The 14 days before Rylee, Day 2

The time is now 8:15 am. I got up early, made Smothered Steak in the crockpot for my mom and Rich who were coming down that afternoon to watch Troy. We were all dressed and in the car on the way to my appointment.

The time is now 8:30 am. We are just getting off the exit onto Highway 151 going into Dubuque. I told Kris, "I'll be really embarrassed it they tell me that I have been wetting my pants all night, but I REALLY hope that is what they are going to tell me." He squeezed my hand and we entered Iowa. Little did I know that I wouldn't be back in Wisconsin for 18 days.

The time is now 8:45 am. I was called right back with out any wait. I had to drink the diabetes stuff...yuck! I had to undress from the waist down. Dr. M came right in and explained to me that she was going to do a sterile exam in case my water did indeed rupture. She opened the speculum just a tad and confirmed my worst nightmare. She wanted me to go to ultrasound to have the fluid level check.

The time is now 8:55 am. I am on the ultrasound table, Troy was squirming around, the ultrasound tech, who had done everysingle one of my ultrasounds ever, was sober in the face, measuring and scanning, typing and pointing. The baby's kidneys are enlarged. The baby has very low fluid. Go back into the exam room and Dr. M will be right in.

The time is now 9:15 am. Dr. M came back in. She told me the baby is breech and that I have to go start to Mercy hospital for steriods, talked to a NICU doctor, and figure out a plan from there.

The time is now 9:30 am, I am on my way to Mercy. I was calling my parents, my boss, my sister. I was mentally making a list of things for Kris to grab and do once he headed home.

The time is now 9:35 am, I walked up to OB. Opps, suppose to go through the ER, check in and be wheeled up to maternity. Oh well. They got me to my room. I got changed into a gown. Kris stepped out to call his parents. The nurse was growly that Kris left Troy in the room with me. That ticked me off that she was so growly.

The time is now 9:45 am. I have 2 nurses. One nice, One groochy. Dr. B, my regular OB is on call at the hospital, comes into my room. He explains to me that I am not far along enough to have my baby in Dubuque. I will be receiving steroids, IV fluids and antibiotics and be taken by ambulance or medflight to Iowa City. He held my hand as I got the steroids. Holy cow, it hurt. I got my IV. They drew my blood for the diabetes test. The phone was ringing off the hook and people of all kinds were in and out of my room. One of the nurses gave me a scrap of paper to make a list on for Kris. I had the shakes something terrible because of nerves.

The time is now 10:10 am. Kris and Troy kissed me goodbye with list in hand. Next time I would see them is hours later in Iowa City. At this point we weren't sure what the heck was going to go on.

The time is now 10:20 am. The ambulance men arrived. The temperature is -29° amd that's the actual temperature. They loaded me on a stretcher and a nurse named Mary road with me to Iowa City. The ride was bumpy. I was strapped to the stretcher the entire hour and half ride. Nurse Mary tells me that my diabetes results came in right before we left. I am diagnosed with gestational diabetes on a stretcher in a cold ambulance during -29° weather and scared to death. A lot was thrown at me in the last hour and half and I was really still not sure what the heck would happen in the next few hours.

The time is now 11:45 am. About 15 minutes out of Iowa City hospital. I have no idea where Iowa City is on a map. Contractions start. They are every 3 minutes apart. They aren't painful though.

The time is now 12:00 pm. I am wisked through the University of Iowa Hospital. I have no idea what I am seeing. People are turning and looking at me. The ambulance guys are practically running through the halls, Mary the nurse is running behind us and I am still contracting. We arrive at L&D where there is another lady in the hall on a stretcher. The guys push me into a huge delivery room. A nurse comes in. I don't remember her name but I didn't like her much. She made me us a bedpan instead of using the bathroom. That was an experience I only had to endure that one time.

The time is now 12:30 pm. A resident doctor comes into my room. He brings an ultrasound machine with him. He can't even figure out how to turn it on. I was nervous. He askes me what is going on. "well my water broke." "when did it break" "yesterday at 3:15 pm" "how far along are you?" "28 weeks today" "the baby is breech?" "yup, that's what they tell me". Now I relatively irritable from the events in the past 4 hours and the contractions and the shot of steroids, so this guy made me want to scream at him. I didn't but it took all my might not too. There were lots of umm and space between talking to me. The nurse had just told him everything I had to repeat. All the while he is trying to turn on this darn ultrasound machine. He finally gave up and grabbed another doctor. This doctor was in a hurry for sure. The L&D was filling up fast. This new curly haired doctor gave me a sterile exam, turned on the ultrasound machine for the student doctor and left. The student did the ultrasound. YUP, baby is still breech.

The time is now 1 pm. I am hungry. My mom and Rich arrive. Kris and Troy are on their way down. My contractions are sporadic now. Sometimes 15 minutes apart sometimes 2 minutes apart but they don't really hurt, just annoying.

The time is 2:30 pm. There is a knock at my door and in walk my husband and child. The sight of them makes me want to cry. I thought that if I was going to have a baby, I would be doing it alone. Now my best friend and companion arrived. AMEN!

From here we sat and sat and sat. I was not granted any food for fear that I would need an emergency c-section to deliver my 12 week early breech baby. This is where things get a little fuzzy. I really don't know how we made the time pass or what the heck was going on. All I know is that I was hungry. My mom and Rich got a room at a local hotel. Kris and Troy slept next to me on a twin sized fold down couch.