35 Weeks - Bed Rest Sucks
Today, I am officially 35 weeks. The good news is that the puffiness I had last week in my ankles is completely gone! Woohoo! The bad news is that I'm on bedrest and a no-sodium diet. The latter is probably for the remainder of my pregnancy, and the former is still to-be-determined, based on how my next prenatal appointment goes on Tuesday (10/15).
So here's what happened. On Wednesday (10/9), I started having Braxton Hicks contractions (BHC) over and over again throughout the morning. I had read several articles that said if you had these consistently, contact your provider if they become regular. Well, I didn't know if they were occurring at regular intervals so I downloaded a Contraction Timer app and started pressing 'Start' and 'Stop' whenever the tightening would come and go. I did this all Wednesday afternoon and noticed that I had 6 in a little less than an hour. So I called the nurse triage line at my OB's office. The nurse told me to come in to get checked.
So I did. I saw Jessy, one of the midwives, and she checked my cervix and discovered that it was thinning, she could feel the baby's head, and that I was about 1.5cm dilated... at 34.5 weeks. Since this is still considered "pre-term" and that my body was teetering bewteen go-into-labor and don't-go-into-labor, she sent me to the hospital for IV fluids to try an tip the scale towards don't-go-into-labor so we can let the baby bake a little more.
So off I go to the hospital in a state of slight panic. Omg. This was so not how I envisioned this pregnancy ending. Well, it took me a while to figure out where to go once I got to the hospital, but eventually, they got me set up with an IV port and a liter of saline dripping into my hand. (Let me just say--as an aside--that having fluids shoved quickly into your body is rather uncomfortable. I wasn't pleased with the nurse that checked me in, but I found out about 2 hours later that there was a shift-change, and the nurse who was rather abrupt and short-tempered was just about to end her shift. Good thing--cause I was not happy with her.)
Anyway...I was also told that if the IV fluids did not stop the labor process, they would be giving me a shot of terbutaline to stop the contractions I was having. I did *NOT* want this drug in my system, as its side effects included increased heart rate and anxiety. Ugh. Luckily, the fluids worked their magic, and the contractions subsided, BUT ('cause you know there had to be a "but" in there) my blood pressure was elevated enough to raise red flags. So they had me lay on my left side--on an extremely uncomfortable bed that did no favors to my already tender and sore hips--and continued to monitor my blood pressure for another hour or so. It didn't drop as they would have liked, so they sent my blood down for tests. The results came back within normal ranges (meaning no signs of pre-eclampsia), but they were higher than my baselines.
Jessy showed up right at the shift-change, and I got to have my cervix checked with the midwife, her student-midwife (whom I had already met several times, thankfully), the new nurse, and Dave in the room. She said that there was "no change" since she saw me in the office, but my cervix had thickened back up and the baby moved back up. So she sent me home with instructions to stay on bedrest until my next prenatal appointment, to eat a no-sodium diet, and to monitor my blood pressure twice a day. I was allowed to work-from-home while on bedrest as long as it didn't cause my blood pressure to rise (stress).
What fun. I can't wait to get the hospital bill for that visit. :) But today is my 3rd day of bedrest, and let me just go ahead and say that it sucks. I'm sick of laying on my side and only getting up to pee. I can't really "disobey" the midwife's orders because I can feel the baby pushing down on my pelvis and my belly tightening with contractions if I'm on my feet for too long. Well, I could ignore the bedrest and just go about my business, but then, I'd probably be going into labor 5 weeks early. If only there was a way to know that the baby's lungs have fully developed already. At least, the baby has been super-active while I've been on bed rest. His movements are a lot stronger and frequent. Sometimes it's uncomfortable if he hits a sore spot, but mostly, it's fun watching my belly move. I don't usually have time to just sit and watch this.
My friend's sister was a neonatal nurse, and she told my friend that when something like this happens, it puts stress on the baby, which stimulates their lungs to develop more quickly. She said that the baby should be ready to go 5 days after the labor is stopped. I don't know how much to trust this feedback, but it gives me hope that our little one won't have to spend too much time (if any at all) in the NICU if he is born 5 weeks early.
Unfortunately, my blood pressure has been hovering around the borderline-high range, so I suspect that they will probably put me on some blood pressure medication to keep it low. I really don't want to take it, but it's a scary prospect to go into labor knowing how quickly my BP could spike during delivery. I don't have any other signs of pre-eclampsia (so far), and I hope that continues to remain the case. (I have not had blurred visions, seen spots, and the swelling is pretty much gone...and they haven't told me they found any protein in my urine.)
As I said before, bed rest sucks...big time. I don't know how women who are put on bed rest 2 months before they give birth maintain their sanity. I'm on Day 3 of it, and I've already watched a week-and-a-half's worth of shows...in one day. A really good friend brought over something for me to do! She brought me a card-making kit so I can play with stamps and ink and scoring tools. Heehee! It's a bit challenging managing all this while trying to stay horizontal, but it's nice to have something to focus on besides all the things I had wanted to accomplish this weekend in preparation for baby. At least, I can get these thank you cards made, written, and sent out (hopefully, by the end of this bed rest).
Maybe I can sneak in a 35-week picture later this week.
So here's what happened. On Wednesday (10/9), I started having Braxton Hicks contractions (BHC) over and over again throughout the morning. I had read several articles that said if you had these consistently, contact your provider if they become regular. Well, I didn't know if they were occurring at regular intervals so I downloaded a Contraction Timer app and started pressing 'Start' and 'Stop' whenever the tightening would come and go. I did this all Wednesday afternoon and noticed that I had 6 in a little less than an hour. So I called the nurse triage line at my OB's office. The nurse told me to come in to get checked.
So I did. I saw Jessy, one of the midwives, and she checked my cervix and discovered that it was thinning, she could feel the baby's head, and that I was about 1.5cm dilated... at 34.5 weeks. Since this is still considered "pre-term" and that my body was teetering bewteen go-into-labor and don't-go-into-labor, she sent me to the hospital for IV fluids to try an tip the scale towards don't-go-into-labor so we can let the baby bake a little more.
So off I go to the hospital in a state of slight panic. Omg. This was so not how I envisioned this pregnancy ending. Well, it took me a while to figure out where to go once I got to the hospital, but eventually, they got me set up with an IV port and a liter of saline dripping into my hand. (Let me just say--as an aside--that having fluids shoved quickly into your body is rather uncomfortable. I wasn't pleased with the nurse that checked me in, but I found out about 2 hours later that there was a shift-change, and the nurse who was rather abrupt and short-tempered was just about to end her shift. Good thing--cause I was not happy with her.)
Anyway...I was also told that if the IV fluids did not stop the labor process, they would be giving me a shot of terbutaline to stop the contractions I was having. I did *NOT* want this drug in my system, as its side effects included increased heart rate and anxiety. Ugh. Luckily, the fluids worked their magic, and the contractions subsided, BUT ('cause you know there had to be a "but" in there) my blood pressure was elevated enough to raise red flags. So they had me lay on my left side--on an extremely uncomfortable bed that did no favors to my already tender and sore hips--and continued to monitor my blood pressure for another hour or so. It didn't drop as they would have liked, so they sent my blood down for tests. The results came back within normal ranges (meaning no signs of pre-eclampsia), but they were higher than my baselines.
Jessy showed up right at the shift-change, and I got to have my cervix checked with the midwife, her student-midwife (whom I had already met several times, thankfully), the new nurse, and Dave in the room. She said that there was "no change" since she saw me in the office, but my cervix had thickened back up and the baby moved back up. So she sent me home with instructions to stay on bedrest until my next prenatal appointment, to eat a no-sodium diet, and to monitor my blood pressure twice a day. I was allowed to work-from-home while on bedrest as long as it didn't cause my blood pressure to rise (stress).
What fun. I can't wait to get the hospital bill for that visit. :) But today is my 3rd day of bedrest, and let me just go ahead and say that it sucks. I'm sick of laying on my side and only getting up to pee. I can't really "disobey" the midwife's orders because I can feel the baby pushing down on my pelvis and my belly tightening with contractions if I'm on my feet for too long. Well, I could ignore the bedrest and just go about my business, but then, I'd probably be going into labor 5 weeks early. If only there was a way to know that the baby's lungs have fully developed already. At least, the baby has been super-active while I've been on bed rest. His movements are a lot stronger and frequent. Sometimes it's uncomfortable if he hits a sore spot, but mostly, it's fun watching my belly move. I don't usually have time to just sit and watch this.
My friend's sister was a neonatal nurse, and she told my friend that when something like this happens, it puts stress on the baby, which stimulates their lungs to develop more quickly. She said that the baby should be ready to go 5 days after the labor is stopped. I don't know how much to trust this feedback, but it gives me hope that our little one won't have to spend too much time (if any at all) in the NICU if he is born 5 weeks early.
Unfortunately, my blood pressure has been hovering around the borderline-high range, so I suspect that they will probably put me on some blood pressure medication to keep it low. I really don't want to take it, but it's a scary prospect to go into labor knowing how quickly my BP could spike during delivery. I don't have any other signs of pre-eclampsia (so far), and I hope that continues to remain the case. (I have not had blurred visions, seen spots, and the swelling is pretty much gone...and they haven't told me they found any protein in my urine.)
As I said before, bed rest sucks...big time. I don't know how women who are put on bed rest 2 months before they give birth maintain their sanity. I'm on Day 3 of it, and I've already watched a week-and-a-half's worth of shows...in one day. A really good friend brought over something for me to do! She brought me a card-making kit so I can play with stamps and ink and scoring tools. Heehee! It's a bit challenging managing all this while trying to stay horizontal, but it's nice to have something to focus on besides all the things I had wanted to accomplish this weekend in preparation for baby. At least, I can get these thank you cards made, written, and sent out (hopefully, by the end of this bed rest).
Maybe I can sneak in a 35-week picture later this week.
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