The latest pregnancy excitement...happy 2nd anniversary (or not!)

On November 17, 2008, at 2 in the morning, a blurred night of vomiting and diarrhea began. Sorry to be so explicit in my descriptions, but the details are necessary to explain what happened as a result. I threw up every hour at least once, until 7 in the morning when I just couldn't stand it any more. I was dehydrated, nauseous, and hurting, and the part they told us in our prenatal classes about the dangers of the baby getting dehydrated kept coming into my mind. I waited until 7 AM to call my doctor, and he told me to go into labor and delivery. The only thing that redeemed me that day was the IV they gave me (but I still felt EXTREMELY thirsty and dreamed of when I'd be able to again get a nice big glass of ice water from the fridge and drink to my heart's content). I was so out of it, the nurse at the hospital (who thankfully was my bishop's wife) had to take care of me, even having to lift me out of the bed to go to the bathroom and listen to me whine all day. She told me she was going to check to see if I had dilated at all, and sure enough, the vomiting and the diarrhea had caused me to start going into labor (not sure why or how that works...whether it was the intensity of it or just the dehydration that caused it). I started out that day at a 2, and by the end of the day went home dilated to a 4 and effaced to 80%. I remember crying when the nurse told me I was dilating. I was saying, "I caaaaaan't do this today. I don't have any energy. I can't even push!" (After being awake throwing up since 2 in the morning, I really was so weak and had no nutrients left in my body whatsoever, and if it helps to paint the picture of how pathetic and out of it I really was, I can add the part that I had to call the nurse in to change my sheets twice because I accidentally went on my bed...it was really SAD!) Having the baby that day was my worst nightmare...I don't think I could have enjoyed her at all. So, they stopped labor enough to go home...with the IVs and meds they gave me...and Corban came home from work in time to take me home, since they wouldn't let me drive myself home and Corban works 45 minutes away and couldn't just run over and take me home real quick. We'd been home about 5 minutes before I ran into the bathroom and tossed my cookies all over the place. I felt SO bad. I was crying, "Please bring me a rag and a bucket. I'm already down here (on the floor). I'll clean it up." He insisted that I was NOT cleaning it up and that I needed to go get in bed, so I went and got in bed while my sweet husband did a dirty job I wouldn't want to do if the tables were turned! The next day was our second anniversary. He got me the most beautiful red roses I have ever seen, we made homemade chicken noodle soup (the first meal I'd eaten in two days) and then I fell asleep on the couch. What an anniversary, huh? I don't even remember having a 2 year anniversary! My poor sweet hubby had to do so much that week. I had so many meds given to me that day in the hospital that it made the baby sluggish and it scared me that she didn't move much the rest of the week and I had to go have her heartrate checked to make sure she was still healthy and kicking in there (her heart rate was slower than usual, but it was still healthy! How could all those strong meds NOT slow down her little developing system!?) So, for two weeks I have been walking around dilated to 4 and effaced to 80%, which the doctor has confirmed twice since then! He told me before he left for 5 days for Thanksgiving that I was to have no strenuous activity...having hiked 10 miles in Alaska and 6 in Zion just last month, I thought he was referring to me outlandish unpregnancy-like behavior. When I asked what he meant by strenuous, he said, "NO HANKY PANKY and NO WALKS!" Well, my mom called Thanksgiving morning and what was I doing? WALKING! That's my favorite thing to do! But, it obviously didn't bring labor on because here I am still waiting to have this baby! Pregnancy has still been good to me, although my body just hasn't been the same since that day I spent in the hospital! It only started this week that I can't get up out of bed to go to the potty in the middle of the night without grasping for my hubby to help get this butterball out of bed (I officially hit 50 pounds of weight gain last week!). And, this baby is taking over my stomach in a way I never imagined. There is always some huge bump somewhere...I can't believe she isn't uncomfortable enough in there to want to make her way out already! It's a bit frightening to have learned last week that my grandma was 10 pounds when she was born, my aunt was nearly 10 pounds, and my brother was nearly 10 pounds. And here I am, 39 weeks today, and no sign of this baby coming yet. I can't even begin to imagine me giving birth to a 10 pound baby. Oh, the excitement this birth will bring! Corban is hoping she won't come the TWO days of the entire semester that he has to give presentations, which are Tuesday (2nd) and Wednesday (3rd). I am hoping she will come on December 4th or 6th, just cuz they fit into my schedule best, but I guess only God knows when she will come. Ah, the fun waiting game of pregnancy! ;) People are surprised to learn that I am walking around dilated to a 4 and effaced to 80%, but hopefully it just means that once labor starts, it will go quickly! (One can only hope, right!? Especially when I'd like to do this without an epidural!) Next post I will likely be a brand new mom to a healthy and perfect little Corelle Elyse Christensen!