30w1d Enough Excitement for Me

Woke up this morning feeling just fine. I was somewhat hungry, although not very considering that I have eaten very little over the past few days. After breakfast I sat down to read my email and after a while noticed that I was having some lower abdominal crampiness. I tried to ignore it for a while but it didn't seem to go away. Finally I decided to lay down for a while but it still wouldn't go away. I also started feeling nauseas. Finally a little after noon I called and left a message for the midwife. She called me back about 2:30 and after listening to my symptoms she suggested I try drinking as much fluids as I could for about 2 hours and see if that helped. It didn't so I called her back about 4:30. By that time I was also feeling a little achiness in my back periodically but I really didn't feel like my uterus was contracting. She had me go straight to the hospital for monitoring and to test my urine. She said, besides pre-term labor, it could be something like a urinary tract infection.

Fortunately I was able to get my friend JE to come get G and my SIL came to take me to the hospital. I live in a smallish town and I have to say that every dealing I've had with the hospital has just been great; everyone is very nice and helpful. It doesn't hurt when your SIL is known and respected by all. So we walked in and got great prompt service.

The good news is that the baby was doing great: great heartrate and jumping all around. The monitor didn't show contractions per se but showed "irritability". After a while on the monitor, the MW came in and said she would do an internal, take a swab to test for any uterine infections like bacterial vaginosis. She also went ahead and did a Fetal fibronectin test which determines your likelihood of going into labor in the next two weeks. She said a positive doesn't mean a whole lot but a negative result is highly reliable. Mine came back negative YIPPPEEE!! She also did an internal exam and said my cervix was still pretty thick and only dilated just a "dimple" which she said is completely normal if you've already had a baby. The only worrying thing is that she said the baby is very low and her head is right down there which would be great if I was 36+ weeks but not necessarily where we want her at 30 weeks with an irritable uterus.

After the exam she put the monitor back on me to look at the contractions/irritability again. After a few minutes she said that it was picking up a lot more irritability so she wanted to give me a shot of Terbutaline. That is some wicked stuff. Not only does my arm still hurt an hour later but I still have the shakes and I feel very jittery, which is apparently a very normal side effect.

My urine was cloudy and the initial tests showed some blood in it so the midwife is hoping that more detailed tests on that will show a reason for my cramping. Until we have a better answer for it, I'm ordered to "take it easy".

So many conflicting emotions right now! On the one hand I'm relieved that the baby appears to be doing well and is not being affected by whatever is going on in my body. On the other hand I'm terrified of the great unknown of what is causing the cramping. I'm relieved that the FFP test shows I'm not at a huge risk for preterm labor at the moment but I'm stressed wondering how I'm going to take it easy with a toddler around. J of course went back to work yesterday and won't be home till late Friday. I've decided not to worry about it tonight though. I'm just doing to sit here with my feet propped up watching movies and reading. Time enough tomorrow to worry about it all.

---------------------------------------------------

Midwife just called. More tests on the urine doesn't really show anything concerning. She said it may be that I am at the very start of a UTI although this is not normally how mine tend to start. She wants to wait and see what the vaginal cultures show before she does anything. Those results won't be back until late tomorrow or Thursday morning. Of course if anything changes in how I feel I'm to go directly to the hospital for monitoring.

This day has contained plenty enough excitement for me, thank you very much.