A girl can't catch a break.

31w5d

I've been a busy girl lately....and to quote my doctor, "Wow, you seem to be having an exciting pregnancy!"

Yeah. Not so much. "Exciting" is not exactly the word I would use.

8 p.m. on July 4. I decided to call my doc's office because what I thought had been BH contractions all day were occurring frequently and regularly....as in, I was having 6 in an hour and they seemed to be spaced at regular intervals. I was also noticing some slight cramping with each tightening of my belly. The on-call doc said to drink a jug of water (I was probably dehydrated due to the heat), and if they kept coming to report to L&D. In this time I also took a warm bath, as I had read that it, combined with rest, could sooth and eliminate BH.

They indeed kept coming, so M and I waffled back and forth on whether to go to the hospital. It wasn't until about 12am, as I was lying in bed trying to fall asleep, that I realized that the pain I was experiencing with each contraction was in my back and lower abdomen (it felt like menstrual cramps). What I also noticed is that the pain would come, and then subside. Alarm bells went off at this time because I knew these were NOT BH!!! We packed a bag and promptly headed out.

We were admitted at 1 am and hooked up to the heartbeat and contraction monitors. Sure enough, I was contracting every 4 minutes, and each one was lasting a minute. As we watched the screen, the intervals eventually went down to 2 minutes apart and my pain was increasing with each one. I was starting to get scared! The nurse gave me a shot of terbutaline to stop the contractions and started an IV. She also did the Fetal Fibronectin test to see if my cervical enzymes indicated the possibility of labor in the next two weeks. The test came back negative (yay!), and since my contractions had stopped, they sent me home...at 5 am.

M and I fell into bed and slept until about 11:30 am that day (Monday the 5th). When I woke up, I could tell I was contracting again, but that they weren't too severe. So I got up and had breakfast, did a few chores, and then decided to lie down and watch TV, since I had been instructed to "take it easy." By about 12:30 they were coming regularly again, so I called the doc's office AGAIN (they were closed for the holiday), and a different on-call doc instructed me to head to the hospital to get another shot of terbutaline. As you might imagine, I was less than thrilled about this..but I knew it was the only way to stop my uterus!

So we went to L&D, got the shot, and they also decided to do a cervical check to make sure I wasn't dilated..and I certainly wasn't prepared for the treat that was:

OH.
MY.
GAWD.

This is the first time in my life any has attempted to stick their entire hand up my lady business. I was SHOCKED at how much it hurt. I was literally scooting up the bed away from the nurse because I thought I might die if she tried to get that hand in any further. And the sucky part (well, actually, it turned out to be a good thing) was that she couldn't even reach my cervix! Apparently this is great news because it indicates that it is still high, tight, and closed. But still. I was not amused with the pain of that incident.

We were sent home with a prescription for the oral form of terbutaline. I am to take it as needed for contractions. It's really a miracle drug, except that it makes my heart race and gives me the jitters...as if I've had 10 cups of coffee...but that's small potatoes compared to the cramping the contractions bring on. So far, I had to take a pill last night at 7 because I was contracting every 6 minutes, and then again at 7:30 this morning when they were coming 8 minutes apart.

Coincidentally, my regular doc's appt was this morning, and I was relieved to be able to see him and get the scoop about what's happening and where we go from here. He told me that the FFN test combined with the position of my cervix tells him I am not experiencing preterm labor, only preterm contractions. He said it's most likely due to the size of Elfie compared to his GA (guess it's really not so cute and funny that he's a big boy). He also said that he does expect me to continue to contract throughout the remainder of the pregnancy. In two weeks I will see him again and get the FFN test to check for labor signs. The doc's goal is 34 weeks, and he said 36 weeks "would be gravy". So I guess I am to expect that Elfie could very likely be arriving quite a bit ahead of schedule...

So. Yeah. Not too "exciting;" rather, "nerve-wracking, anxiety-inducing, stressful, and scary" are the words I'd used to describe this.

I had hoped that with all the hell we experienced getting pregnant that I could at least have an uneventful pregnancy. This is just further proof that I am not the one driving the ship here, and that God laughs at the plans I make. But as I ponder the events of the last 10 weeks, I am reminded that nothing really truly worth having in life comes easily. This whole experience has been hard, and I know that motherhood, too, will be difficult.

And I welcome it with open arms. I wouldn't trade this "suffering" for the world. Because in a few short weeks I'll meet my son, and that's what really matters.

Hospital Stay

24w3d

Well.

We've had an eventful few days.

On Friday at school I took the class out for PE. They picked soccer that day, and really didn't think too much of it. About 10 minutes into the game, as I had turned my head to yell at the girls who thought PE was social time, I took a soccer ball to the uterus. Hard, fast, and painful.

Freaking out commenced.

I called my doctor and he told me to come to Labor and Delivery to be checked out. I was scared to begin with, but once I heard this, I was REALLY concerned. Most especially because I wasn't feeling Elfie move. My MIL met me halfway to the hospital and drove the rest of the way...I was so glad to have her with me!

We got there and checked in, and they set me up in a room, had me put a gown on, and strapped a heartbeat monitor and contraction monitor around my belly. It was such a relief to hear my little guy's strong little heart pounding away, I started crying!! My doctor (whom I saw briefly as he was between deliveries) told me they were going to monitor be and baby for a few hours. Soon after, they took me down to get an ultrasound. Apparently, the u/s tech was looking for any placental abruption or tears that could cause baby to lose blood. M showed up in time to see the ultrasound.

The ultrasound looked really good, with no abnormalities. Elfie was moving around a lot, and he was SO BIG! I couldn't believe how much he'd grown in 5 weeks! It was such an emotional sight for me, I was just mesmerized by my son's body and movement.

M and I thought that since things seemed to look good that we'd be heading home. I was STARVING, and wanted to get the heck out of there. My doctor came in and informed us that we just had one more thing to do before they could release us. They were going to take blood to check for any fetal cells in my blood. M and I were pretty confident everything would be okay, but this meant more waiting around...

..and then we got the results of the bloodwork. They found Elfie's cells in my blood. This, as it was explained to us, was most likely a result of the abdominal trauma, since it's not a common thing to see at this gestational age. They told us they were going to keep me overnight for monitoring, and that I would see a perinatologist in the morning for a detailed u/s of Elfie's brain and blood flow.

This is where I lost it.

First, imagine a hungry, tired, hormonal pregnant woman. Then, add on top of that the possibility that there's something wrong with the baby it took her almost two years and $10,000 to conceive. Next, take her husband away from her for a night. The result is almost always going to be less that beautiful. Downright ugly, in fact. I was SO NOT happy at this point.

I think pretty much the only thing that kept me sane was hearing and seeing Elfie's hb staying strong, not to mention the hard swift kicks he was giving me. It was a long, long night...(remember, I was in the LABOR and DELIVERY ward?)...as I was kept awake by nurses talking loudly outside my room and ladies LABORING (screaming, crying, grunting), and the resulting wail of newborns taking their first breaths. Under any other circumstances, I'm sure I would have been so excited to see and hear such thing staking place. However, I felt that it was way too close to home. I was NOT supposed to be there! I wanted to get myself and Elfie back home so he could bake another 3 months!!!!

Unfortunately, I slept a total of about 4 hours that night. I thought the perinatologist would be showing up in the morning and then we'd be outta there! Anyone who has ever stayed in a hospital knows that this is not how things work. EVERYTHING is longer and slower than you'd like. They definitely weren't operating on "Katie time." The doctor didn't show up until 1:30 p.m. Talk about a long, excruciating wait.

SO...the ultrasound with the new doc was simply fascinating. He was there, basically, to measure Elfie's bloodflow to determine if he was anemic (had a low blood count), which would indicate that he was losing blood. He did this by targeting very specific arteries and measuring the volume and directionality of blood. He spent a long time looking at each chamber of the heart and then he isolated an artery in Elfie's brain. M and I were just speechless watching him take his measurements.

After all was said and done, the perinatologist determined that everything looked good with Elfie. He wasn't able to detect any abnormalities in the placenta, no hematomas, or anything else that would concern him. We were so relieved, and I WAS SO READY TO GET HOME! He sent us home with orders to monitor Elfie's movement. He told us that if we pay close attention in the morning and at night that we should be able to get at least 5 kicks in an hour. Apparently, he doesn't know out little boy because I get 10 kicks in a 10 minute period! But of course, I will be more mindful of counting his movements.

So..I guess for now we have avoided disaster. I have a soccerball-sized bruise smack dab in the middle of my belly, but that's small potatoes knowing that it could have been so much worse. I am an extremely grateful lady right now, and will definitely be staying OFF of the soccer field!