The Night From Hell

I drove to the hospital as fast as I could without gaining the attention of the WSP. There was a Shoreline Police car in front of us the entire way to the hospital traveling at a steady 80 MPH in a 65 MPH zone so I tagged along for the escort. Keri was contracting pretty badly at 5 minute intervals all the way to the hospital and we arrived around 10:00 pm. Keri made it to the registration desk under her own power and I grabbed a wheel chair for her. She was pretty uncomfortable and bit leaky but like she has been all the way through the pregnancy she was a little soldier. It's always amazed me that hospitals make you go through the registration process before you receive any care. I guess the almighty dollar is always more important than anything else. After we got registered we were escorted to the Birthing Center where they had a room waiting for us (Room 710). Our nurse (Rachel) got Keri situated and asked all of the normal questions and what we had been through in the previous 48 hours. I helped Keri get into a hospital gown and she put on some sexy mesh panties and a pad big enough to soak up the Exxon Valdese oil spill. The nurse tested some of the fluid with a piece of paper that turns blue if it is touched with amniotic fluid. It turned blue immediately. BINGO! It looks like we'll be having a baby some time before midnight. The nurse also took another sample of fluid that they place on a glass slide to be sent to the lab. Amniotic fluid dries into a fern pattern that can be seen under a microscope. Keri was contracting pretty badly and she was extremely uncomfortable so they got an IV started and got her on some fluids. The nurse said that the fluids should ease the frequency and severity of the contractions. The doctor that was on duty wasn't from Sound Women's so I was doing my best to find whatever information I could about her using my iPhone. I came up empty. There's definitely something to be said for the ease you feel when the doctor you've been seeing for the past 9 months is scheduled to deliver your baby. When you know it will be a doctor you have never met it adds an additional layer of anxiety. We waited for a half hour or so and the nurse came in and said the lab test was negative. That was NOT expected. Keri and I looked at each other with 'oh crap, now what?' looks on our faces. The nurse wanted to retake the test since more fluid had probably pooled and would provide a better test. Another half hour later we got a positive test. Game on! The doctor (a really nice lady named Dr. Carder) came in to see us around 11:30. Keri had a bowl of ice cream around 7:30 that night and told the nurse when she asked "when was the last time you ate?" The doctor said that she had heard Keri had ice cream around 7:30 so they wouldn't be able to perform the c-section until morning. She also verified that Riley was still breach. She said that they would try to keep Keri comfortable and perform the c-section at 8:00 am. Keri got a shot of morphine in her IV and another shot of morphine in her gluteus maximus (bum to you and me) around midnight. The contractions got progressively stronger and more frequent as the night progressed. I tried to get some sleep sitting in the most uncomfortable recliner I have ever sat on in my life while Keri was writhing around in agony. I felt so helpless because there was nothing I could do to help her. I tried stroking her hair or talking her through it but she just wanted me to shut up and leave her alone :) Understood. I knew Keri was at her breaking point around 4:00 am and we paged the nurse to the room. She said something like "we'll get more fluid in you to see if helps with the contractions." My protective instincts were kicking in and I thought to myself "if the last three bags of fluid and two shots of morphine aren't helping one more sure as hell isn't going to." I said to the nurse "does she just need to suck it up and make it to 8:00 am or are you guys going to do anything about this." She said "oh, sure. We're going to give her a shot right now that will stop the contractions." What? Are you frigging kidding me? She's been in agony since 10:00 pm and you could have just given her a shot that would stop the contractions? How sadistic is that? I bit my lip and couldn't wait for Keri to get the shot. Luckily the contractions subsided after the shot and we were able to get some sleep until around 7:00 am. If it wasn't for that bowl of ice cream Keri never would have had to go through any of this. She might have thought labor was a cake walk if she strolled into the hospital on Thursday morning and delivered Riley. I told Keri that maybe she'll appreciate Riley a bit more when she arrives since she had to go through the pain. That didn't go over very well. We were one hour away from delivery. I was as nervous as a turkey in November...