MIA

Well, I guess I'd better update those of you who I haven't checked in with yet about the past couple of weeks. Sorry - this will likely be long!

So, after the shower on Saturday (two weeks ago) the week progressed pretty normally until early afternoon Wednesday (32 weeks, 4 days). Sitting at my desk I noticed that I was having all kinds of nearly-painless contractions. I'd been having Braxton-Hicks for weeks, but these seemed to be quite often, so I decided to time them (using this nifty tool). I did that for half an hour and noticed they were coming every 2-3 minutes and lasting around 45 seconds. I didn't want to go to the hospital, but I wasn't sure if this warranted concern, so I called Labour & Delivery.

They told me I should come in to get checked out, so I called Peter at work and he picked me up. At the time I really thought this was a waste of time.

We got to the hospital and they hooked me up to the monitors (for M's heartrate, movements, and my contractions). I had figured as soon as they got the monitors on the contractions would stop, but amazingly they didn't. The next few hours were kind of crazy. I had one doctor come in and said I was dilating, which meant the contractions were real. It was very strange because they didn't hurt. My OB came in around supper time and laid out what they were going to do. They did a test for a certain protein that predicts whether I would go into labour in the next two weeks. It said I wouldn't, but because my cervix was changing he decided to play it safe, since the test isn't 100%. They started me on an IV for fluids and an antibiotic in case an infection had caused the labour. They then gave me the first of two steroid shots to help mature M's
lungs. The doctor said our short-term goal was to stall labour for 48 hours so the steroids had time to work. The second shot would come 24 hours after the first if all was going well at that point. Then they started me on some blood pressure medication (Adalat). I got 4 (maybe only 3?) doses 20 minutes apart and then they went to every 4 hours. Apparently Adalat relaxes the smooth muscles so they use it to relax the uterus.

Well, after my first mega-doses, the contractions kept getting worse. I still wasn't feeling the contractions in my abdomen, but they were getting stronger and my back was killing me. Peter's back massages were the only thing that would help. Eventually a different OB came in and asked if I wanted some pain meds. The one she suggested was Demerol, and I wasn't sure I was ready to take that. I asked what she thought was best, and she said she thought having the meds might relax me enough to halt the labour, so I figured that was reason enough. Anyway,
they gave me that along with some Gravol (since a side effect of Demerol is nausea). Ummm .. yeah, I don't think the Gravol worked. Thankfully the Demerol did and the contractions eased up and didn't really come back at that intensity again. In the morning they did another check and my cervix hadn't dilated anymore. They sent me for an ultrasound to see how the baby was doing - it was so neat to see! The technician showed me the baby's face (M was rubbing his / her eyes with a fist - too cute!), the heart and the blood flow in the heart and in the umbilical cord, the stomach, kidneys, brain, etc ... It was so cool. Anyway, they said M looked perfect and was measuring a week ahead as far as weight is concerned, which would have been good if I had had him / her that early. Thursday night I had my second steroid shot. I was still having bouts
of back pain off and on but we finally figured out (Friday night) that it was M laying on something on the right side of my back.

Friday morning my OB came into the room and said that he was away for the weekend, but
depending on how I was doing the OB on call for the weekend would discharge me either Saturday or Sunday. I was still on the Adalat. They kept spacing out the doses. He also told me I would be on modified bedrest when I was released, so no more work for me (I'll admit, that part was kind of nice). Saturday morning the OB on call (I had seen her the first night I came in) said she didn't want to release me while still on the meds, so I had to stay until Sunday. Thankfully I got to come home Sunday morning.

Since then my life has been pretty boring! Most days I don't leave the house. I had an OB appointment last Wednesday and things still look good. He said he would lift the bedrest restrictions at 36 weeks, so I have two weeks to go. Thankfully I'm not on full bedrest and am allowed to be up and around as long as I'm not having many contractions. I still get a few every day, but nothing regular.

So ... that's been my two weeks! I'll try to keep everyone more up-to-date from now on!