Matt and I made our second trip to labor and delivery on Tuesday night. The first time we went was the night of November 12. My mom, Matt, and I were on our way to dinner after my shower before my mom left to drive back home when a deer ran out in front of the car. It was dark so I didn't see the deer until it was literally right on the side of the road. I hit the brakes, but we still hit the deer. (It got up and ran off, so I'm hoping it was okay). Our car is currently in the shop getting fixed to the tune of $2600 (thank goodness for insurance). The doctor on call wanted me to come in for monitoring just to make sure everything was okay. Matt and I spent almost 4 hours in a triage room with me hooked up to the contraction monitor and fetal heart rate monitor. Everything was fine, just a precaution.
However, Tuesday night was not so fun. Monday night I started having more braxton hicks contractions than normal. I'd been told to call if I was having 5 or more an hour, but they never hit that point. I spent all of Monday evening on the couch drinking water and the contractions subsided after a while. However, they picked back up Tuesday morning at work. I had 6 in an hour, so called my doctor during my prep. The nurse told me to put my feet up/lay down, drink lots of water, and if they didn't let up then I needed to call them back and go home from work. I spent my prep sitting down with my feet up and the contractions let up. I stayed at work but sat down as much as possible (this is the last week I have a student teacher). I only had 4 or 5 contractions the whole rest of the day at school. The nurse called back around 2:00 to check and see how things were going (I LOVE my doctor's office, by the way.). She told me to spend the night with my feet up drinking lots of water. So I came home and that's what I did. Except then the contractions picked back up again and I had 7 in 45 minutes. I called the on-call number and my doctor told me to come in to labor and delivery. So Matt and I drove to the hospital, much more nervous than the last time we were there.
The nurse hooked me up to the monitors again. Baby B.'s heart rate looked good and he/she was moving around like crazy. Baby B got the hiccups while I was hooked up, which was kind of funny to hear over the monitor :) I was having contractions, but there was no pattern to them. The doctor had the nurse run a fetal fibronectin test, which looks for a protein that your body makes before going into labor. The good news is, that test came back negative. However, I'm already dilated to 1cm. While you can be dilated for a while before actually going into labor, the doctor wasn't super thrilled that I'm dilated this early. We spent about 2.5 hours at the hospital, and when they checked me again I hadn't dilated any further, which was good. They gave me a shot of terbu.taline to help stop the contractions. That stuff stings! Matt and I got sent home, but I'm on bedrest. I didn't work yesterday and am not working today. I have my 34 week appointment this afternoon, and the doctor is planning on checking for any more dilation. Hopefully I'm still just at 1cm. I've been having some contractions yesterday and today, but not a lot, nothing painful, and nothing regular.
Here's what we're praying for:
-that I wouldn't dilate any further for a while.
-that Baby B would stay put for another few weeks
-that the contractions would continue to let up/slow down
-that I'm cleared to go back to work (I don't want to use up my maternity leave before Baby B actually gets here; I'm planning to take 12 weeks off, but if I end up having to miss the rest of the semester then I'll only be able to take off about 8-8.5 weeks of second semester before I have to go back to avoid losing my benefits)
In exciting yet semi-terrifying news, my doctor did tell me that if I started to go into labor after the end of next week she wouldn't do anything to stop it. Yikes! While I know that we're having this baby relatively soon, there's a big difference between "in 5 or 6 weeks" and "next week!" I suppose I should finish packing the hospital bag soon :) But we are really wanting Baby B to stay put until I'm 37 or 38 weeks at least. I'll keep everyone posted after my appointment this afternoon.
However, Tuesday night was not so fun. Monday night I started having more braxton hicks contractions than normal. I'd been told to call if I was having 5 or more an hour, but they never hit that point. I spent all of Monday evening on the couch drinking water and the contractions subsided after a while. However, they picked back up Tuesday morning at work. I had 6 in an hour, so called my doctor during my prep. The nurse told me to put my feet up/lay down, drink lots of water, and if they didn't let up then I needed to call them back and go home from work. I spent my prep sitting down with my feet up and the contractions let up. I stayed at work but sat down as much as possible (this is the last week I have a student teacher). I only had 4 or 5 contractions the whole rest of the day at school. The nurse called back around 2:00 to check and see how things were going (I LOVE my doctor's office, by the way.). She told me to spend the night with my feet up drinking lots of water. So I came home and that's what I did. Except then the contractions picked back up again and I had 7 in 45 minutes. I called the on-call number and my doctor told me to come in to labor and delivery. So Matt and I drove to the hospital, much more nervous than the last time we were there.
The nurse hooked me up to the monitors again. Baby B.'s heart rate looked good and he/she was moving around like crazy. Baby B got the hiccups while I was hooked up, which was kind of funny to hear over the monitor :) I was having contractions, but there was no pattern to them. The doctor had the nurse run a fetal fibronectin test, which looks for a protein that your body makes before going into labor. The good news is, that test came back negative. However, I'm already dilated to 1cm. While you can be dilated for a while before actually going into labor, the doctor wasn't super thrilled that I'm dilated this early. We spent about 2.5 hours at the hospital, and when they checked me again I hadn't dilated any further, which was good. They gave me a shot of terbu.taline to help stop the contractions. That stuff stings! Matt and I got sent home, but I'm on bedrest. I didn't work yesterday and am not working today. I have my 34 week appointment this afternoon, and the doctor is planning on checking for any more dilation. Hopefully I'm still just at 1cm. I've been having some contractions yesterday and today, but not a lot, nothing painful, and nothing regular.
Here's what we're praying for:
-that I wouldn't dilate any further for a while.
-that Baby B would stay put for another few weeks
-that the contractions would continue to let up/slow down
-that I'm cleared to go back to work (I don't want to use up my maternity leave before Baby B actually gets here; I'm planning to take 12 weeks off, but if I end up having to miss the rest of the semester then I'll only be able to take off about 8-8.5 weeks of second semester before I have to go back to avoid losing my benefits)
In exciting yet semi-terrifying news, my doctor did tell me that if I started to go into labor after the end of next week she wouldn't do anything to stop it. Yikes! While I know that we're having this baby relatively soon, there's a big difference between "in 5 or 6 weeks" and "next week!" I suppose I should finish packing the hospital bag soon :) But we are really wanting Baby B to stay put until I'm 37 or 38 weeks at least. I'll keep everyone posted after my appointment this afternoon.
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