33w2d

Isn't it funny how you can start out a day with one expectation of how things will go and before the day is over it has gone in a totally different direction. That is how my today went.

I got up early hoping to be at work by 7:30. I started working on a computer project yesterday and I needed to do a few things while there were minimal people in the office. However, when I got up at 6:00 something just didn't feel right. I sat on the couch for a little while and before Jake left I mentioned to him that it felt like I was having menstrual cramps.

At about 6:30 I got in the shower thinking these were just a little bit stronger braxton hicks but they just kept coming. Since I was getting ready for work I wasn't really timing them but I could tell they were somewhat regular and no more than 10 minutes apart.

Finally when I got to work at 7:30 and they were still happening I began to get a little more concerned. After all, at this point they had been happening fairly regularly for an hour and a half. I had a tight cramping sensation in my very lower abdomen that never seemed to go away and then every few minutes I would get a tightening of my whole uterus.

At 8:00 I decided that it was time to call the doctor. Their response? Come. Here. NOW. So off I went on my merry little way. When I got there they hooked me up to the monitor. The little man was fine but the contractions were coming fairly regularly. According to the monitor every four to five minutes.

After about a half an hour they decided that they needed to give me something to stop the contractions. They were not strong but with the regularity they wanted to make sure they didn't get stronger. Unfortunately they were out of the medicine (it's on back order) so they had to send me over to the hospital to get it.

While I waited for my chariot (they wouldn't let me walk) I called Jake. I told him that I was contracting regularly and was going over to get a shot to stop contractions. He wanted to know if he should come down. I told him to stay at work until I knew something else. After all, there was nothing he could do but watch me lie in a bed and wait for the medicine to kick in.

About 9:30 or so they had me all hooked up over at the hospital and they gave me a shot of terbutaline to stop the contractions. Then they decided that they needed to do was an AFP test. Yeah... I could go the rest of my life without one of these tests and be perfectly happy!!

Since I was hooked up to all the monitors they just had me prop my hips up on an upside down bedpan. THEN to add to my fun the nurse told the other nurse (whom I assume was a trainee) how to insert the speculum and find my cervix. Need I say more? There was no part of me that was a good patient for that part. I squirmed and I cried out. It was AWFUL!!

Then once they were done I proceeded to have the longest most painful contraction I have had to date. Yeah, good times. Somewhere around 10:00 my friend Katie showed up to sit with me. I told her not to come, that there was nothing she could do, but she insisted. So we sat and chatted for awhile.

About 11:00 they decided that they should check me. My contractions had pretty much leveled out but the doctor just wanted to see if I had dilated at all. For some reason I was under the delusion that her fingers couldn't hurt nearly as bad as the speculum. I was wrong. It was pretty close to the same feeling by the time she shoved her hand clear up there and then pushed down on the top of my uterus to get a good "feel." Oh the joys I have to look forward to here in another month or so.

The good news from that test though was that I was not dilated at all. I'm 50% effaced but fully closed. Which is a good place to be considering that I am only 33 weeks. A little after 11:00 they go the results of my AFP test back and they were negative. According to the doctor who came in after that the AFP test has a 98% accuracy of predicting whether you are going to go into labor in the next two weeks.

Finally at around 11:45 they discharged me. Katie and I went to lunch and then I went home where I was ordered to lay on the couch and drink exorbant amounts of water. I ended up taking a nap from 3:00 until 5:00. Then I got up and decided that I should go have my prescription filled.

They had given me a prescription for the pill version of the terbutaline in case I had any more contractions at home. When I got to my regular pharmacy they told me that they did not have it in stock and they would have to order it. For some reason I just had a feeling that would not be a very good idea so I went across the street to another pharmacy.

Luckily they had it in stock and the pharmacist told me that if I needed to I could take the medicine every six hours on a schedule to keep the contractions at bay. I left there with 30 pills, hoping not to have to use a single one.

However about 8:00 I started feeling that familiar cramping again. I started drinking more water and rolled over onto my side. Unfortunately I couldn't stop the inevitable and about 10:00 the contractions were back with a vengeance. I decided to take one of the pills and then go to bed.