Last night I had lots of contractions and cramping and had trouble sleeping. Even a warm hot water bottle on my abdomen didn't help much. B also came in my bed around 2 first because of growing pains in his legs and later because of an earache. Thankfully, my mother-in-law was here to get him some medicine and get him settled again. None of us got much sleep, so B and I slept in until 10 this morning, and J sent his mom home and laid in my make-shift bed in the living room when he got home from work at 8 a.m. Unfortunately it was very uncomfortable on his broken shoulder and ribs and they've been hurting ever since. I know he loves me and makes lots of sacrifices for me, and he's taking a lot on that I can't do right now. He's a good man, and I love him for always supporting me.
Because of our restless night, we just took it easy today. B and I watched a lot of movies while J slept off his shift. But all day my stomach felt like it was tied in one big knot and I kept having pains and contractions. I tried a hot water bottle and a bath, but they didn't really help my discomfort. When J woke up, I had pretty much continuous contractions and was in a lot of pain. I asked if I should call the doctor and J said she'd just make me come in, which of course she did (and because it's New Year's the office is closed so we had to go to the hospital). She also told me to double up on my dose of Nifedipine, the anti-contraction medication I'm taking.
B and J weren't too happy about going back to the hospital since I was just released yesterday. I further complicated things for J when he had to pack a bag for me again. I really should have a hospital bag packed and ready to go. J said we have to come up with a plan so we're not going back and forth to the hospital every other day. I agreed and the purpose of this hospital visit was to be monitored and see if the painful crampiness and tightening I feel is just something I have to live with because of uterine irritability or if they're contractions that are bringing on pre-term labor and further cervical change. That is something this baby and I cannot afford. Laying here, I have lots of time to worry and stress, which just causes more contractions. But, I just want to give this baby as much time in the womb as possible and would rather be safe than sorry so we packed up and went back to the hospital.
Of course by the time we reached the hospital the double dose of the medicine had kicked in, and I wasn't having many contractions. Baby Boy looked good on the monitors too, which is good. We were actually only at the hospital for a little over an hour, but I came back more educated about exactly what I've been feeling. The nurse was really patient as she monitored me and explained uterine irritability versus labor-causing contractions.
They told me I had an irritable uterus when I was in pre-term labor with B. I remember feeling pretty much constantly uncomfortable at that time, but didn't exactly remember how the irritability felt and how to distinguish between that and real contractions. The nurse explained how uterine irritability causes contractions that are either quick painful twinges/cramps or a tightening of the entire abdomen for long periods of time while real labor-inducing contractions come in waves, tighten the entire belly before releasing again, and have a consistent rhythm. Most of what I've felt today and what was picked up on the monitor was uterine irritability (again they only picked up one major contraction in the hour of monitoring). The irritability is uncomfortable, but I can live with it and am glad to see that the Terbutaline the other day seems to have disrupted my regular contraction cycle. Now that I better understand the difference between the two issues, and know that irritability doesn't really cause the cervical change and premature birth like I was worried about, I am more relaxed. I also have resolved that I can handle the discomfort as long as Baby Boy gets here safely and later rather than sooner. In the meantime, I'm just glad another day has passed with Baby Boy still safely tucked away. It's a Happy New Year, indeed.
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| B pushed me out in the wheelchair. He almost ran me into a few walls, but that was the highlight of the hospital visit for us because we got to go home. |
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| Monitor showing my uterine irritability. Notice there are far fewer peaks (contractions) than on the monitor picture from Sunday night). |
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