My not-so-mundane 33 week OB appointment (a/k/a preterm labor scare)

I had my regular OB appointment scheduled for yesterday.  I graciously told Blake he could skip out on this one, as I do not have any more ultrasounds scheduled, it was too early for me to begin pelvic exams, and I was certain that it would be a quick and boring appointment.  I was wrong.

The nurse checked my weight, blood pressure, urine and baby's heart rate (a steady 150 at that point), as usual.  Everything was normal.  The doctor came in and asked whether I've had any changes.  I explained that starting last Saturday, I've felt pretty crappy.  I've felt sluggish, a bit out-of-it, lethargic, have been achey in my pelvic bones and have been sleeping poorly.  I didn't think that any of these symptoms would cause alarm- as I completely assumed I was going through some normal type of 3rd trimester phase (i.e. baby is getting bigger and my body is getting tired). Apparently, the fact that these changes occurred fairly suddenly served as some kind of warning bell for Dr. Bradford.  Her exact words were: "Congratulations, you've just earned yourself a pelvic exam."

My heart sank.  I wasn't ready for a pelvic exam!  Dr. B had told me at a prior appointment that they wouldn't start doing these until 35-36 weeks.  I was pretty nervous that it would be painful, and i was starting to wish that Blake or my mom was with me.  She gave my nether regions a thorough check and everything looked great.  Cervix closed tight (i.e. no dilation and no effacement).  Doctor's exact words: "your cervix looks beautiful" (uh... weird much?).

I figured that would be the end of things, but Dr. B's instincs kicked in and she wanted to check me on the contraction monitors.  They came in and hooked me up.  One electrode was attached to my belly to monitor Ryder's heart rate and another monitor was attached to my belly to monitor contractions.  To be honest, I wasn't worried at this point.  We all know that contractions hurt, and I was not in pain.

I layed there with the monitor on for a good 20 minutes or so.  I texted my mom and Blake to let them know what was going on.  I still wasn't worried.  Dr. Bradford came in and took a look at the strip of paper with the squiggly lines.  She reported I was clearly having contractions.  I think I had about 6 or 7 of them while on the monitors.  She asked whether I could feel them.  I said no. 

At that point, Dr. B gave me my options.  She said I could (A) get admitted overnight at the hospital for observation, (B) go to the hospital triage center (for labor and delivery) for a few hours for monitoring and hopefully go home if they could stop the contractions, or (C) go home and come back to Dr. Bradford's office in the morning for more monitoring (i.e. outpatient monitoring).  At that point, I became nervous, anxious and scared.  I told Dr. B that I would do whatever she thought I should do.  She said if it was her, she'd go with Plan (B).  So, plan B it was.  She sent me straight across the street to Baylor Hospital.

I called Blake, but he was temporarily stuck at work and waiting for the last crew to come in (it was around 5:15 at this point).  I called my mom, who was minutes away from starting a pilates class. She grabbed her stuff and headed straight to the hospital so that I wouldn't be alone.  She only ended up beating Blake by about 20 minutes.

I checked into triage and was hooked up to the monitors and a blood pressure cuff.  They monitored me for about 15 minutes, saw my contractions, and gave me my first shot.  The drug is called terbutaline, and apparently is a drug used to treat asthma.  The main side effect is that it makes your heart race (and consequently, makes you very shaky).  My first nurse was good and the shot didn't hurt.  It did make my heart race and did make me shaky - no big deal.  They monitored me for an additional 30 minutes.  I was still having contractions (albeit smaller contractions).

At the 30-minute mark, a new nurse came in.  She was pretty awful.  Here are two separate comments that she made on two separate occasions while in my room:

Comment 1:  Did you know that doctors have recently confirmed that the majority of a baby's brain development occurs between 37 and 39 weeks?  That's why pregnant women shouldn't be induced early.

Comment 2:  I have 3 grandchildren that were all born at 35 weeks.  One is autistic, one has ADHD, and one is perfectly "normal" (her words, not mine).  So you just never know.

WHO SAYS THESE THINGS TO SOMEONE WHO IS HAVING CONTRACTIONS AT 33 WEEKS PREGNANT!?!?  Uh, moron much?

But I didn't just dislike her because of her inconsiderate comments.  She gave me my second shot of the Terb, and it F*&!#ing hurt!  I actually dropped the F-bomb in front of the nurse, Blake, my mom and dad (who had arrived by that point).  Whoops!  Looks like I may be a cusser during labor, so anyone with virgin ears will need to steer clear.  Needless to say, I was not a fan of nurse #2.

After giving me my second shot, the nurse brought me a huge jug of water and told me to drink up.  She also made me lay on one side (rather than on my back).  The Terb was causing Ryder's heart to race a bit too, and she wanted him to get optimal oxygen.

After 30 minutes, demon-nurse came back to talk to me.  My contractions had almost stopped.  I was still having a few tiny ones.  She didn't feel like the third and final round of Terb was necessary, and she didn't want my pulse to sky-rocket anymore.  She said that she'd monitor me for 30 more minutes and as long as the contractions didn't start back up/worsen, they'd release me.  At 8pm she came back and confirmed that she spoke with Dr. Bradford, who was comfortable releasing me.

I was glad to get to go home (my main concern was that they'd make me stay overnight).

Let me back up a little bit and explain things a bit more.  Once Dr. B determined that my cervix was stellar, she reassured me that I was NOT in preterm labor.  So why do the contractions matter if I wasn't in preterm labor?  Apparently, the contractions can lead to labor, and clearly we didn't want that to happen.  Dr. B explained that I had been feeling crappy because my body had been dealing with these contractions for days.  Makes sense, I suppose, though it is super weird that I couldn't feel them at all.  Who ever heard of contractions that you can't feel? 

I'm on strict bed rest today, and I'm waiting to hear back from Dr. B's office to find out the game plan for the days to come.  I imagine she'll want me back in the office soon for more monitoring (to ensure that all contractions have stopped).  Hopefully the bed rest won't be an extended thing.  One day of staying home from work and laying on my lazy butt isn't bad... but I know it would get old fast.  And I'm busy at work right now and need to be working.  We shall see.