the johnson family blog: Babymoon #2: The hospital

Remember this last post when I was complaining about my "Braxton Hicks" contractions? Well, I eventually decided to call the doctor. I mostly wanted to call to kind of fill them in on my contractions, not really thinking it was a big deal. But the Nurse I talked to asked a million questions and I told her that for the past few days I had been having 3-7 contractions an hour that didn't really stop with rest and drinking lots of water. At this point, she expressed the potential severity of this and her annoyance that I didn't call sooner. She sent us to the hospital immediately. Brian and I were slightly annoyed to be headed to the hospital at 5pm on a Friday night. Especially since we were under the assumption that they were making a bigger deal out of my "Braxton Hicks" than we thought was necessary.

We were told that Fairview Southdale Hospital (where we are planning on delivering) was full (?!?!) so they sent us to Abbott. When we arrived in the maternal assessment area and were brought into a room where they started a myriad of tests: blood, urine, fetal monitoring, baby heartbeat monitoring. The contraction monitor was indicating that I was having even more contractions that I initially thought. And they were really regular. I was having a contraction every 4-5 mins that lasted for a min. When they checked my cervix they discovered that the contractions were definitely doing something because I am about 50% effaced and almost a centimeter dilated. They also gave me a fetal fibronectin test. This is "a protein that acts as a glue during pregnancy, attaching the amniotic sac to the lining of the uterus. A positive fetal fibronectin test is a clue that the "glue" has been disturbed and you're at increased risk of preterm labor." My test came back negative. This was relieving to my the OB as it indicated that I was not technically in preterm labor and was highly unlikely to deliver Baby Bird in the next 2 weeks. However, because of the consistency of my contractions and the condition of my cervix they wanted me to stay overnight for continued monitoring. I received a shot to try to stop the contractions. It was unsuccessful. Then I was given an oral medication called Nifedipine which I take every 6 hours. This seemed to work well enough that they felt comfortable sending us home the next morning. Baby Bird was a trouper throughout the whole thing. Every attending nurse mentioned how he/she seems so happy and healthy just squirming around. One nurse even had to move the fetal monitor a few times because Squirmy wouldn't stay still. We've got a funny Baby Bird on our hands who seems to want to fly the coup a bit early.

Our second "Babymoon" was unplanned and unexpected. We were given advice from a friend to "enjoy the adventure" of our first overnight stay in a hospital. It was an interesting and exhausting experience. It's pretty difficult to sleep in a hospital bed when you are hooked up to so many monitors and the nurses are coming in and out to check on you and give you medications. Brian didn't have it much easier with his pull our chair bed. We're hoping that the next time we stay the night in a hospital we at least have a lovely little baby to make it worth it!

So that is our crazy story. We're praying this is the only hiccup in an otherwise uneventful pregnancy. I am on medication that I take every 6 hours to stop contractions. I am also on a modified bed rest. This means that I am not confined strictly to the bed, but I can move around as long as I am going from one place to sit/lay to another. I told Brian that I'm pretty sure that this includes going from the bed to the car to Starbucks every once in a while :) I'm going to get a bit stir crazy especially since I can't do any cooking, cleaning or trips to Target. Poor Brian is now in charge of it all! He's been really sweet and has attending to my every desire. He says he's not going to let me out of his sight for a while just to make sure that me and Baby Bird are ok. I'm sure it won't last that long, but I am enjoying the attention for now. My OB will be monitoring me more closely over the next several weeks. I will be on the medication until 37 weeks and then they will just see what happens. If I get more contractions before 34-35 weeks, they will try to keep them stopped for a few days while they give me steroid shots to help Baby Birds little lungs develop more and then they will see what happens. This means that "worst case scenario" we could be parents in just over 3 weeks! Whoa! I am excited to meet our baby, but more importantly we want baby to be fully developed and healthy as much as possible! So stay in there, you little turkey! You're not quite done cooking!