Strip Tease

Last night we made our first pregnancy related trip to the hospital. After getting home from work, I had given Mac a call on his cell phone. "I hate it when you call my cell phone. I always think something is wrong." But no, I was just calling to tell him I got my official offer from Salem in the mail and to tell him a few details about the job offer that hadn't been provided to me over the phone.

A half hour later I was back on the cell phone. "Mac, can you come home, I am bleeding." This, I am sure, freaked him out more than I needed to as I was really only having some spotting, but it was bright red blood and the books (as well as the OHSU doc on call) all say you need to go get checked out for that. So I made sure I had everything I needed for a hospital stay while I waited for Mac and then we headed in.

Mostly we spent the time at the hospital watching Wickedly Perfect while being monitored for contractions, fetal heart rate, and fetal movement. But I also got the pleasure of meeting Summer, a first year family practice resident, who had little OB experience and was made even more nervous when she learned I was already out of residency and quite frankly knew as much OB as she did (to her credit, she probably wouldn't have suggested a bite stick). But after an exam from hell and an hour of monitoring with only one contraction, the verdict came back as "Not tonight, dear" and we were sent home.

This morning I had a scheduled appointment with my real OB. I had been hoping for "membrane stripping," but with my official due date now set concretely in my medical chart as Feb. 1 (and so more than two weeks away) compounded with last night's events, this didn't happen. And once again, I was counseled about patience as she thinks I have a while to wait. Little does she know I need a lot more than reassurance and counseling to be patient - more like a personality transplant would be required!