes apart. They were painful enough where I couldn't sleep, and ended up being about 5-7 minutes apart by 9:30 am. I had an OB visit that day anyways at 9:30 am on Tuesday, June 24th, so we went for the normal visit. Was 147 lbs, blood pressure normal, urine normal, only 1 cm dilated. My super nice doctor then told us "You are not in labor. People in labor don't smile and look happy like you do right now. Trust me, if you are in labor, YOU'LL KNOW." I guess people in real labor don't try to dress cute and put on makeup?
Of course, this entire time, I was still having consistent painful contractions every 5 minutes. During my non-contraction time though, I felt perfectly normal.
We drove home to wait it out. Funny thing is, I didn't tell anyone at work that I was having contractions, and I tried to distract myself from the pain by doing some work from home. This consisted of mostly chatting with my coworkers through instant messenger, and no one was able to tell that I was having contractions. To them, all was normal (I started working from home on that Monday). I was dead tired since I didn't get any sleep the previous night and I couldn't sleep through the pain since it occurred so frequently.
Finally, around noon, the pain got more painful, but they didn't get closer in frequency. I had enough of waiting around in lots of pain, and called the hospital, who advised that I come in, since my contractions were 5 minutes apart and lasting about 30-45 seconds each time. When we got to the hospital, my nurse informed me that I was still only 1 cm dilated and could not be admitted at this time. I was so sad. This was our second drive to the hospital area, which is about 45 minutes from home, and I was tired of going back and forth.
We went home to continue to labor at home. At this point, the contractions were extremely painful, and I was really overwhelmed how painful it was and still not be considered "real labor". From all medical professionals we met that day, we continued to hear the same words "You are in early early early labor, it WILL GET WORSE and then you'll know you are in labor". I was in so much pain during the contractions, I had no idea how I would even be able to survive or endure even worse pain before I am allowed to be admitted to the hospital and thus be ok'd for some serious pain medication. I went through lots of crying at this point due to frustration and pain and lack of sleep. I honestly just wanted to be admitted so I can get pain medication. Plus, I hadn't slept in so many hours that I was just too exhausted.
We continued to time the contractions until about 11:30 pm Tuesday night (still June 24th). They were about 3 minutes apart for about 20 minutes when we decided that I must be even more dilated and it was time to go to the hospital again. (The hospital will admit you when you are at least 3 cm dilated). We went in again and told the hospital staff that it was my second visit that day. The head nurse told us that I was STILL ONLY 1 CM DILATED.
I started to cry. I was so frustrated that I was in so much pain and still so far from 1) being admitted 2) being in real labor 3) having this baby. I thought to myself "How the heck do normal women do this? How can they stand this pain every 3-5 minutes for days without sleep?" They tried to stretch me to 2 cm which hurt like the dickens.
After the stretching, they had me rotate to lay on my left side to continue to monitor the baby's heartrate and mine. While moving to my left side, the baby's heart rate dipped below 120 beats/minute and stayed that way for a small amount of time. It resumed it's normal heartrate (about 150 beats/minute) quickly. My head nurse stated "I think we just got your ticket for admission. The baby's heartrate went down to 120 and that's a cause of concern. We'll need to check with the on-call doctor to confirm you can be admitted." At this time, I was so tired and frustrated at the birthing process that I didn't want to get my hopes up.
They came back, and told us we were allowed to be admitted. Hurrah! I can get some pain medication! My baby will be born!
I got my IV put in and they put me on a single dose of morphine to take away some of the contraction pain. The morphine started to kick in and I got woozy and started to talk like I was drunk, but luckily the contraction pain was slightly dulled. The morphine never completely gets rid of the pain. The pain was still at the level where I couldn't sleep. I got a regular nurse assigned to me, who worked until 7 am. She introduced herself to me and then told me a summary of what I should be expecting that day. OMG she talked so much. I was nice and kept nodding and saying ok to her, but she kept going and going. I guess I was too nice to tell her to shut up. Heehee.
Since I was only 1 cm dilated, they put me on Pitocin to induce my labor to start. Nurse also said that the doctor will break my water in the morning if I am dilated enough. The Pitocin started working rather quickly and I felt the contractions getting stronger and closer together. The first dose of morphine wore off, and they asked if I wanted my second dose. The important thing about this question is that they only give you two doses of morphine before the epidural and the second dose is much less effective than the first dose since your body is already tolerated to the painkiller. I had thought that I could only get the epidural if I was 3 cm dilated, so I told her that the pain, although severe, was not bad enough where I had to have my second dose of morphine right away. I would rather wait until I was about 3 cm dilated or just before, when the pain would be REALLY bad before getting it. The nurse heard my explanation and reassured me that I can get the epidural as soon as my second dose of morphine wore off, even if I wasn't 3 cm dilated. I guess they have a really liberal pain medication philosophy there Fine by me, I hate pain
The second dose of morphine was placed, and they doubled up my Pit IV to make me contract more. I was finally 1.5 cm around 5 am. 5 hours of Pitocin and only 0.5 cm more? Ugh, when will this baby be born?
I got the epidural and it didn't hurt. The IV placement hurt more than the epidural. After the epidural was placed, I couldn't feel my contractions at all. It worked like magic. I bow down to the power of the epidural. Finally, I was able to get some rest, hurrah!
In the morning, the doctor came to pop my water and I still didn't feel anything. I just continued sleeping, with hourly checks from my new morning nurse.
I consistently dilated 1 cm per hour until about 1-2 pm, when I dilated from 4 to 8 cm. I was quickly at 10 cm before I knew it, and my nurse did some "practice" pushes with me, with my husband helping out. It was pretty fun, pushing and just chatting with the nurse about her job, her husband, her house, etc. Then, she told me to get some rest so the baby can drop a little more. She came back an hour later, and we did some more practice pushing. We practiced for about 45 minutes, and I asked the nurse "Are we still practicing or is this the real thing?" She laughed and said it was "real" pushing this entire time, except for the very first practice session. She then told me that she thinks that I will need the assistance of a vacuum to help the baby come out, and that scared me so much. I didn't want a vacuum, for vanity reasons in that I didn't want the baby to have a cone-head, but she told me that the baby will probably have a cone-head anyways, since she's been stuck in the birth canal for some time now.
My fabulous OB came in around 3:00 pm, and they prepared the entire room for the birth. Up until then, the room was very peaceful, with dim lighting and just the three of us, nurse, me, and my husband. Once the doctor came in, two more nurses came in, along with a huge tray of medical tools and devices. They covered the floor with lots of protective padding (to catch the blood I guess). The nurse checked my epidural, and said that it just ran out. That scared the heck out of me, since I have the lowest pain tolerance of anyone I know. But they assured me that the medication will still remain in my body for a while and I trusted them. The doctor then examined me, and said that she advised an episiotomy. Of course I didn't want one - I didn't want to tear at all, naturally or unnaturally. But I trusted the staff and just said ok. (I also just wanted the baby out of there so I can stop pushing. Pushing is exhausting, especially if you don't know if you are doing it right since you can't feel your contractions). I did about 3 pushes with the doctor without the tear or the vacuum. Then, she did the episiotomy and vacuum for the last two pushes, and the baby came out!
My husband cut the cord, and we were both tearing at this point. It was the best feeling in the world to hold the squirmy little baby. She was so cute and precious and LOUD! All of us were impressed by her screams.
That's it, my long-false-labor-I-went-to-the-doctor/hospital-three-times-in-one-day story
We went to the hospital/doctor 3 times that day.
Got no sleep for almost 40 hours.
Had contractions for 26 hours at home before the hospital admitted me. I was only 1 cm dilated, but I really really wanted to be admitted so I can finally get some pain medication and some rest.
Induction was successful. Epidural is magic.
Pushed for one hour, got a second degree tear.
Baby is beautiful!
Long version!
I started cramp-like contractions around 10 pm on Monday night (June 23). They were about 30-45 seconds in duration, about 10 minutes apart. They were painful enough where I couldn't sleep, and ended up being about 5-7 minutes apart by 9:30 am. I had an OB visit that day anyways at 9:30 am on Tuesday, June 24th, so we went for the normal visit. Was 147 lbs, blood pressure normal, urine normal, only 1 cm dilated. My super nice doctor then told us "You are not in labor. People in labor don't smile and look happy like you do right now. Trust me, if you are in labor, YOU'LL KNOW." I guess people in real labor don't try to dress cute and put on makeup?
Of course, this entire time, I was still having consistent painful contractions every 5 minutes. During my non-contraction time though, I felt perfectly normal. We drove home to wait it out. Funny thing is, I didn't tell anyone at work that I was having contractions, and I tried to distract myself from the pain by doing some work from home. This consisted of mostly chatting with my coworkers through instant messenger, and no one was able to tell that I was having contractions. To them, all was normal (I started working from home on that Monday). I was dead tired since I didn't get any sleep the previous night and I couldn't sleep through the pain since it occurred so frequently.
Finally, around noon, the pain got more painful, but they didn't get closer in frequency. I had enough of waiting around in lots of pain, and called the hospital, who advised that I come in, since my contractions were 5 minutes apart and lasting about 30-45 seconds each time. When we got to the hospital, my nurse informed me that I was still only 1 cm dilated and could not be admitted at this time. I was so sad. This was our second drive to the hospital area, which is about 45 minutes from home, and I was tired of going back and forth.
We went home to continue to labor at home. At this point, the contractions were extremely painful, and I was really overwhelmed how painful it was and still not be considered "real labor". From all medical professionals we met that day, we continued to hear the same words "You are in early early early labor, it WILL GET WORSE and then you'll know you are in labor". I was in so much pain during the contractions, I had no idea how I would even be able to survive or endure even worse pain before I am allowed to be admitted to the hospital and thus be ok'd for some serious pain medication. I went through lots of crying at this point due to frustration and pain and lack of sleep. I honestly just wanted to be admitted so I can get pain medication. Plus, I hadn't slept in so many hours that I was just too exhausted.
We continued to time the contractions until about 11:30 pm Tuesday night (still June 24th). They were about 3 minutes apart for about 20 minutes when we decided that I must be even more dilated and it was time to go to the hospital again. (The hospital will admit you when you are at least 3 cm dilated). We went in again and told the hospital staff that it was my second visit that day. The head nurse told us that I was STILL ONLY 1 CM DILATED.
I started to cry. I was so frustrated that I was in so much pain and still so far from 1) being admitted 2) being in real labor 3) having this baby. I thought to myself "How the heck do normal women do this? How can they stand this pain every 3-5 minutes for days without sleep?" They tried to stretch me to 2 cm which hurt like the dickens.
After the stretching, they had me rotate to lay on my left side to continue to monitor the baby's heartrate and mine. While moving to my left side, the baby's heart rate dipped below 120 beats/minute and stayed that way for a small amount of time. It resumed it's normal heartrate (about 150 beats/minute) quickly. My head nurse stated "I think we just got your ticket for admission. The baby's heartrate went down to 120 and that's a cause of concern. We'll need to check with the on-call doctor to confirm you can be admitted." At this time, I was so tired and frustrated at the birthing process that I didn't want to get my hopes up.
They came back, and told us we were allowed to be admitted. Hurrah! I can get some pain medication! My baby will be born!
I got my IV put in and they put me on a single dose of morphine to take away some of the contraction pain. The morphine started to kick in and I got woozy and started to talk like I was drunk, but luckily the contraction pain was slightly dulled. The morphine never completely gets rid of the pain. The pain was still at the level where I couldn't sleep. I got a regular nurse assigned to me, who worked until 7 am. She introduced herself to me and then told me a summary of what I should be expecting that day. OMG she talked so much. I was nice and kept nodding and saying ok to her, but she kept going and going. I guess I was too nice to tell her to shut up. Heehee.
Since I was only 1 cm dilated, they put me on Pitocin to induce my labor to start. Nurse also said that the doctor will break my water in the morning if I am dilated enough. The Pitocin started working rather quickly and I felt the contractions getting stronger and closer together. The first dose of morphine wore off, and they asked if I wanted my second dose. The important thing about this question is that they only give you two doses of morphine before the epidural and the second dose is much less effective than the first dose since your body is already tolerated to the painkiller. I had thought that I could only get the epidural if I was 3 cm dilated, so I told her that the pain, although severe, was not bad enough where I had to have my second dose of morphine right away. I would rather wait until I was about 3 cm dilated or just before, when the pain would be REALLY bad before getting it. The nurse heard my explanation and reassured me that I can get the epidural as soon as my second dose of morphine wore off, even if I wasn't 3 cm dilated. I guess they have a really liberal pain medication philosophy there
Fine by me, I hate pain The second dose of morphine was placed, and they doubled up my Pit IV to make me contract more. I was finally 1.5 cm around 5 am. 5 hours of Pitocin and only 0.5 cm more? Ugh, when will this baby be born?
I got the epidural and it didn't hurt. The IV placement hurt more than the epidural. After the epidural was placed, I couldn't feel my contractions at all. It worked like magic. I bow down to the power of the epidural. Finally, I was able to get some rest, hurrah!
In the morning, the doctor came to pop my water and I still didn't feel anything. I just continued sleeping, with hourly checks from my new morning nurse.
I consistently dilated 1 cm per hour until about 1-2 pm, when I dilated from 4 to 8 cm. I was quickly at 10 cm before I knew it, and my nurse did some "practice" pushes with me, with my husband helping out. It was pretty fun, pushing and just chatting with the nurse about her job, her husband, her house, etc. Then, she told me to get some rest so the baby can drop a little more. She came back an hour later, and we did some more practice pushing. We practiced for about 45 minutes, and I asked the nurse "Are we still practicing or is this the real thing?" She laughed and said it was "real" pushing this entire time, except for the very first practice session. She then told me that she thinks that I will need the assistance of a vacuum to help the baby come out, and that scared me so much. I didn't want a vacuum, for vanity reasons in that I didn't want the baby to have a cone-head, but she told me that the baby will probably have a cone-head anyways, since she's been stuck in the birth canal for some time now.
My fabulous OB came in around 3:00 pm, and they prepared the entire room for the birth. Up until then, the room was very peaceful, with dim lighting and just the three of us, nurse, me, and my husband. Once the doctor came in, two more nurses came in, along with a huge tray of medical tools and devices. They covered the floor with lots of protective padding (to catch the blood I guess). The nurse checked my epidural, and said that it just ran out. That scared the heck out of me, since I have the lowest pain tolerance of anyone I know. But they assured me that the medication will still remain in my body for a while and I trusted them. The doctor then examined me, and said that she advised an episiotomy. Of course I didn't want one - I didn't want to tear at all, naturally or unnaturally. But I trusted the staff and just said ok. (I also just wanted the baby out of there so I can stop pushing. Pushing is exhausting, especially if you don't know if you are doing it right since you can't feel your contractions). I did about 3 pushes with the doctor without the tear or the vacuum. Then, she did the episiotomy and vacuum for the last two pushes, and the baby came out!
My husband cut the cord, and we were both tearing at this point. It was the best feeling in the world to hold the squirmy little baby. She was so cute and precious and LOUD! All of us were impressed by her screams.
That's it, my long-false-labor-I-went-to-the-doctor/hospital-three-times-in-one-day story
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Re: "Lots of false labor" induction story - very very long