The waiting game is tough

I know that some of you who are following along are wondering what in the heck is going on?!?!  Well, so are we.

Like my previous post said, I started having contractions about 8pm on Thursday the 15th.  Went into the Birth Care Center only to find out that I am not dilated at all yet and so its hard to know whats going to happen.  Over the weekend the contractions got somewhat stronger and of course this caused the Kaufman's to panic a little bit.  And, me too, honestly.  I did not want to be responsible for them missing this birth!  They are so far away, its not an easy trip to get from Portland all the way to small little Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  After several days of consistent contractions, many conversations with friends and family, and some sleepless nights worrying, the Kaufmans decided to hop on a plane and come to Iowa.  When they first told me that plane tickets were booked, my heart sank a little bit.  What if this is just a false alarm?  What if he really isn't coming?  Now they will be stuck here in Iowa for several weeks and I will feel terrible!  Well, as I have learned over the past several days is that the human body has a mind of its own and it really is impossible to try to predict what will happen.  And I really didn't need the pressure of trying to tell them the perfect time to come.
As soon as they landed in Iowa, I had a sense of relief.  They are here now.  No more stress trying to decide to tell them when to come, based on how I am feeling.

The last few days have been... interesting.  ;)  First of all, its been so great to get this time with the Kaufman family.  Our 4 kids are just loving every second together and can't get enough!  This is time we wouldn't have had if we would have went with the normal plan of the c-section on Nov 13.  We would have had 1 day before the baby arrived and the girls would have only been here for a few short days.  This bonding, together time, has been really awesome.  And my boys getting to know the Kaufman family has really pulled it full circle.  They now understand who Baby K's family is!
Here is a photo of Kellie & Chris' girls when they had just hopped off the plane... Go Hawks!  :)

We had to put a goodie basket together and in their hotel room for a warm welcome to Iowa!

Here is day 1, Kenley feeling her baby brother!  

And Kellie getting to feel what a contraction feels like from the outside

We've tried to keep busy because at this point, there is no reason to just lay in bed and try to stop anything from happening.  Drs and nurses all say that Baby K will be just fine if he decides to come at this point.  So, Kellie and I have hit up the spa, went out to dinner with some girlfriends & of course, attended a few Doctors appointments.

 Spa time ^^

Some yummy fruit sent by a friend, Megan Baker!! So thoughtful and delicious!! ^

After dinner, with girlfriends!  

In the waiting room for baby K's NST (non stress test) that he passed with flying colors this week!

And a few photos of the men.  They've really had a blast together this week.  They've golfed twice and at one point had 9 kids and 4 laid back dads over watching football while the girls were out at dinner.  Chaos but they handled it awesome!

Steven, Chris, my dad and a friend Landon ^


Now, the real update on WHAT is going on!!!  Every day I seem to get stronger and stronger contractions.  Since last Thursday I haven't had more than an hour without any contractions at all. some nights I sleep thru them and sometimes they wake me up.  My doctor said it would appear early labor has started.  And, at this point, they wouldn't try to stop it from happening.  However, I am supposed to be a scheduled C-section, due to my twin pregnancy with my boys.  So, If I were to start to dilate, they would want to get me to an OR to get the baby out, or I risk going into active labor and trying for a VBac.  I've had two doctors now tell me that my pelvis most likely couldn't deliver a baby.  My mom had the same problem.  And with this being a surrogacy and my mindset has been C-section the entire pregnancy, I would love to stick with the plan.  If something changes and we have to try for a VBac, I am in no way against it.
On Tuesday I went and saw my doctor and she checked my cervix and said it was STILL closed.  No dilating and that baby's position was still high.  He hasn't moved down yet.  However, she said that can still all change in a short amount of time.  Since I have never labored before, its hard to tell me what to expect as far as what will be the difference and make something change.  My doctor said that I might end up making several trips into the hospital to see if I've made progress because they would prefer that, then for me to ignore it all and end up having a baby at home.
Yesterday at lunch I started having quite a lot of pain just as we sat there and ate.  Contractions were happening (as they always are) and there seemed to be more pain behind them than normal.  I mentioned something to Kellie and later that afternoon I decided to track them a little to see their pattern.  They were about 7-8 minutes apart and all pretty strong.  Some had pain with them and some just the tightness.
After about 3 hours of those, they seemed to fizzle out a little bit.  Then around 6pm they started back up.  Seemed to be stronger and this time back pain had started with them, along with overall cramping and discomfort.  We ate dinner and just continued the evening.  Around 9pm is when it all seemed to change.  Back pain was much more achy and painful than before, cramping had increased and my contractions were about 5-6 minutes apart and each one was VERY strong.  My mom is an OBGYN nurse and she was over at the house and was feeling the contractions on the outside.  She said she felt like these were the strongest yet and she couldn't imagine these weren't the real deal.  My belly would feel like a hard pumpkin during a contraction.  Absolutely as tight as possible!  Every few contractions would make me feel like I wanted to breathe thru it.  They continued until about 10:30pm and then we decided to just head to the hospital to see if these few days had changed anything at this point.  I knew my OB Dr was on-call, so I thought it was perfect timing since she was the last one who checked my cervix and would know for sure if anything had changed.
The answer?  NO.  No change.  Ugh.  Today I am 36 weeks so we are soooooo glad we have made it this far!  I think the most frustrating part is just having no idea what to expect and what is going to happen!  I just cannot imagine that this can continue for 3 more weeks.  I have a pretty high pain tolerance and some of these contractions take my breath away.  I will be exhausted and SO uncomfortable if this goes on for that much longer.
So, at this point we just keep waiting.  The Drs and Nurses have all reassured me that I did the right thing by coming into the hospital because everyone is different and there is no way to know if the contractions are doing anything.   Always better safe than sorry.
Kellie and Chris have continued to say that they are glad they are here with us.  That the stress of being far away was too much and although they might have an extended vacation here in Iowa, it will be worth it.  That is such a huge relief because this is what I was worried of.  They would get here and then nothing would happen.  But, again, there is still quite a bit of action happening and changes daily so anything can happen!  No one knows.
It's been hard to update you all without a clearer picture of what is going on.  We don't know much and baby K seems to make the rules.  So, we appreciate the prayers and thoughts that you've all sent to us.  Much support has been felt and received and we are grateful for all of it!
We will keep you informed as things happen.  Thank you for reading!

-Kenz