At the Hospital Again

2AM - Things I'm Learning - Tips for Guys in the Delivery Room

1. Shut Up - Don't talk if you can help it. When she's going through contractions she doesn't want to hear anything, and probably can't say anything. She'll talk when she's ready to, then be prepared to listen.

2. Don't Touch Her - Unless she asks you to, then when she says stop, STOP!

3. Ice Chips - Know where to get them and get them frequently.

4. Coach her Breathing. This breaks rule number 1, but you'll know when to use it. "In through the nose and out through your mouth." Watch the monitor and tell her when the contraction starts going down. Tell her she's doing great.

5. The Puke Bucket. Your new job is keeper of the puke bucket, know where it is and keep it close by, when you go for walks with her in the hall, bring it with you. Rinse it out and have it ready.

We had a little break tonight. Contractions slowed down significantly around midnight and we both got about an hour or so of sleep. It's about 2:45AM now and the contractions have kicked in again. She's in a lot of pain, but doing well considering...

10PM - Prodromal Labor - could last for days, 26 hours so far...I think I'll just write tomorrow, this is really frustrating and we're both exhausted. I feel helpless and useless just sitting there watching her in pain.

7PM - 2cm now, walked around the halls for a bit. Looks like we may be staying at the hospital.

4:30PM - We're at the hospital again. The ride over was pretty rough, I think she felt every bump. Genevieve's on the monitor now and still having contractions, although they seem to have subsided (okay, that was a big one...) I just had to get up and help her on that one. Maybe they haven't subsided. Anyway, she seems more comfortable here than at home, so I'm hoping that the doctor decides to keep her here. Unbelievably, she's still only at 1cm, so hopefully something happens soon. The nurses are coming back to check in a bit, then we may have her get up and walk around. By the way, Genevieve is doing this without pain medication, and and does not want an epidural, so I have to hand it to her, she's hanging in there like a trooper.