Saturday, September 29, 2007

18w1d

I'll say right off the bat that everything is fine. Last night I had some contractions that were on the painful side. I never really got the point in labor with Gregory where I dealt with painful contractions. I'd been having contractions from about an hour after he died straight through, but they weren't very painful or regular. It wasn't until it was confirmed that he died that they even picked up, and within an hour or two I was in surgery. So last night I went and put my feet up on the couch and watched the Yankee game for a bit, and they went away. Had dinner, went to bed. I woke up around 2am and they were back. It felt a lot like gas pain, but it wouldn't go away. I'm on Z.ofran, and that can cause pretty bad constipation, so I thought maybe that had something to do with it. I definitely felt my uterus squeezing, and at points it felt similar to menstrual cramps. I was feeling pressure and the contractions were as frequent as 4 every ten minutes. I started checking my symptoms online, and preterm labor came up a number of times. When it still hadn't subsided by 5:30 am, I took a warm shower and called my doctor. He agreed that I needed to get checked out to be on the safe side. So off to L&D we went.

They monitored me from about 7am to 10:30am. They weren't picking up contractions on the monitor, but figure it might be uterine irritability. Beulah's heartbeat was in the 160s, which is what it's been consistently the entire pregnancy. So I'm back home with instructions to drink lots of water and to stay off my feet for the rest of the weekend. The hospital was hard - they were busy, so they'd run out of triage beds and I was in a recovery room. About an hour in I realized that I was in the exact same spot in the exact same recovery room as I was in after my c-section. I did get choked up at points, things felt so similar to when I went in the morning Gregory was born. Walking up to the desk to explain I was alarmed by something and my doctor instructed me to come in for monitoring; the nurse not being able to find the baby's heartbeat right away; talking to some of the nurses who cared for me the last time. The hardest thing was trying not to give in to the sheer panic I felt just being there.

But I'm damned glad I went, even if it turned out to be nothing serious. I imagine it only would have become worse with the stress of not knowing if the baby was ok, and it could have turned into something more serious. My mind is at ease, and I'm proud of myself for not just writing it off as growing pains (even if that's what it is!) and for putting my health and Beulah's health over the risk of people thinking I was stupid and panicky. I still feel guilt that I ignored my own instinct that something was wrong last time, and I wasn't about to walk down that road again. I'm still feeling some contractions, but they are not painful, not regular, and not as strong. Back to bed for me!

2 comments:

Mrs. Collins said...

I'm so glad you went it! You sound like me, the type of person who doesn't want to make a fuss or be embarrassed when it is nothing. However we can't be like that anymore. Keep hydrated and take it easy. You are almost half way there! Will you be induced early? Just wondering. Sorry you had to be in the exact same place you were with Gregory. However, since you will probably end up back at that hospital, it might be a good thing after all, albeit painful. As weird as it may sound, I've already asked my nurses to put me in the SAME room where I delivered Jimmy. I feel like his spirit is there and he will look out for me. Weird I know, but I bet Gregory was there with you too!

froggy mommy said...

I had the same thought, and figured I was looney tunes! I want to request to be put in the L&D room where we all spent time together as a family with Gregory after he was born. It's totally about coming full circle and turning it into a good place. I am definitely delivering by 38 weeks. I'm still not sure about VBAC vs repeat section. I asked my doctor about delivering at 36 weeks - he says that we'll have to do an amnio for lung development, but we'll discuss it more as we get closer. I'd love to make it to 38 weeks, and I know physically I could, but I'm more concerned about my mental health. We'll have to see how I'm fairing as we approach February.

I'm so excited for you guys Monica! I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers on Monday!