Saturday

Water breaks

At 5:30 am, I got up to get a drink of water. While standing in the kitchen, I felt a few little pops. I went to the bathroom and discovered that my underwear were rather wet — not dripping, but still. Could it be that my water had broken, but was leaking slowly instead of gushing? Unsure, I tried to go back to sleep, but I kept wondering. I was a little worried that if I was wrong, telling the midwives might lead to induction sooner than Monday.

So around 6:30 I got up again, made myself some oatmeal, and checked around online; yes, it’s possible to leak slowly, and yes, there’s a test they can do to see if indeed the membranes have ruptured, so they would know if I had guessed correctly or not.

By then it was about 7:30 and Mark was awake; I told him what was going on and we decided to call the midwives.

Because I’m positive for group B strep, ruptured membranes meant we’d have to go to the hospital and get me started on penicillin to prevent any strep-related complications in the baby. We ran around doing our final packing and showering and getting dressed and setting things out for the kitty and arrived at the hospital around 8:30 or 9.

At the hospital

Interesting timing… there had been some sort of fire, I think on the roof, and the entire maternity ward had been evacuated. The labor and delivery part had been moved to an area normally used for same day surgeries. There were small cubicles closed off with curtains — barely enough room for a birthing bed, fetal monitor, and other equipment.

Everything seemed rather chaotic.

The midwife on call, Marie, examined me, and seemed puzzled that the fluid didn’t test positive for whatever it is it’s supposed to, but she still seemed persuaded that it was indeed a membrane rupture. The cervix was three cm dilated but still a bit thick.

I was put on the fetal monitor and kept on for what seemed like hours.

Eventually they started the IV and gave the first dose of penicillin.

Eventually I got a snack.

And our ID bracelets.

I tried to knit a bit, which was uncomfortable because of the IV.

I asked a nurse about lunch, and she said she’d order something for me.

I waited an hour or so.

I asked again.

What came wasn’t right and I had to wait again, but finally, around 2:00 I think, I got my sandwich.

Meanwhile, no sign of labor starting; just occasional contractions, but none that hurt yet.

We watched the Ohio State / Michigan game, and so did the couple in the neighboring cubicle; sometimes Mark and the other father-to-be would make simultaneous but opposite exclamations, which I found amusing.

We tried to play a card game, but my concentration wasn’t so great.

Someone came by with a menu for dinner, which arrived at 5:30 — a bit early considering our late lunch, but oh well.

Sometime later, we heard someone in another cubicle in the final stages of labor, screaming; not for long, but still not a very reassuring sound.

At 7:30, we got to move back to the maternity ward. It was so nice to be in a more spacious birthing room, with a door, with a private bathroom.

Not in labor yet. Why not? What time will they induce if we don’t go into labor tonight? Yikes…