What a week it has been. Getting bigger every week but still no weight gain. I swear I am eating - especially after the steroid shots this past weekend ... oh, whats that about? Oh yeah, it has been a whirl wind week.
I had been getting tightness across my abdomen starting about 31 weeks. Not horrible, just typical Braxton Hicks at first. By last Monday they were getting painful and taking my breath away. Things just didn't feel right. Took Tuesday off to get some things done around town (not to mention care for yet another sinus infection). Wednesday saw me back at work and I just felt wrong. Tightness in my belly radiating downwards (almost contraction like), arching pain across my rib cage and back (thank you gallbladder) and just in general fogginess. I went to see the nurse on campus, had BP checked. 118/89 - not awful but off for me. Called the midwives to see what I should do.
Let me step back 3 years - when I was pregnant with Nathan I had these same symptoms (Not sure about the gallbladder stuff) of tightening and semi-contractions that would start and stop for the last 3 weeks before he was born. I kept thinking I would go into labor seeing as how we were nearly fullterm - then a week over. It took my water breaking .... and waiting another 18 hours for things to make sense. Went into the birthing center just shy of 18 hours to get some antibiotics thanks to positive GBS and to find out what was going on. As soon as I was hooked up to the IV contractions came on HARD! I was shivering and in full labor withing minutes. Nate was born just over an hour later - actual pushes 4. It was too fast and too strange.
Because I had not had the antibiotics in my system 4 hours prior to his arrival, and because of his crazy entrance ... he ended up in the NICU for 7 days. Here was this nearly 10lb baby, setting off all the alarms since he was bigger then they were used to having ... who after the first night was fine. I was not admitted since my part of the labor went off without a hitch - no tearing, just normal natural labor - just really fast. Nate had to stay in the hospital to have tests done, and to run the full course of antibiotics. Dan made me leave each night so I could get some rest - no beds in the NICU. By night 2 I fell apart crying trying to pump milk for my little guy. It was a really tough time!
I do not want to go thru that again and if there is anything I can do to stop it from happening I am going to do it! Which brings me to last Wednesday.
I didn't feel right, I wasn't sure what was going on, I just wasn't right. So, the midwives had me drink a lot of water and lay down for an hour - then check back in. I wandered back into the nurses area and asked to lay down somewhere - promptly fell asleep on one of the very uncomfortable exam tables. Nurse woke me an hour later and boy was I groggy.
Had my BP check again - 118/88 ... after lying down for an hour that should have changed. Made my way outside by way of the bathroom - having more and more tightness the more I walked. Called the midwives - told them what I was feeling. Talked to Nikki who wanted me to get to Labor & Delivery and be checked out. So I grabbed up Dan and we went to L&D - about a 35 minute drive from work. Checked in and waited to be seen.
I was put on a monitor about a half hour later - baby sounded great. They put a second monitor on to measure uterine activity. Not full on labor but my uterus was definitely bothered. Ran a couple tests including an FFN (fetal Fital nectin - or something like that. Tests for preterm labor). Everything came back negative. Nikki decided to give me a shot - tebulin something or other - to see if it would stop the contractions. It did - but boy was that rough. Gave me the chills, made my heart race ... but baby did fine thru it all. Was discharged with instruction to stay home Thursday and rest.
Did that - then decided to be a dummy and go to work Friday. Oh, mental fog, belly felt weird. By 11am I just wasn't feeling right again. Called the midwives who told me to come get monitored again. Dragged poor Dan back out with me - arranged pickup for the kids ....
Got to L&D around 130 - was put on the monitors. Babe looked fine, I was not having enough tightness to call it contractions again (beginning to wonder if I am just a wimp somewhere in here). Suzannah (another midwife) decided to do an internal check. Yes I know you don't want to muck around down there very much -- Nikki had checked Wednesday and determined that I was about 1/2 cm dilated. Suzannah checked and compared notes with Nikki via a phone conference. A) I was now closer to 1cm dilated, B) babes head was in my pelvis right against my cervix .... uh oh.
Was told I was going to be kept overnight for observation. Body was working on stuff - just like it had been with Nate. *sigh. Now, in with everything going on it was decided to give me a steroid shot for the baby's lungs - just in case. Give him the best chance of development should labor kick start early. There were 2 shots given 24 hours apart, one in each butt cheek - yowsers!.
So, I spent the next 24 hours being monitored - fed a whole lot of food! (I couldn't eat it all) and getting lots of rest and hydration. Contractions never really started back up again - and I tested by doing some walking around - getting my own water, that sort of thing. I got the tightness and I could feel cramping lower down but never progressed past that. Went away if I laid down - sometimes even sitting helped.
I was discharged late Saturday with instruction to go on bed rest and check in Monday. So, I've applied for short-term disability, not sure if I'll be out a week or until this babe is born. I can get up and do somethings - just need to take lots of breaks. I still don't feel right - almost like this babe is going to roll right on out of me. I want to be as ready as I can to have the safest birth possible. If that means being home so be it. If it means going back to work, so be it. I like to think of myself as a tough cookie - both of my boys are for sure -- but I have learned thru experience not to push, put baby first - and that is just what I am doing.
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