Tuesday 3:40pm- We arrived at triage. I filled out the check in form and listed my reason for visit as 'contractions(?)/pains 5-8 minutes apart & decreased movement'. I told B to get comfy, that we'd be there for awhile before they saw us. Within 5 minutes, they had taken my vitals. Another 10 later, I met with the billing lady. 10 more & they called us back to a room. B went in & waited while I left a urine sample. I came back in the room & he asked what we do next. I said, I get naked. I could see the stress on his face, so I turned that comment into a joke & he started to smile until he saw me actually taking my pants off. I think at that point, it all got real to him. He said he was going to go back to the waiting room. I told him, this is going to happen a lot now, don't feel the need to leave. But again, I could see it in his face, so I let him go.
The triage nurse came in & hooked up a baby heart rate belt & a contraction timer belt. As soon as she looked at the screen, she made a face...and I knew something was up. She started asking about his movements earlier that day, what I had ate, if I was taking any medications. She walked out for a minute & came in with another nurse. (Who I later found out was a critical care nurse) That nurse looked at the monitors, made faces, left & came back with a doctor. Now, having been seen in this triage before, I knew that things were moving faster than they normally do. The dr started asking all sorts of questions: What and when was my last meal, am I taking any meds that would cause my heart rate or the babies to raise... Turns out, his heart rate was over 200 bpm. Normal is 170 or lower. The dr sent the nurse to find an ultrasound machine. She wanted to check on ultrasound to confirm that was his heart & not mine & his in rythmn. They found one, did a quick ultrasound & confirmed that was in fact his actual heart rate. I think it was around 205 at that point. The nurses asked if I would like them to get Byron from the waiting room, so he would know what was happening. That was when I realized that something could be wrong & thankfully they got him in there quickly otherwise I would have lost it had I been left alone too long.
Once he was in the room, one of the nurses picked up the phone & paged another doctor, telling him what was going on. Seriously, the doctor was there in less than 2 minutes and brought along with him an ultrasound machine & about 5 people. He introduced himself & said he was going to take a look at the babys heart. One of my nurses took my hand and said, 'He's head of cardio. Your baby is in the hands of the best dr in this hospital.' While they were setting up the ultrasound someone poked into the room & asked something and one of the nurses replied 'We have an emergency in here.' Again, had B not been standing next to me, holding my hand, I would have lost it. The dr looked at the babys heart and pointed out all the parts to the others in the room & then said to us, 'Your babys heart rate is not ideal right now, but he's going to be fine. I don't know if they have checked to see if you're in active labor or not, but you WILL be having this baby now. By this time tomorrow, you'll have a baby in your arms and not in your belly!' Turns out, they feared he was in cardiac arrest. Scary much? The flury of people continued. Admissions guy came with more papers to sign and an OB came to give me the c-section prep talk. After she left I had a quiet, private talk with the baby and explained that we will NOT be keeping this up, we will calm down, we will get a room & we will give birth, but not by c-section.
The dr came back in & checked me.... 0% thined and 4 cm dialated. She asked if I was feeling the contractions they were watching and I wasn't. We stayed in triage for awhile longer while they waited on a room in labor & delivery and then we were off to have a baby.
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