When you first arrive at the hospital, you're gonna be sent through admitting. If it's during the day, you'll go through admitting. If it's at night or on the weekend, you might go through the emergency department and they'll take you up to labor and delivery. And, once you get there, the nurse will bring you in to a room. She's gonna first check your vital signs to make sure you're doing okay, your blood pressure, your pulse, your respiratory rate. And, then, she's gonna check your baby and she's gonna do this by putting a monitor around your belly that with adapter looks at the pattern of your fetal heart rate tracing. Another monitor around your belly is gonna look at the contractions, the frequency of the contractions. And, once she has insured that you and your baby are okay, then she's gonna check you for whatever reason brought you in to the hospital. If you think you're in labor, she'll check your cervix to see if it's dilated. If you think you might have ruptured membranes, then she's going to do an exam to look for fluid leaking. And, if it's found that you're either in labor or have fluid leaking, or if you're not in labor or do not have fluid leaking, she will then call your obstetrician or your midwife and present your status to him or her. At that point, you may or you may not be admitted. If nothing is going on, you might be sent home. But, if it turns out you are in labor or your membranes are ruptured, then you'll stay. You'll answer a million questions for the nurse about you, your prenatal care, your pregnancy. And, then, you'll probably get an IV started for hydration and blood work will be taken for the hospital. After that, you're an active participant in your labor process.