My Day at Labor & Delivery

My Saturday started off with contractions around 8:00 am. I was laying in bed and after feeling a couple contractions, I pulled my shirt up to watch my lower stomach turn into a ball every 2-3 minutes. It would squeeze tightly for about 30 seconds, and then I'd watch it as it flattened out again. The first couple times I thought it was kind of cool. They didn't hurt so I didn't think much of it. I was being a bad pregnant lady laying on my back so I moved to my left side and continued timing the contractions as they came every 2-3 minutes and lasted 30-45 seconds each. They were mild so I figured they were just Braxton Hicks. I got in the shower and then went to lay down on the couch. As I laid there they got stronger and started to actually hurt. Nat downloaded a stopwatch 'app' on his phone so timing them was super easy. I laid there for about an hour and a half and when I started feeling pain wrapping around to my back with every contraction, I decided I should call the doctor. I called around 11:00 and the on-call doctor told me to come in to Labor & Delivery to be monitored. I didn't really want to go because I figured they would stop as soon as I got there but seeing as I'm only 25 weeks, I didn't want to take any chances. Everything I read online said Braxton Hicks contractions will be mostly painless and will stop after drinking, laying down, using the bathroom, etc. If you have more than 4 contractions in a hour and they aren't going away then you should be seen. We called my cousin who lives about 3 minutes from us but his kids were sick with fevers so we decided that Nat would stay home with Adam and I'd go by myself, still thinking I'd be sent home within an hour of getting there.

I got to the hospital right before 12:00 pm and was hooked up to monitors. Because my belly is still small, the monitor had a hard time picking up the contractions, but they were there and I was definitely still feeling them every 2-3 minutes. The baby's heart rate was good (when she was actually still long enough to get good readings....the nurse said because she is still so small, she has a lot of room to move around and they have a hard time keeping track of her heart rate). After being monitored for a while they ran urine tests, checked my cervix, and did a Fetal Fibronectin (fFN) test which tests for imminent labor. My cervix was still nice and closed, my urine was fine, but the other results took forever to get back. When they finally did come the fFN was negative so they gave me a shot of Terbutaline to stop the contractions. It worked and they sent me home around 4:00. Up until the Terbutaline the contractions were still painful and I was so uncomfortable in that stupid bed, not being able to move much for fear of messing up the monitors. They didn't have an answer as to why my uterus decided it wanted to contract regularly but they were confident that I wasn't in pre-term labor. I have a prescription for the pill version of the Terbutaline so I can take that if I start having regular, painful contractions again. I'm not on bed rest (thank goodness!) but I'm supposed to take it easy and try not to pick Adam up too often or do anything strenuous.

Being at L&D made me excited to be there 3 months from now when having contractions is a good thing, but definitely NOT until then! This baby needs a lot more time to grow before coming and I'm grateful that both her and I are fine.