Now I Know He Hates Me!!

Friday Morning as I was driving into work I started to have contractions that were a little too intense for only 29 weeks. This had been going on for about a week as I had mentioned before, however, those were always at night and only lasting for about an hour. So I tried to just go about my day as usual but they were just not letting up. By about noon it was becoming obvious that they weren't going away any time soon. After promptings from my sister and my husband I finally gave in and called the doctor's office. I got the answer I was afraid of and headed in to the hospital to be checked. I didn't take anything with me (except for Chris) because I didn't plan on being there for more than just a couple of hours and then sent on my way.

They hooked us up as soon as we got there to see what this baby was doing. While we were waiting I found out that my doctor was actually out of town and someone else would be coming in to cover for him. That is never something you want to hear! They could see that I was very dehydrated and that could cause early contractions, so after stabbing me 3 times they finally got an IV in me. After watching for awhile the doctor decided that some more specific tests were warranted. Apparently they can do some type of swab of the cervix that can tell them if your body will go into labor within the next two weeks. I had never heard of it before. We got assurances from the staff that these things hardly ever come back positive so more than likely they will be sending me home. Not long after they said that the nurse came walking back in to let us know that it was POSITIVE!! Oh and we are keeping you here overnight. The doctor doesn't want to take any chances. Immediately they gave me a big shot in the butt of Cortisone to help the baby's lungs develop faster just in case and given a pill every 4 hours to help stop the contractions. I was ordered to be in bed and only to get up to use the bathroom.

I had to have another Cortisone shot 24 hours later and continue on the pills every 4 hours. We thought we would be going home after 24 hours. Nope! They requested an ultrasound on the baby and my cervix to get a better idea of what was going on. The baby looked perfect!! He is almost 3 pounds and doing very well. The cervix was another story. From what I understand, the cervix should be 3cm in length when it is not "doing anything". They don't want it below 2.5cm or that would indicate you are in labor. Well, mine came back at 1.9cm. Not what they or we wanted to hear. So here goes another night in the hospital. The doctor that was taking care of me was very nice and wanted to make sure that if we have this baby early, they had done everything possible to prevent it. When a baby is born prematurely, they plan on the baby being in the NICU 3 days for every 1 day in the womb. Not a good option.

So here we are now Sunday morning and there was still question if they would be willing to send me home or send me to a larger hospital that has a NICU. The thought of that scared the crap out of me. Could I really be having this baby right now?! So after a lot more monitoring, checking, and A LOT of time in bed, the doctor was willing to let me go home. I do have to continue on this medication every 4 hours until I am 34 weeks along. At that point they won't stop you if you go into labor. I have also been ordered to bed rest for at least one week. I am not sure how I am going to do it, but we know we have to. That is a really nice thing about working for a doctor. He can't argue with something like that. He is a really understanding person, so he wouldn't anyway. Hopefully this was my last hospital stay for at least 8 weeks.
I really didn't want this picture on here, but Chris is insisting. I know it is really attractive!!