Labor Lesson

I spent half of Tuesday night in the hospital thinking I was in labor. I had been having regular contractions (also very painful, much different than my normal braxton hicks) for 7 hours and they were getting longer/stronger and closer together. So, the doctor recommended I come in to get checked. I was 2cm, 80% effaced and baby was at stage 0. This was no different than what I was at my doctor's appointment earlier that day. I stayed at the hospital overnight, YET AGAIN, so they could monitor my contractions. I begged them not to give me an IV and thankfully they agreed, but they did give me a shot to help me sleep. It literally made me feel like I had a hangover because I could barely move my tongue to talk. I had contractions 5-7 minutes apart all night long and in the morning when they checked me my cervix was exactly the same! That was 15 hours of regular labor contractions with no changes!! Their diagnosis: Preterm Contractions-which is what I've been suffering from since I went into early labor, only this time they seemed real! They sent me home and said "Enjoy having preterm contractions! Take Tylenol PM to sleep and let us know when you're in real labor!" Ok...they didn't actually say that, but in my head that's how I took it.

My labor lesson in all of this: Even though you may have consistent contractions that feel like real labor contractions, unless your cervix changes you are NOT in labor.

So, who wants to come teach me how to check my cervix? That way when I think I'm in labor again I can check myself and tell those doctors "I'm in LABOR!"