On Wednesday (Thanksgiving Eve) I had a non-stress test scheduled for 3:30pm. I was excited because I got to leave work a little early for the appointment and as soon as the test was over I was off to get Nora and start cooking and packing for the Thanksgiving weekend. Totally excited about the roadtrip and time with family. They got me back fairly quickly and since the NST only takes 20 minutes, I was excited about how quickly things were going -more time for playing with Nora and getting ready for the trip. About 3 minutes or so into the test I noticed a large spike on the contraction part of the strip..."I must have moved and messed up the machine", I thought to myself. I focused on trying to be still and not causing any more false readings. But, a few minutes later there was another spike and I actually did feel a bit of discomfort - the baby repositioning, I thought. The nurse returned to see how much more time before disconnecting me from the machine. She walked in the room, looked at the strip and said, "oh, my. Are you feeling these contractions?" I told her that I hadn't really noticed and it just felt like the baby was pushing down and repositioning. She took the strip for the doctor to review and left me connected to the machine to see what would happen. While she was gone I had another contraction and I mentally became a bit anxious as I realized how regular these pains were coming.The nurse returned with the doctor's decision - have a labor/delivery nurse come in and see if these contractions were actually changing my cervix. Okay, probably these are just braxton hicks, anyway. They weren't too painful.
The L/D nurse came in to check me...ouch! She apologized for causing such discomfort, "but, you're dilated, girl!" she said. "How much?" I asked. A good 2cm and a little effaced. Eugh...this can't be good, and I started to see my weekend plans slowly disappear.
The result? Go to triage for 2 hours and see if the contractions continue and if the dilation increases. 2cm isn't too big of a deal when you're nearly 35weeks.
Annoyed and quite scared at what was going on, I called Andy. He was surprised at what was going on, of course. We called great friends and quickly arranged care for Nora. I headed to the triage area and waited to be admitted.
They gave me the lovely hospital gown to wear and hooked me up to the machine and eventually checked my cervix again - 3cm now. Eugh. The kept me hooked to the machine and the contractions continued, as well. Now that I was lying still and paying attention I could tell when the contractions were happening...and I grimaced each time they came - not because of the pain, but because of the indications these consistent contractions meant. I was scared of the baby coming early and afraid of what other procedures they would do to me to keep the baby at bay.
After a couple more hours and continued contractions, the doctor ordered a medication generally used for asthma. It relaxes smooth muscles and hopefully would calm down the uterus. I agreed to the medication and quickly experienced the side effects (shakiness, increased heart rate, headache). Thankfully, Andy was there to talk to and we laughed that we finally were having "quality time" together...we laughed about other things, too. And, he read me some Bible verses - No, not comforting ones from Psalms or anything, but the "Your teeth are like a flock of goats, You're so beautiful, etc" from Song of Solomon. It was a good choice to lighten the mood and remind me that I not only have a great God but a great husband, too.
I thought the medication had helped. I wasn't feeling the contractions as often, but a cervix check revealed progression to 4cm. A call to the doctor with this information revealed an overnight stay, bolus of IV fluids, blood draws "just in case", and a decision to not stop the birth if it continued to progress. This was okay with me. Neither option seemed great, but this was good - in the hospital in case something happened and no horrid medical procedures or further medications to stop this process.
Andy left to get food (It was nearly 9pm by now, and they finally decided I could eat) and grab a phone charger and perhaps couple of other things. The IV fluids started and I sat and waiting and cringed each time I felt another contraction.
The nurses told me sleep would be really good and help to relax the muscles. I fell asleep and continued to sleep fairly well in 2 hr increments. I finally woke up at 6am and wasn't able to go back to sleep. The nurse returned to check my cervix - 4cm still. Oh, good. No progress in the last several hours and the contractions were continuing but less frequent and less intense. The doctor called a little before 7am to see how things were going. Finally, a decision to go home - bedrest, increase fluids, keep the Monday morning appointment, come back for more than 5 contractions in 1 hour, etc. They removed my IV, I quickly got dressed, Andy got the car and we drove happily (and tiredly) to get Nora.
So, Thanksgiving wasn't what we planned. Around lunch time Andy and Nora went out for a food search. They came back with some baked ham and green beans. We had left over sweet potato casserole from earlier in the week. We all ate happily, but it wasn't until Jon Hamby brought over HEAPING plates of their leftovers that you could feel the whole spirit of our entire family rise. We were so thankful to have the food and probably just to talk to someone. This wasn't the Thanksgiving we had been planning for, but we found ourselves counting our blessings throughout the whole day. All of our friends and family have been wonderful in organizing childcare for Nora, bringing food, and praying and encouraging us. We are so blessed!
