Fun & Games @ 27 weeks

So, as I mentioned last Sunday the fun and games started....

I started having back pain off and on and was really waddling round like a duck. I thought perhaps I'd slept funny or the baby had moved into a different position, and really thought nothing more of it, but as the day passed it got worse and worse.  I thought an early night would help so hit the hay. On Monday the pains continued, off and on, sometimes in my belly down low and sometimes in my back. I decided to take it real easy all day. Towards mid afternoon I needed to run an errand and pick up something to to go along with dinner so popped to the grocery store quickly. As I was walking round I really got to be hurting.... I came home and noticed some bleeding (sorry, TMI) and the pains in my belly were worse. I called Cory, thankfully he was already on his way home, and then I called my OB. He said he wanted me to go straight to the Birthing Center for a check and observations, he said he would call ahead and then meet me there.

Cory came home, switched out of his poopy farm clothes and we left, he was in and out of the house in less than 2 minutes. We got to the hospital and it turned out that the pains I was feeling were contractions. They were coming often but my uterus seemed 'mushy' instead of hard... My Dr said he would not be happy with me going home at that point and needed me to stay overnight (at least) for obs. They strapped on some monitors, drew some bloods and hooked up an IV - before I knew it I had been admitted and was in a labor & delivery room...

The contractions got more and more regular and when they were 3-4 mins apart lasting more than a minute each the nurse decided it was time to call my Dr (it was almost midnight) and he said it was time to give me some meds to slow and hopefully stop them. After the first dose the contractions just got weird, I couldn't feel them as much in my belly but they were making my back hurt so bad - I couldn't tell when one stopped and the next one started either... it seemed that instead of being the mountain like peak they were before the meds they had shifted to more of a 'rolling hill' pattern... (the only way I could describe them). Once I told her that, and she could still see them on the monitor she called Dr again, and he said it was time for another dose. They needed to get them to stop before they got labor in full swing.

Thankfully within about another hour they slowed down and eventually turned back into a similar random pattern like earlier in the day.

In the morning my Dr came back to check in on me before heading to the office. He was very glad that things seemed to have stopped well enough, but he wanted me to hang out for a few hours more observation. So they could see if anything started back up when I was up walking around and off 'strict' bed rest. He said I could hopefully go home after lunch.

Waiting to be discharged!

The midwife came in to check up on me and after breakfast had me moved to a 'postpartum' room where I could shower and hang out 'normally' and if I had any problems at all needed to call the nurses immediately. It was so nice to be out of bed and able to shower. Cory and I just hung out chit-chatting and thankfully there was nothing to report to the nurses other than a few rogue contractions.

About 1:15pm the discharge nurse came and took out my IV. She gave me strict instructions from my Dr and sent me home with a prescription for more of the same meds that they had used the previous night to slow/stop the contractions. I was so glad to get out of there, not because there was anything bad about the hospital, but because at 27 weeks I did not want to be on hospital bed rest, nor did I want to think about what a journey we could have been on if labor had got in full swing and baby had been born!

My point of view!

The nurses at the hospital were all wonderful, they made us feel like we were in the very best of hands. Beth, our birthing class teacher came in and checked on us when she heard we'd been admitted, and she's such a sweet lady. Our pediatrician also came in and checked on us while we were. She had a little 'talk' to baby, saying to hang in there a few more weeks and it would be a much better journey than coming now...


Our Doc was awesome - he made us feel like no matter what we needed he would do it. He treated us as if we were his own kids and gave us wonderful care. He called hourly (sometimes less) throughout the evening and I even remember the nurse talking to him at 1:30 and 5:15am. They joked that he treated his patients like his daughter, but I tell ya, it was the most reassuring thing at that time.

He told us that it was potentially a very serious situation and that there was a chance baby could come, but that he had a plan to get me up to St Vincents if needed, where they had a level 3 nursery (NICU) and where we already had our MFM. At no point did we feel like there was any panic!

So, that's our little 'fun & games' story... baby is behaving this week, thankfully. We did find out that he/she is now 'head down' so that is probably why the shape of my belly has completely changed - I now no longer fit in most of my maternity clothes, but hey, that's a small price to pay - I'm just happy baby is still staying put!

After that scare on Monday I count every single day as a bonus and a blessing - every day our baby gets to spend in the womb is another day of growth and maturing. We're so excited to meet our little one, but the time isn't right just yet - a few more weeks would be wonderful. I'm really hoping we make it to full term, 36 weeks.... but hey, that's only 58 days away!   YIKES!