A Trial Run

Last night, we received a reminder that we are not in control.  Around 6:30 p.m., my stomach started feeling really hard and uncomfortable.  I wasn't really sure if it was contractions because it was just an uncomfortable tightness that slowly came and went; I couldn't really count or time what was going on.  Per the instructions from my doctor's office's website, I drank water and laid down on my left side to see if the feeling would go away.  It didn't.  After about an hour, we made plans to drop off Lil' Bit with her godmother and headed out to the hospital to get me checked out.  The sensations became more distinct to the point where I was able to identify two separate "contractions" in the 20 minute drive to the hospital.

When we got there, all the triage rooms were full, so they put me in a labor and delivery room.  This turned out to be a real perk because those rooms are way more comfortable than triage--more private, too!  They put me on the monitors and checked me for dilation.  I was roughly 1-2 cm dilated, which surprised me, but is apparently totally normal at this point for a second child.  Jellybean looked great on the monitor, an ultrasound determined he had plenty of fluid, and they didn't find any evidence of an infection or dehydration that might be causing the contractions.  However, the monitor made clear that I was having contractions, and the longer we were there, the more regular they became.  They didn't hurt, although they were uncomfortable, and they never got above 40.  By the time they discharged me, they were very regular, coming three minutes apart and roughly all the same strength.  I didn't know you could have regular contractions only three minutes apart and not be in labor.  Turns out you can.  They aren't considered Braxton Hicks because they were too regular and don't go away with rest, but because they didn't seem to be causing labor to progress, they were deemed "preterm contractions." 

We were at the hospital until about 11:30 or so.  They checked my dilation again before discharging me to see if the contractions had caused any further dilation in the 2-3 hours I had been there.  Because I wasn't any further dilated, they were sending me home.  I was surprised that they weren't going to do anything to stop the contractions, but given Jellybean's gestational age (34 1/2 weeks) and the fact that any meds they gave me to stop the contractions could cause issues for him, they explained that their preference was not to stop any contractions.  Generally, when the body goes into labor at this point, babies generally do just fine and most don't need ventilators or any special care and there's usually a reason for the labor, so they prefer to trust the body that it's time.

It was certainly odd to be discharged while still contracting.  My orders were to come back if they got worse and they gave me a method to attempt to gauge that.  At the same time, they didn't want me to wait too long if I thought they were getting worse because they hoped to be able to transfer me to Detroit if I was, in fact, progressing, but they couldn't do it if I was in labor.  So, we were left with this grey, fuzzy area to decide when and if we thought we needed to come back.  Fun!  On the plus side, I was already scheduled to see my doctor today, so the on-call doctor from last night left word to have them check my cervix again today and make there hasn't been any further dilation.

We picked up Lil' Bit and got her home, but getting her back to bed was extremely difficult--particularly given that it was 12:30 a.m. at that point and all three of us were very tired from being up way past bedtime.  By this morning, the contractions seemed to have stopped--yay!  Outside of two doctor visits (and writing this post), my goals for the day are sleeping and drinking water.  Ah, what a glamorous life!

What surprised me most about this whole incident was how calm I was.  On the way to the hospital and as they were hooking me up, I was more worried that they were going to put me on the monitor and tell me I was crazy because nothing was going on than I was that it would turn out I was actually in labor.  Once it was clear I was contracting, I was so relieved I'm not sure I ever processed what it would mean if I was really in labor.  Fortunately, I didn't need to.  And, we got the opportunity to test out our contingency plan for Lil' Bit and local delivery in the event we don't make it to the induction, which makes me feel a little calmer about that, too.

Still, it was a very real reminder that Jellybean is going to come when he wants, and all I can do is try to be prepared for whenever that is.  Even so, I spend a few minutes every hour or two singing the "Just Keep Swimming" tune from Finding Nemo to Jellybean, except the words I use are "Just keep cooking."

T-minus 4 and 1/2 weeks and counting...