Moopers’s Weblog

2 days ago, January 8, L woke up feeling more contractions than usual.  They had forewarned her to watch out for contractions that were more regular than usual.  So despite having work to do, we lay in bed and tried out a contraction timer we had just downloaded on the iPhone to time them.

They were occurring at 10 minute intervals, on the dot.  So we called the special number we have for having a risky pregnancy.  They said we should come in to get it checked out.  This would be our second visit to L&D.

We drove over to Kaiser the efficient way (turn left from Divis on O’Farell; don’t go down Geary).  I dropped L off at the emergency ambulance door and went to park the car as she was wheeled up to Labor & Delivery.

Bluey has been having intermittent starting problems, and of course he chose the moment I was parked in the ambulances-only-beotch area.  After four or five tries he kicked in and then pretended like nothing happened.  I could only park him on the roof of the garage, where a few spots remained.

When I tracked her down she was in the triage room.  They put a contraction monitor on and tried hard to locate the two heartbeats.  It’s always very difficult, we were told.  Eventually one of the two residents did an ultrasound and was able to locate the heartbeats, so the nurse knew where to put the monitors.

There was a gruff junior resident (whom I shall call resident (evil)) and a more senior gentler resident.  The resident (evil) administered a cervical exam which hurt L, and she could barely touch it.  Then a couple of hours later, with a different position, the same resident (evil) could and reported dilation of 1cm.  That appeared to be a change, which is concerning as it *a* sign of active labor.

They did a fetal doohickydoodoo test.  That’s the test that if positive, doesn’t mean much, but if negative, means there is a 95-99% chance that L will NOT go into labor in the next two week.  Fortunately it was negative.  Yaay, we get to go home.

But no the second cervical exam being different meant she had to stay.  Morevoer the gruff resident needed the gentler resident to double check b/c of the uncertain first exam.  And then she needed to be checked again two hours later!!!

L and I were both hungry and the gentler resident said she could eat.  (The rules on this seem to waver.)  So I bolted across Geary to get the craved-for turkey burger and fries.  Yum.  We scarfed them down back in the triage room.

(In the other bed, a couple of women came and went.  I spoke with one on the walk out who was at 38 weeks and not feeling very happy.  The other apparently got the rough & gruff intern treatment and yelped in pain.  Someone said, “You think that’s painful, wait ’til you give birth!”  I was appalled because I thought it was the resident (evil), but then I was appalled because L told me it was the woman’s mother.)

Since we were going to be a while they moved L out of the triage room into a nicer room with a view.  Not easy for L to appreciate with all the poking and prodding.  Nurse #1 came in and tried giving her an IV.  Unfortunately I was in the bathroom and couldn’t do my customary duty of overseeing the proceedure and directing the needle bearing nurse to the puffier of veins.  It was awful for poor L who hates needles anyway.  She poked and poked and couldn’t find the vein, then hit a nerve which gave L a huge pain.

Argh.

The nurse taped it up and quickly made herself scarce.  Meanwhile L didn’t have the saline drip for a long time.   The drip was needed to re-hydrate L since inadequate hydration is a common cause of contractions.  Finally a super duper gentle nurturing motherly experienced nurse came in and inserted it into L’s other wrist, painlessly.  We learned that they use large needles so they can deal with any contingency, including blood transfusions.

We dealt with the TV with a remote that barely worked.  L’s contractions continued but a little less frequently and with uneven spacing.  So after the fifth cervical exam they finally said she could go home.

Five cervical exams in one day.  Not good, especially for an exam they don’t do all the time because it could cause issues.   Grrr for being a teaching hospital.  Next time we have to set the rules: only one person on cervical duty.

We learned something important.  Before asking if you are allowed to eat, eat, because the answer will be no.  (L was eternally grateful for me for letting her break the rules before we drove in and having just one of her 3 morning bowls of Honey Nut Cheerios.)

We were there almost all day, from about 10:30 am to about 4:30 pm.  The time cost, plus having to deal with residents, plus the cervical exams, plus the needle trauma… unfortunately these things will make us think carefully about going in for minor concerns.

The bottom line: L is still doing extremely well, with labor minimum two weeks away.  The cervix is very long… over 4 cm… which is extremely reassuring.