It has not been an easy couple of weeks. As some of you might have heard our little one got a little impatient (we wonder where he or she gets that trait :)) and tried to come at 34 weeks. I started having contractions on Tuesday (4/7) morning at around 6am. I called Ryan and told him that I might need him to come home but I was going to try and hold on and make it to my drs appointment at 11am. They seemed to be getting more and more intense so I called my mom and explained everything I was feeling and she told me that it was labor and to call my doctor. My doctor said to go straight to the hospital. I called Ryan and told him he needed to come home. He ended up stopped in traffic due to an accident and there was so no way I could wait for him. My neighbor ended up driving me down to the hospital and Ryan met us there. Thanks so much Deanne!!!
Once I was situated in the hospital my contractions were 3-5 minutes apart and pretty intense. They gave me 3 shots of Terbutaline. Man that stuff stings and makes you very jittery!!! It didn’t take the contractions away but did lower the pain. So than they tried giving me Procardia every 15 minutes (4 times) which lowered the pain and slowed the contractions up. They decided to keep me over night, to monitor since I was still having contractions.
When Wednesday came around, I was thinking they would probably let me go but the baby’s heart rate took a couple of dips during the day and with me still having contractions they decided to keep me for another night. Poor Ryan had to sleep on the pull out chair both nights :) Thursday the doctor came in and checked my cervix and I was still at a one with no change and the baby looked good so they let me go home. Thank goodness. However, I was to be on bed rest and take Procardia every 12 hours till week 37.
Last week, I went to the doctor’s appointment for my 36 weeks and felt pretty good. I have still been having contractions however, they have been tolerable. When the doctor checked the baby’s heart rate it dropped from where it had been. He decided to monitor me for a little while in his office just to make sure things were ok since the baby’s heart rate had dipped the last time I was in the hospital. The little one’s heart rate just stayed really consistent. They gave me some OJ and the baby didn’t really react much to the sugar. The heart rate was just really flat. With the baby being lazy and my contractions showing up on his monitor, he decided to send me to the hospital for some more monitoring. Just as a precautionary measure.
Once I was at the hospital, the baby stayed pretty quiet for a little while but then he or she got annoyed by the sensors on my belly and started kicking at them. Thank goodness for that however, my contractions were 5 minutes apart and a little more intense. I decided I would just go home since the baby was doing fine. I'd rather sit uncomfortable at home than in the hospital since they really can’t do anything more for my contractions.
So here we are now, at 37 weeks and my doctor took me off the Procardia so now we are just waiting. Every week the doctor is monitoring my contractions and the baby’s heart rate. Today, everything was looking good till the end and the baby’s heart rate dropped. So again I was sent to the hospital for additional monitoring. Everything is ok and they sent me home. I am currently, dilated 1-2 and effaced. The baby’s head is down and really low so again it is just a matter of time. The doctor wants to see me twice a week now for monitoring so hopefully this “Stubborn Stinker” (as the doctor likes to call him) will start behaving. I would have told him my nickname for my little one but I was afraid he would call child services on me.
I am just hoping this little one decides to hang out just a little bit longer. However, if he or she decides to come tomorrow we feel as ready as we can be. I am sure we are missing some things but overall I think we are pretty much ready and excited to go!!
