> Nicole's Story (Due Date: February 2008)

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I had a rough couple of months with a lot of false labor the Friday after I made it to 37 weeks gestation, I went to the doctor who told me I was 3 cm dialted and 80%. I asked her what I could do to GET THIS BABY OUT!  She said to have sex, so all weekend we "tried to have a baby.":)  This made for a very happy husband.  Finally, on Monday I started having contractions, but they seemed more like cramps than anything.  They started to get stronger, and the doc told me to go ahead into Labor and Delivery. There, they told me I had the beginnings of labor, but it could be a couple of hours, days, or even a week before true labor - basically, go home, come back later.

I had a doc appointment the next day (Tues.) so I wasn't really all that worried. That night I finally slept through, until about 6 am when I started having REALLY painful cramps. I took a bath, laid down for a while, tried swaying, everything and NOTHING was helping. I  knew the doc appointment was at 10:20 am, so I was just going to have to wait until then to get checked.  My hubby "had a feeling" and took the day off to take me to the
doc and see what was going on. She checked me, said I was 4 cm and then proceeded to strip my membranes.  She said I was probably in labor, and that I could go to the hospital at that point, and I told her I would wait it out at home for a little while longer. We got as
far as the parking lot when I thought my water had broken. Well, it hadn't, but I had filled an entire pad with blood!!!

We turned around and went back into the doc's office to ask a nurse if we should be concerned about having so much blood. We waited about 20 minutes in the lobby trying to talk to someone, and my contractions started being 2 1/2 minutes apart. I decided it was time to go to the hospital.

We got to the hospital at 11:30, and I was ALREADY 7 cm!!!!! Good thing I didn't go home!  I labored for about two hours, and then told the nurse to "Go get the doctor, this baby's not waiting any more!"  She told me she had just checked me and that I was only 8 cm and would have to wait to push, and I screamed I wasn't waiting, that she would just have to come out now. She sighed and finally went to go get the doc, who skeptically checked me, and her eyes got the size of silver dollars when she said "Yep! Time to start pushing!"  I wanted to punch the nurse who kept telling me to wait.  Anyhow, I pushed for a grand total of ten minutes and she was out! Talk about a fast labor.