Ever had one of those moments where you're convinced that you've finally figured it out and somehow, sheer mental preparation will beat whatever obstacle it is that you're up against -- only to be proven completely and utterly wrong by this hypothesis?
It's what my teenagers call an "Epic Fail." My uterus is failing me, epically, laughing all the way through my frequent warm baths, hot/cold compresses, stretches, and water chugging.
"Not so fast," it says. "I did NOT ok a giant baby in there and I am not happy."
What. A. Bitch.
Yesterday was actually not a terrible day in IU Land until about 1:30 PM. That's when the Big Kahuna tried to surf a 30-footer and failed. I knew something was just wrong. For 90+ unrelenting minutes I could barely stand, my ribs and back were on fire, and this was just not a contraction I was willing to risk so I phoned it in. Within 30 minutes, the doctor called back and I caught her up to speed on what has been happening since August 16. She said it absolutely sounded like Braxton-Hicks/Irritable Uterus and not preterm labor (yes, thank you) but that to be sure there was nothing else going on I should always plan on heading to the hospital when they get that bad. Oh, and probably this is the way my body just handles pregnancy.
Protocol is:
1. Call it in to the OB
2. Wait for her to send you to L&D.
Luckily my dad was available to drive me up to Morristown. I don't think I could have driven myself in the end. This is where I feel torn that we live two minutes from two good hospitals and 35 minutes from a great one but for my daughter, I won't settle for good, despite the inconvenience.
It always feels like a defeat to show up at L&D, knowing deep down there's no baby coming imminently, and have people make a fuss over something that of course is going to dissipate by the time you actually get there 35 min later. Same thing last week: I was on two separate monitors for a total of probably 2-3 hours and only saw minimal spikes in contractions. What I have felt every day for the past week simply does not occur at the hospital and I'm absolutely not making it up. It's frustrating as hell. I don't want to be the "lady who cried preterm labor" but now that there's written record of my IU issues, I should probably relax. No one is treating me any differently than other women who eventually get sent home from triage to wait it out. I'm taking no chances with the previa and the other hot mess of my medical history.
Luckily, the nurse last night was incredibly compassionate and thorough. She said she could absolutely trace the constant micro contractions on the monitor and that my uterus was definitely "angry about something." Her theory is that because I'm in the home stretch and the uterus is almost at capacity, it is bumping up against all of my scar tissue and that's what sets it off. Doesn't help that I have a super active baby rolling around all the time, aggravating it, but at least this doesn't seem to faze PB one bit. Add endometriosis, adenomyosis, and placenta previa into the mix and this is not your typical pregnancy. I asked if it would get worse before delivery day and she very sympathetically said, "probably." She was a wonderful cheerleader, though, urging me to come in any time I felt like I felt earlier that day. She said she's had patients who make routine visits to L&D just to get some relief for whatever it is they are experiencing and that she'd rather give me an IV of fluids every week for the next three weeks rather than have me stay home the one time it would have made all the difference to come in. Sound advice.
Did I mention Morristown has the best nurses?
So she hooked me up to the IV, ordered by my third doc who happened to be on-call last night, because for some reason, even when you're not dehydrated, the influx of fluids calms the uterus down. It seemed to take the edge off but I left the hospital with the same feeling of strong menstrual cramps that I came in with, dreading the night ahead but hoping for the best.
I was wiped by the time we got home at 8:30. I haven't been able to nap during the days recently and I'm sure as hell not sleeping at night. I dozed off around 10:00 and like clockwork, at 11:00 PM awoke to calf and back pain and a rock-hard uterus. Eff. This. Got up, did some school work, typed the first half of my final paper, read a bunch of home remedies for IU, and crawled back into bed sometime around 2:00 AM. Woke up at 4:00, could not go back to sleep so I played the left-right-center game of how many pillows can you jam under your body in various positions to get comfy. Answer: it doesn't matter!
Having educated myself about this still relatively little understood condition, I naturally have many questions for the doctor on Friday about what else I can be doing to make it through the next three weeks without totally losing my mind. I made it clear when I called the other doctor yesterday that I am not a giant wuss. I know from pain, having experienced 10 on a 1-10 scale last summer. My worst contractions are about a 7, which is significant. How do I avoid totally giving into them? Can it be avoided? How do I make sure I'm getting enough oxygen to the baby if I'm not moving around as much these days? What should I be eating/drinking to lessen the contractions at night? Also, let's pick a date. Seriously. I think having a plan in place will do wonders for my resolve getting through the remainder of this pregnancy. I can handle anything as long as I know there's an end in sight and right now, it doesn't feel that way because there's nothing on my calendar yet. This child needs a birthday!
Oh, and I learned a lot about Morristown policies regarding C-Sections from my nurse but that's another post for another day. Fascinating stuff.
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