So we didn't go into labor last night

This is a potentially Too Much Information post for those of you who are squeamish about body fluids... so stop reading now if that's the case. You are warned.

For the past week or so, I've been, shall we say, "well lubricated". Way up from normal levels, but that's normal during the end of pregnancy. Over the weekend, it jumped to a new level. Sunday, I resorted to sticking a folded washcloth in my underwear because periodically, I would have a "gush" of fluid. Not a huge enough gush that it was obvious that my water had broken, but enough that I had to change my underwear and my pants would get wet.

Dr. Liz had given me pH paper at the previous appointment (on Tuesday) when I had mentioned that secretion levels were rising. Urine and vaginal fluids usually have an acidic pH, while amniotic fluid is close to neutral. However, when she gave me the paper, she said that these pHs can vary and that many of her colleagues don't even give out pH paper anymore because it's so often wrong. With that in mind, I had pHed various body fluids and determined on Tuesday that my urine was close to neutral and so was this other fluid, so it was probably just an extension of the "peeing when you sneeze" development from several weeks ago.

Sunday evening, I ran another set of pH experiments and determined that urine was now somewhat acidic and the "gushing" fluid was neutral. That evening, I called Dr Liz and we had a consult. The end result was that nothing could be determined, she wasn't that worried because the pH paper is so often wrong and what I was describing didn't sound like it was due to my membranes having ruptured. We moved my appointment for the week to Monday afternoon (from Tuesday morning).

Sunday night I didn't sleep well and had a bad dream that something had happened to the baby. Other than that, it was uneventful.

Monday, "gushing" continued fairly similarly to Sunday. Monday afternoon, we headed to meet up with Dr Liz. She did an exam and collected some fluid so she could dry it on a slide and look for "ferning". Apparently cervical mucus during fertile periods and amniotic fluid both "fern" when they dry. Basically, as they dry, they sort of crystalize into a pattern that looks kind of like ferns (I thought it looked more like snowflakes). Ferning test was inconclusive: it looked like there might be slight ferning, but it wasn't enough to make Dr Liz certain that it was amniotic fluid.

We headed home and Dr Liz dropped by with another test, which ended up basically being pH paper packaged for home use. It showed the same thing as the pH paper did (unsurprisingly). We discussed the options.

Basically, the problem boils down to the fact that I tested positive for Group B Strep, which typically isn't problematic unless membranes rupture well before you go into labor. What we were looking at (pH test, ferning) suggested that it was possible that my membranes might have slightly ruptured. However, it was totally inconclusive as to whether they actually had or not. Irritating.

After literally hours of debate, we decided that I should definitely start taking oral antibiotics. Then we debated whether it would be a good idea to try to get labor started. If my membranes had, in fact, ruptured, then it was advisable for labor to start within 48 hours. At that point, it had already been over 24 (since the gushing started). We bought castor oil when we picked up the prescription for the antibiotics. Dr Liz stopped by her office for another look at the ferning slides, which looked even less convincing the second time.

We called off the "let's start labor tonight" plan in favor of the "let's wait until tomorrow morning" plan. I started the antibiotics and we went to bed.

I called Dr Liz this morning and we decided that we're both comfortable with me being on antibiotics and not trying to start labor early, unless there is some other, more conclusive sign that my membranes actually have ruptured or that I've got an infection. I could go to the hospital and have them test, but they'll do the exact same tests that we've already done and presumably get the same inconclusive answers. I don't want to end up being induced at the hospital for no reason; that's exactly what I was trying to avoid by having the baby at a birth center.

I'm extremely relieved that I didn't go into labor last night. Apparently I need a few more days to prepare mentally for the baby to arrive. I had things I wanted to get done this week, I had a final to give today, and I just wasn't expecting it to happen quite that quickly. I'm not sure how I expect it to be different in another few days or a week, but somehow it seems less stressful. Hopefully I won't feel quite so overwhelmed when it actually does start, and hopefully it'll be able to start naturally whenever the baby is ready to come out.