Hospital, Round 2

30 Weeks

It started like any other Sunday morning.  But better.  I actually slept through the night on Saturday night.  I didn't get up and have to take a 3am dose of Procardia.  I woke up without any contractions or discomfort.  Hubby went to his part time job, and I got the kids ready for church.  I had breakfast, took my Procardia, and off we went.

Then it all went down hill.

About 20 minutes into service, about 45 minutes after taking the Procardia, contractions started.  Usually when I take my meds, I get about 2 1/2 to 3 hours of comfort before the contractions start up again, then I can take the pill again after I've reached the 4 hour mark.  But these were pretty strong.  I started texting my husband, I downloaded an app on my phone to track the contractions, I tried laying down on the pew, I got up and walked around, drank some water, emptied my bladder… everything they tell you to calm down the uterus.

Nothing was helping.  In fact they were getting worse.

Within an hour, they were lasting 3 minutes, and about 30 seconds after one would stop, another would start.  And they hurt.  It was looking as though this might be it.

Again, still at church, I had to have my husband's cousin drive us home.  Steve was there getting a bag packed for me, and we were off.

The crummy part was my family was all on their way over to celebrate my mother's birthday…

We got to the hospital and I could barely talk, let alone walk.  Steve wheeled me up to Labor & Delivery, and they got me in a bed right away.  After I was hooked up to the monitors, they couldn't seem to keep baby on, and the nurse kept adjusting the belts… it was so uncomfortable.

The monitor that displays contractions showed my "resting point" at 7-9, but my contractions were spiking at 75-80.  Not exactly sure how that all works.  But I know from having 3 babies, when the line reaches the top of the monitor screen, with less than a minute between them, it's not a good thing.

The doctor came in, did an ultrasound to find baby's placement (this doctor was a bit rough, and particular about the heart rate monitor registering 100%).  Then she started squeezing and pushing my belling, and announced "Oh they're just Braxton Hicks, you're not going into labor."  While I like the idea of NOT having a baby 10 weeks early, how on earth do you know that from squeezing my belly? Do you SEE the monitor?  Do you SEE that I'm in pain.

It had been 3 hours since my last Procardia, so I was due for another.  They checked me, and I wasn't dilating, which again was good, but I was in pain, and the contractions wouldn't stop.  They gave me more Tributaline, like the last time.  It.  Was.  Awful.  I nearly blacked out, and baby's heart rate jumped really high.  Like, 180 bpm high.  Contractions stopped for about an hour.  When they returned, they weren't as painful, but just as frequent.

They had done another fetal fiebernecton, which came back negative (yay).  And as rude as the doctor was to me, she admitted me for the night because the baby's heart rate was taking a long time to slow down.  So another hospital stay, and no sleep.  Contractions all night long, and baby was really hyper.

In the morning, another doctor from the practice was in, she sent me home right away, announcing there was nothing they could do.   I had to stay off my feet as much as possible, and take my meds on time, and wait it out.

I mean, if "fake" contractions are this bad this time around, what are the real things going to feel like?