1st Time Parents: Early Labor

Ok, for starters, labor is not fun, no matter what stage of it you're in. I've been having timeable contractions since last Thursday. On Sunday this past weekend I started having contractions 5 minutes apart. I waited an hour and had my Dr. paged. She didn't get back to me for 2 1/2 hrs! Apparently she was in surgery. Meanwhile, my contractions were still 5 min. apart. She called and I told her what was going on. She said it sounded like early labor, so she instructed me to drink 2 glasses of water, take a warm shower, and lie down for a while. She said if my contractions didn't go away or slow down, to come to the hospital. So by 9pm I had done what she asked and my contractions were getting closer, like 3-5 min. apart. Mind you, my contractions were just really intense, but not painful - just uncomfortable. Anyway, I decided to page the Dr. again to see if I should come in. She was not able to be found again and now it was 10:45pm. So Spike and I decided to go to the hospital. We made a stop by my mom's house because she was insistent on being at the hospital. So we're on our way and the Dr. calls my cell phone and told me that I couldn't come to the Novi hospital and that I had to go to Providence in Southfield because the Novi hospital was too busy and they couldn’t take me! Apparently they didn’t have enough nurses there to deliver safely if I was in full, active labor. So I had a serious emotional breakdown. I called her back like 10 minutes later to see if there was ANY way they could get me in at Novi and she said no. So whatever. Long story short, I’m thankful I went to Southfield, but we were just really upset because we had expected (and still do) to deliver at Novi... We’ll see. We have to decide now where we want to go before I actually go into labor. We got discharged at like 2:30am after TWO internal cervical exams only to hear that I was still only 3 cm dilated and 70% effaced. So I'm just in early labor (and have been for a few days now). So they sent me home and said to come back if my water breaks, or if my contractions get so bad that I can’t talk, breathe, or walk through them. So... That’s that!

I couldn't sleep last night because my contractions are always pretty bad after an internal exam. I'm still exhausted, but I'll be alright. I just want this baby out!

The Dr. said that the baby looked great. They did an ultra sound too to check his fluids and he's got enough in there. Well, that's it for now. Hopefully our next update includes a birth story ;-)