Yesterday was a scary day. I woke up in the morning feeling a little off, so I spend most of the day drinking water and resting. As the day went on I noticed that I was having Braxton Hicks contractions. I have been having these since about 20 weeks, but every time I have one I freak out a little bit. As the day went on I noticed they were happening more and more frequently. Around 3pm I decided it was time to call the Doctor. She instructed me to rest and continue drinking water, if they weren't settling down in an hour to go to the hospital. I did as I was told and the contractions kept coming. Micah and I dropped of Gwenevere with my parents and headed into labor and delivery.
The whole way there I kept thinking that this couldn't possibly be labor. Maybe I was just imagining the contractions. Once we got there they hooked me up to the monitor and sure enough there were my contractions on the screen, one every 4-5 minutes. Crap. This was not what I was hoping to see. We waited a while for the Doctor as my anxiety grew. We found Sex and the City on TV which proved to be a pretty good distraction. Once the Doctor came in she talked about everything they were going to check, cervix length and several swabs for any signs of infection. She performed the exam and was happy to report that my cervix was still closed and long, great news. We waited a while for the lab results to come back and everything looked good. By the time the lab results were back my contractions had started to slow down to every 7-10 minutes, which was a good sign.
Once the Doctor determined that I was not in actual labor I was free to go home. They sent me home with a prescription to help calm the contractions, but it comes with some pretty bad side effects. She suggested not taking it unless I really needed to. She also told me that while it subdues my feelings of tightness from the contractions it does nothing to actually prevent labor. So as of now I have not filled the prescription.
Today I am stressed. I am glad that our little girl didn't make her big debut yesterday, but I am scared that she could come anytime now. I am not ready, she is not ready. I am now 33 weeks. If she were born today she would most certainly survive, but not without medical intervention. Just the thought of seeing my baby hooked up to a ventilator makes me want to cry. I want to have what a had with Gwenevere, a big, healthy, full term baby. I am trying my best to take it easy today, but that is challenging while trying to keep up with a three year old. I feel like every time I get up I have a contraction. But I know I can't just lay on the couch all day. Micah is coming home on his lunch break to take the dog on a walk and Gwenevere is getting more than her share of screen time. All I can do for now is take it one day at a time. Every day that she stays in she is getting bigger and stronger.
