So yesterday as I was getting up to get Evan ready for school I started feeling like I was having slight contractions and period-like cramps. I didn't really think too much about it, as my round ligament pain is always in full-force after getting up. After Kevin and Evan left for the day, I got back into bed since the pains had not subsided.
Fast forward to around 10:30 when Kevin called to check in on me, he had no idea what was going on. Deep down I was pretty concerned, but I have to be careful when I tell things like this to Kevin because he has a tendency to get overly worked up and brings more stress to the situation. He told me to call the Dr's office, I was thinking of the same thing.
I called in to speak with Dr. K's nurse...only she wasn't there, and neither was Dr. K. Yep, they are both on vacation this week. The receptionist took my information and told me to get back into bed and she would call back in an hour to check on me. As my crappy luck would have it, on Wednesdays they close at 1. In the meantime, Kevin was on his way home and bringing me some lunch.
I scarfed down my Taco Bell and we proceeded to talk about what the plan of action was going to be. The contractions weren't super strong and they were actually pretty difficult to time because they were often masked by constant dull cramping. The Dr's office called back and asked how I was feeling - not any better, so she requested that I make an appearance to Labor & Delivery.
Of course I hadn't showered yet for the day, so I hop in quickly (although Kevin thinks it was not so quickly) and get ready to go. CRAP - what about Evan?? Will we be done in time to pick him up from school? We decided to play it safe and dropped his car seat of at Kevin's parents just to be sure.
We get to the hospital and they hook me up to the monitors...at first I had one huge contraction, made the machine go beep crazy and both nurses looked up in surprise. Then things started to calm down. The contractions were in no way earth shattering, but they were definitely showing up on the monitor...and every three minutes! Holy crap, good thing I went in, right? So they make me do the pee in a cup thing, checked that out and it all came back fine. At this point there were still a few people in front of me to see the Dr.
The nurses come back in holding a lovely surprise that I spied right away - a needle. I ended up getting a shot of Terbutaline to stop the contractions. It worked really well, but made me feel like I just ran a marathon or guzzled down 5 cups of coffee. It made my heart race and gave me the shakes. They hooked me back up to the monitors just to make sure it was working properly and everything looked good. At this point, I was hoping to go home.
An interesting fact about Terbutaline, it only lasts about an hour when you get the shot, so they needed to keep me at least another hour to make sure the contractions had subsided for good. An hour goes by and slowly but surely the contractions creep their way back onto the monitor. The nurse comes back in and gives me the oral version of the drug via pill.
At this point the Dr. comes in and is explaining things and got to use her niftly speculum (yay for me, right?!?) Everything looked good on that front and she aslo did a Fetal Febernectin Test, which also came back negative.
So the consensus is that my body isn't handling this pregnancy well already. She told me to pretty much turn myself into a sloth and also mentioned "it's as if your body has been invaded by two little aliens...and they are literally sucking the life out of you." Nice, right? At least she had a sense of humor. Actually I REALLY liked this Dr. She took the time to explain in great detail of what to expect, what to look out for and everything else under the sun. She really put my mind at ease and made me realize once again that this is in fact not a regular pregnancy and I shouldn't view it as such.
I ended up with a ton of prescriptions, including the Terbutaline pills, just in case the contractions continue. I am also on Prometrium (again). I go tomorrow for another level II ultrasound to check out the boys' growth. I have a feeling I will also be referred to an MFM for a few appointments.
The L&D Dr. says she will definitely be seeing me again - I guess I'd better get used to this.
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