It was still somewhat early in the afternoon and not long after arriving in the delivery room, the nurse strapped me onto the monitors then the IV. I really hate those IVs and I later found out that the nurse hooked it up wrong!! I decided to eat (I didn’t have breakfast that morning) because once the pitocin was hooked up, I could not eat. A nurse brought me a turkey sandwich, chips, cookie and a itty bitty cup of juice. This food was just a tease for me. Also, I knew that I would not be eating again for a long while… so I asked JT if he could get me something else to eat when he went to the cafeteria. After eating the above mentioned foods, I had a hamburger and order of french fries, plus a couple of more juices. You know what? I was still hungry .

I had to wait two hours after eating before the pitocin could be hooked up to the IV. I was overly anxious about the day’s events… I thought that the augmentation would really speed things along. Boy was I completely wrong.

JT remained by my side and visits from my mom and best friend helped speed the evening along. Otherwise everything was a waiting game.

And then came the pain.

My contractions began to feel more painful and closer together in sequence that night; however, they were still not labor contractions. I remained at one centimeter dilated, but by the look on my face and the contractions on the monitor you would think I was actually in active labor.

Thursday.

Around 2pm, the nurses decided to give me a break from the pitocin because I was starving. A nutritionist brought my lunch in and they had the audacity to bring me pork chops!! Ladies and gentlemen, I am allergic to pork and all derivitives… and this was clearly stated on my allergy band laying next to my identification band on my right hand. I really got pissed off because one, they brought me swine for my meal and two, I would have to wait longer to get something to eat and I was hungry as hell. The nutritionist kept saying that no one told her I was allergic. I’m steaming right… thinking why the fuck do I have to tell you I’m allergic. Read my damn chart. I’m over here in pain AND hungry so now I have to remember to tell you how to do YOUR job. Oh okay. :roll:

And she ended up bringing me another damn turkey sandwich.

And of course after eating it, I was still hungry.

Thursday night was the second most difficult night that I had in the hospital. The doctors tried other methods for augmentation. They took the pitocin off and inserted a small rectangular pouch called cirvidil, into my vagina and on the cervix. Cervidil contains a chemical called prostaglandin that plays a part in ripening the cervix. Cervidil did nothing for my labor but cause more pain and it fact, more painful than the pitocin. I’m thankful though… that I did not experience any of the side effects which include infection and increased heart rate for my children. They also tried a gel substance that is inserted into the vagina, that I cannot recall the name of. All throughout this time, I remained at one centimeter dilated.

Friday.

They removed the cervidil from my vagina. Now neither the pitocin nor cervidil was going through my system, yet I was still having contractions. I was getting frustrated to say the least… I spoke with my OB/GYN and he laid out some possible scenarios for me. I decided to go home for the weekend, to let me, my huge uterus and babies rest, then come back Sunday night to get placed back on pitocin.

I made an appointment for Sunday evening and the nurse called in a prescription for some sleeping pills. I was so exhausted and in pain that JT had to roll me out of the hospital in a wheelchair. I could barely climb into his SUV. Friday afternoon and evening, my best friend took care of me. I took some sleeping pills, but that was a joke because they didn’t work. I was still restless a great deal of the night.

Saturday and Sunday remains a bit of a blur for me… but I remember not wanting to move around much at all and moving around was exactly what I needed to do to encourage a natural labor. I think JT and I went shopping on Saturday. Sunday, I was going to go to Walmart with JT to get some nursery items, but I was physically unable to. By this time, I had been wearing nothing on my feet but socks and houseshoes for the past four weeks. My feet, ankles and legs were gigantic and I ballooned up to 208lbs. Emotionally, I kept swinging back and forth between being optimistic and pessimistic. I wanted to have a vaginal birth but I kept thinking about remaining at only one centimeter dilated all that time. I knew the possibility of a caesarean was not far around the corner.

Despite not being able to make it to Walmart, I was determined to make it to the movies… as I had promised to go see Alien vs. Predator with JT. We went to McDonald’s where I bought my last Double Quarter Pounder Extra Value Meal (now the mere thought of eating all that makes me want to blow chunks). I carefully stuffed our meals and large Hi-C Orange Sprite mix drinks in my big black purse and snuck it into Esquire Theatre. That was the most food that I have ever snuck in LOL. During the movie, when they turned all of the lights on, I thought we had been caught and were going to be kicked out due to the outsider food. I never found out why they turned the lights on, but thankfully it wasn’t because of our food :rofl: We enjoyed the movie… and the babies must have too because they were kicking like crazy.

After the movie, JT and I took our time going to the hospital. The hospital was actually right down the street from the theatre. Just in case I would go into labor while Predator was beating up Alien’s ass… I would be near the hospital. Unfortunately, things couldn’t go so smooth.