24 Weeks: Fright Week (AKA My Trip to Labor & Delivery)

Halloween is in just a few days, but apparently I needed to have my own personal Fright Week a few days early. Let me tell you, Labor & Delivery is a SCARY place to end up at not quite 24 weeks pregnant. Here's what went down:

I've been having Braxton Hicks for weeks now, but my OB said it's normal and not to worry unless the contractions became regular/timeable. Well, they got there Wednesday...all morning, every 3-4 minutes on the dot.

I called the doc, thinking I'd get a "There, there, paranoid pregnant woman...you're fine." Instead, I got, "You need to get down here immediately. Can you leave work right now?" Um. Yes?

Long story (sort of) short, after an ultrasound and 40-45 minutes of monitoring, it was determined that, though baby looked great and my cervix was closed, I was in a state of "threatened preterm labor." And they sent me trucking over to L&D/Triage. There, they gave me a labor-slowing drug called terbutaline and hooked me up to another set of monitors...where I proceeded to wait for TWO HOURS. This sucked for two main reasons: (1) the drug had some crazy side effects - racing pulse, whole-body shaking...scary stuff...and (2) it didn't work.

So they gave me yet another drug. (And, I might add, at this point, I was getting really scared.) Then more monitoring. That was the point at which they started talking about admitting me to the hospital overnight (it was about 5:30 by then, and I'd been there since lunchtime).

Thankfully, though, about 20 minutes later, the contractions began to become weaker and sporadic, and finally tapered off. Sigh. Of. Relief. Doc wrote me a prescription for the drug and agreed to send me home, with instructions to stay off my feet and take the pills as needed, then come back Monday. So, I spent the weekend on the couch, trying to "take it easy" (which, it turns out, is very, very hard for me...NOT vacuum the carpet when I see lint???). Contractions came and went, sometimes frequent, sometimes sporadic...always sort of nerve-wracking.

Yesterday (Monday), I went to the OB again. Baby still looked great, cervix still closed. The doc did a "fetal fibronectin" test (THIS, for interested parties), which, if positive, would indicate that "real" labor was likely impending. It was negative (praise God)...which means that, while I'm not out of the woods for certain, there's a 90% chance that I won't go into true labor within the next week or so, at least.

I'm still having contractions. And the difficult part in all this is that there's really no sure-fire way to know whether this is true threatened labor, or absolutely nothing - just maddeningly regular BH. Doc has okayed me for being back at work, so long as I continue to stay off my feet and take the pills as needed. Also, instead of my once-a-month appointments, I'll now be going in once a week for ultrasounds and more fetal fibronectin tests, to keep a watch on things. I've officially become high maintenance. Ha.

All that to say, Baby and I are fine for now, and VERY grateful not to be banished to bedrest...but I'd appreciate continued prayers. Baby Girl needs to stay put for a good while longer!

And, yes, I'll provide a regular weekly update in the next day or so...something a little lighter and more fun. :)