On Monday, March 1st, I went to my regular doctor's appointment, which I have had every Monday since I was put on bed rest at the end of January. I was glad that I spent the morning at work, even though I was still only able to work four hours at a time. It was much better than being on bed rest.
I got to the doctor feeling completely normal. I did feel a bit tight in my belly during the day, but that could have been for any reason. During my doctor's visit, I first went in for an ultrasound, which was normal. Then, I went to sit in a small room where I was hooked up to a monitor to measure the movement and heartbeat of the baby as well as any contractions that I might have had. To me, I didn't feel anything happening, but when the doctor came in to check the monitor, I could tell that she saw something. She didn't say anything at first, and after sitting at the machine for about a half an hour, which also was normal, she came in and asked me if I was feeling any of the contractions I was having. I told her "no." She seemed very serious about it, and she rushed me off of the machine right away.
The next stop in my visit was to go to a room to be examined. This was the third part of my normal routine, but during my check up, the doctor felt my belly and asked, "you don't feel this? You are having a contraction now?" I had to believe her, since this was her job, but it was so weird for her to know that I was contracting when I didn't feel any differently. She asked next if I drove myself to this visit, because she wanted me to go straight to the hospital for further monitoring. I guess the contractions were pretty consistent, and she worried that if they weren't controlled, I would go into full, active labor. She feared that the baby wasn't developed enough, since I was only 34 weeks pregnant. Though I wasn't feeling any pain, the possibility of pain could escalate, so the doctor didn't want me to drive myself. She said that she would call the hospital and tell them I was on my way to Labor and Delivery. I was very shocked at what I was hearing, because I went into the appointment expecting a normal visit, but instead, I left thinking that I could have a baby today.
When I left the building, I immediately called Dennis to tell him to come home. It was just after four o'clock, so he was nearly on his way home anyway. We both had no idea what to expect. Part of me wanted to be prepared just in case, so I worked on finishing the packing of my bag. When Dennis walked in, he took my bag and we got in the car for the ride to the hospital. The entire way there, we discussed our thoughts of what was happening. I just didn't believe that I was having contractions, and I couldn't imagine that this could be THE trip to the hospital. We didn't have a pediatrician, nor did we have the car seat in the car. I didn't have a copy of my birth plan printed, and I was concerned that things were happening too fast for us. We really weren't ready. It was nice that we had had our baby shower beforehand, but we didn't have everything ready at home. It would be an understatement to say that we were on the verge of freaking out! :)
As we got to the hospital, Dennis dropped me off at the main entrance while he went to park the car. He left the suitcase in the car, since I just didn't think that this was the real thing. I thought that if we ended up having a baby, he could come out to get the bag later. We completely forgot the baby's bag at home, but I think that it was again a response to our thoughts of it being a false alarm. Dennis came into the hospital and wheeled me up to the fifth floor where we found the Labor and Delivery department. Luckily for us, we attended prenatal classes at the hospital in January, which allowed us to tour the "baby floor." We actually knew where to go, which was one less stress.
As we got to the check-in counter, the nurse knew we would be there, and she soon moved us to a triage room. The floor was finishing up a remodeling, and this room seemed a bit undone. It was good for what we were there for, but it was very small. It actually had two beds in it, but that was almost all that would fit, besides a chair for each section for the "support person." When I got to the room, the nurse told me to strip down and put on a hospital gown. I did so in the bathroom, and took my spot on the bed. I was then hooked up to the same type of machine that I was on at the doctor's office, but this machine was hooked up to a computer, so I could see the lines for the baby's heartbeat and the line for the contractions much bigger than on the printed tape of the lower part of the machine. Dennis also was able to read the computer and could tell when I was having a contraction. That kept him busy for a time. I couldn't really see what was happening because of the way the computer screen was positioned. It didn't matter. One of the first things that they did to me, which was after about a half an hour, was to give me a shot of steroids to help the baby's lungs, heart, etc. develop faster. I never really thought to ask anyone before about how they gave this steroid called Bethamethazone, but I soon found out. A nurse from pharmacy came in with a needle, and she told me that it would burn going in. The "in" was my hip. I felt like a little kid all over again with visions of a childhood shot resurfacing from my inner subconscious. It wasn't horrible, but I hated needles. No shot would have been better, but this was something that needed to get done in order to project our son from being born too early.
I could also feel some pain in my back, and it was very hard getting comfortable in that bed. I just thought it was a crappy bed, but it ended up being back labor. I was really having consistent contractions. This was such a weird and surreal feeling. Soon, another woman came in to occupy the other bed. The nurse pulled curtains closed, so I never actually saw the lady next to us, but it was not matter. She was closer to her due date from what I overheard her tell the nurse, but her contractions seemed to stop almost as soon as she arrived. Lucky for her, she was able to leave after a couple of hours. My contractions kept coming, so I was given a shot of Terbutaline three times within a course of 45 minutes. The nurse gave each shot in the fat of my upper arm. This was also so fast that it really wasn't that bad, but the aftershock of it was the bad part. The nurse had told me that I would feel my heart racing. I did feel that, but I felt more of a shaky feeling. Dennis asked if I were cold, but it was mostly the medicine making me shake. During the six hours of our time in the hospital, I must have drank four or five glasses of water to help with my contractions, which of course led to many trips to the bathroom. I was also given a glass of apple juice and some graham crackers since I wasn't really allowed to eat anything, and I was starving. I can't imagine being in real labor for hours and possibly days without eating. That is going to be horrible.
With all of the shots and glasses of water that I had to endure during my time there, I was also given an IV. This was not a nice part of my trip. If you know about IVs, you'd know that the nurse takes a needle and sticks it into my hand which is then taped to a tube. The tube is connected to a bag on a tall metal holder. The bag is full of fluid that eventually makes its way into my hand to keep me hydrated. It was awkward going to the bathroom because I would have to wheel it in with me, and being so pregnant and having drank so many glasses of water, I was up every half an hour it seemed. Not to mention, I was also very shaky still from the medicine. It was supposed to stop my contractions, and I was hoping that it worked. The doctor-on-call came in to check me a couple of times to see if I was dilated or effaced, and luckily, nothing happened in that area. The only thing that they could tell was that I was having contractions, which was not enough for me to have a baby that night. I really wanted to go home, since I was starving. I felt bad also that Dennis didn't have anything to eat. I told him to leave and get some food, but he didn't want to leave without me. Also, if we went home that night, we knew that the baby wouldn't be born for a while. Since we were freaked out earlier about not being ready, this was a relief to us. We really went through a wake-up call that night, and when the doctor came in to tell us that we could go home, we were ready. The only bad thing about going home was that I was put back on bed rest for the next couple of days until I saw my regular GYN/OB on Wednesday.
On our way home, Dennis and I decided that we would spend our lunchtime the next day making a list of things to do before we had the baby. We vowed to get some things done over the weekend, just in case. Since the baby was going to wait a bit longer, we wanted to take advantage of this extra time to get ready. The next day at about 6:30 pm, Dennis and I were back at the hospital for the second of my two steroid shots. Luckily for us, we took along books to read, since we had to wait over an hour just to get the shot. I couldn't imagine being in active labor and having to wait in that wait room. It was full of people, and three pregnant women were waiting to be seen before us. I really hope things are as busy for us when it is time to deliver Andrew.
At my follow-up appointment with my regular doctor on Wednesday, the ultrasound tech measured the baby and discovered that he weighed 5 lbs. 14 oz. This made me feel much better because I knew that a baby of this size should be fine if born anytime soon. My appointment went as planned with the ultrasound, monitoring and exam by the doctor. It seemed that I was still having some contractions, but my doctor wasn't as concerned as she was two days before. Having had the two steroid shots seemed to calm her, but I think also that my contractions weren't as constant as before. We agreed that my bed rest should continue throughout the rest of the week to be on the safe side. My next appointment was on Friday, where again I was having some minor contractions, but since that was the only thing happening, the doctor didn't feel that I needed to go to the hospital. He, the male doctor that I see at the end of the week as opposed to my regular female doctor, who I see at the beginning of the week, said that he was confident about me delivering anytime after that day. He still hoped that I would be at least 36 weeks pregnant before I delivered, but he wasn't extremely worried if I went into labor. At the point of this visit, I had just started my 35th week of pregnancy, so thinking of delivering in a week was somewhat exciting for me. Though it could be a reality, I still hoped to get one or two weeks of teaching in before I went on my full maternity leave. Yes...I still thought of the things I needed to do at work and how I would love to accomplish them before having the baby! We'll see how the rest of March unfolds, but I have a feeling that Andrew will be in my arms before April, and since my doctor told me that she didn't feel I would carry the baby until the full-term date, I really felt that a March birth was in my future! :)
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