Practice.

Harmph.

Tuesday night I woke up near every half hour in back pain. Lots of back pain. I couldn't get comfortable for anything, I just kept changing positions and crying and whimpering and turning over and moaning and... yah, you get the picture.

Yesterday morning was bad. I sat here in this chair blogging/emailing for a few minutes but then spent most of the morning in back stabbing pain on the couch. When it came time to take Matthew to preschool, I was near crying again and could barely get in the car. I made it to preschool and got Matthew dropped off in tears and came back home with Mark. I didn't know if I was in labor or not but it sure felt like it could be.

After some phone calls, Jamie was on his way home to get me, K was at the office ready to receive me to be rechecked and Nancy was on her way to collect Mark. I moaned most of the way to the hospital. It felt like there were knives stabbing my back on and off. A few abdominal contractions also coupled the back pain as we drove. At the office, I was checked and still a two. So that was surprising given how much pain I was in. We were sent to the hospital for pain meds and for an IV. She said if the labor was real, the pain meds would help calm me, make me sleep, and the IV would help something I forget. When I woke up, I should be dilated further... If the labor wasn't real, the contractions should stop. Ohhhh kaay.

Well after sitting through registration and then getting in a gown and hooked up to the baby monitors we started the always fun (not) IV adventure with the first nurse who blew the first IV attempt but was very very sweet and said she wouldn't try again and went to get someone else. However, the someone else was um, less than pleasant, I'm serious... Attila the Hun walked in to do the second attempt, I died a little inside. When she left, Jamie goes "yah, she looked like a digger". Yah... she was obviously annoyed with my little veins and when I asked her to please not try my hand again that normally no one can find it in my hand, she kind of groaned at me about how she'd "trrrry" to find one in my arm, but probably not. Yah whatever, I had like FIVE attempts with Mark. I know what I'm talking about. WHY can't nurses respect and listen to the patient about stuff like this??? I'm not making it up. Anyhow, she found one in my arm she was satisfied with and stuck it in there. And missed the vein. And I cried and I grabbed the bed and begged her to stop... be/c she had started DIGGING around for it. DEAR GOD if you can't find it, STOP TRYING! It was probably less than 30-40 seconds, but it felt like five minutes she sat there digging around looking for the vein, me crying, her telling me to hold still, me thinking "I CAN DO OUCH ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO OUCH STRENGTHENS ME. GOD MAKE HER STOP". It was awful.

Once the IV was in though, it was sort of smooth sailing. The first nicer nurse came back over and got the baby back on the monitor since the IV experience made the baby swim away. I dozed in and out. Jamie was so nice and wonderful. Eventually the bag of solution reached the bottom and the nurse came back and was ready to recheck me.

I was still at a two. No change. False labor. Are you kidding me?! The amount of pain I was experiencing in the morning was anything but false, however if the contractions aren't opening up things down there, they can't do anything about it if you aren't ready to deliver. I was offered a shot in my bottom that I refused. I wasn't really feeling pain anymore by then anyhow, it was more soreness and discomfort, so we were discharged.

I slept the ride home and ate a bite and crawled into bed where I stayed for another 3 hours. At some point Jamie collected the boys and I think fed them, last night was foggy. I made it to the computer to update facebook and eat a small bowl of cereal and then crashed on the couch for another couple hours drifting in and out before heading back to bed where I slept SOUNDLY. I think I did roll around a couple times, but for the first night in a long time I felt like I actually got rest. So that's good.

Soooo we'll chalk yesterday up to practicing. Nice huh? If it were up to me, they would have started the pitocin yesterday and gotten it over with. But I didn't get to vote. LOL. I have had enough practice now, so whenever you are ready to come out Baby Bear, please just come on. No more spoofin.