A Practice Run

Aubrey gave us the opportunity to practice our "labor dash" to the hospital late Monday night. I had been eating dinner when I noticed I was having quite a few Braxton Hicks contractions, so after I finished eating, I laid down on the couch and began timing them. 6 minutes apart, then 5 minutes apart, then 4...I figured it was time to call the doc! My OB told me to go in to the hospital to be monitored and have them check my cervix, so Brad and I began throwing things into my labor bag and calling our friend, Emily, to come and sit with Aiden (who was, thankfully, sleeping through the commotion). It was ironic, I had purchased a new duffel just to use for my hospital bag, I had even come up with a list of items I needed to remember...but not one item had found its way into the bag, so Brad and I were trying to think of things we'd need "in case" I was going into real labor, but also hoping desperately we wouldn't need a thing in there.

When we got to the hospital, they put me in a room and hooked me up to monitors. I was contracting away at about 4 minutes apart, so they checked my cervix, and it had changed slightly since the week before at the doctor's office. They called my doc, who prescribed an injection of terbutylene, in hopes it would stop my labor. They gave me the shot, which caused me to feel miserably jittery and like my heart was going to pound its way out of my chest. At this point, it was almost 2 AM, so I sat in a drugged stupor, feeling like I had drank 50 cups of coffee, for several hours. Finally I felt as if I could sleep, so I tried to get comfortable (pretty impossible with a blood pressure cuff, contraction monitor and fetal heart-rate monitor strapped to me). I managed to get a few catnaps in here and there through the night, then they sent the doc in to see me in the morning. The contractions had not disappeared, but they had spaced out considerably and weakened, so they sent me home on modified bed rest around 10 AM. I don't have to stay in bed all day, but I need to spend the vast majority of my waking hours either sitting or lying down.

The whole experience gave me a sense of deja vu--Brad and I went though almost this exact same scenario with Aiden at 31 or 32 weeks. Same contractions, same meds to stop it, same outcome. Pretty strange!!

I'm still having contractions from time-to-time, but they haven't become regular at all. They've also discovered that I have a urinary tract infection, so they are putting me on antibiotics (the UTI could be the culprit behind the pre-term labor). For now, I am trying to keep myself busy with sewing and scrapbooking and reading. The next few weeks are going to be LONG and boring, but worthwhile if they can buy little Aubrey some additional "cooking" time.