preterm labor scare.
I'm currently 32 1/2 weeks. Throughout my pregnancy, especially during the second and third trimesters, I've been getting a lot of painful Braxton Hicks contractions that I more or less ignored - I kept monitoring my discharge, and didn't see anything out of the ordinary.
On Sunday, I was standing by the stove and felt a little trickle down my leg - my first thought was that I had accidentally wet myself, but it didn't feel that way - it felt an awful lot like when my water broke with my first (this is my second), except that this was just a tiny trickle, not a gush, and no more seemed to come after that. It didn't smell like urine, either, which worried me, but since no more came after that, I ended up dismissing it.
Yesterday, I was having some particularly painful Braxton Hicks - like really bad menstrual cramps that would sort of come and go, with a constant dull ache in between. After I did some research, which said that any painful cramping should be discussed with a practitioner, and talked to my mom, who really thought I should call my midwives, I finally called them. The midwife who was in yesterday, Nicole (there are three of them, and they alternate days), told me to come in right away when I told her what was happening. I called my husband at work and asked if he could get off early - he was able to do that (in fact, when he told them what was going on, they pretty much INSISTED that he take off, lol) and he drove me to the hospital.
Nicole checked for amniotic fluid and didn't find any - although she did agree with me that my discharge, while not bloody, was a good deal thicker and more mucousy than normal - and when she checked my cervix, she said that while the inner part of the cervix (the inner os) was firm and tightly closed, the outer part (outer os) was soft and thin. She said this wasn't necessarily anything to worry about, but that the outer os usually is tight and firm around this time, so she was a little concerned, especially with what I had been telling her about cramps and whatnot. She told me that I should go on partial bedrest for a few days just to be safe - no housework, lie down as much as possible, relax, etc., along with no sex until 37 weeks (although she didn't specify, and I forgot to ask, whether just orgasming is still okay - I plan to ask her when I see her again).
After discussing it with me and getting my okay, she also sent me over to labor and delivery and had them put a fetal monitor on me for about an hour to see if they could pick up any "real" contractions - they didn't find anything out of the ordinary. She did a fetal fibronectin test, too, which came back negative. (This means I'm about 95% likely NOT to go into labor within the next few weeks, which of course is good.)
I feel pretty relieved, but I'm still a little on edge - it's hard to come down completely from a scare like that, and I really did get pretty scared. Trying to rest today has been a little difficult with my two-year-old running around, but she's actually been pretty good, overall - she's been surprisingly obedient at staying in whatever room I'm in, and while I lay on the couch for a while, we watched The Sound of Music, which is currently her favorite movie ever. :D
I'm supposed to go see Nicole again tomorrow, since she wanted to see me before the weekend - I'm going to ask her if bedrest is really necessary now that the fibronectin test came back negative. I have noticed, though, that I cramp a lot when I get up and move around, but when I'm lying down and relaxing, cramping doesn't really happen - so maybe it is a good idea to "lay low" for a while. We'll see.
On Sunday, I was standing by the stove and felt a little trickle down my leg - my first thought was that I had accidentally wet myself, but it didn't feel that way - it felt an awful lot like when my water broke with my first (this is my second), except that this was just a tiny trickle, not a gush, and no more seemed to come after that. It didn't smell like urine, either, which worried me, but since no more came after that, I ended up dismissing it.
Yesterday, I was having some particularly painful Braxton Hicks - like really bad menstrual cramps that would sort of come and go, with a constant dull ache in between. After I did some research, which said that any painful cramping should be discussed with a practitioner, and talked to my mom, who really thought I should call my midwives, I finally called them. The midwife who was in yesterday, Nicole (there are three of them, and they alternate days), told me to come in right away when I told her what was happening. I called my husband at work and asked if he could get off early - he was able to do that (in fact, when he told them what was going on, they pretty much INSISTED that he take off, lol) and he drove me to the hospital.
Nicole checked for amniotic fluid and didn't find any - although she did agree with me that my discharge, while not bloody, was a good deal thicker and more mucousy than normal - and when she checked my cervix, she said that while the inner part of the cervix (the inner os) was firm and tightly closed, the outer part (outer os) was soft and thin. She said this wasn't necessarily anything to worry about, but that the outer os usually is tight and firm around this time, so she was a little concerned, especially with what I had been telling her about cramps and whatnot. She told me that I should go on partial bedrest for a few days just to be safe - no housework, lie down as much as possible, relax, etc., along with no sex until 37 weeks (although she didn't specify, and I forgot to ask, whether just orgasming is still okay - I plan to ask her when I see her again).
After discussing it with me and getting my okay, she also sent me over to labor and delivery and had them put a fetal monitor on me for about an hour to see if they could pick up any "real" contractions - they didn't find anything out of the ordinary. She did a fetal fibronectin test, too, which came back negative. (This means I'm about 95% likely NOT to go into labor within the next few weeks, which of course is good.)
I feel pretty relieved, but I'm still a little on edge - it's hard to come down completely from a scare like that, and I really did get pretty scared. Trying to rest today has been a little difficult with my two-year-old running around, but she's actually been pretty good, overall - she's been surprisingly obedient at staying in whatever room I'm in, and while I lay on the couch for a while, we watched The Sound of Music, which is currently her favorite movie ever. :D
I'm supposed to go see Nicole again tomorrow, since she wanted to see me before the weekend - I'm going to ask her if bedrest is really necessary now that the fibronectin test came back negative. I have noticed, though, that I cramp a lot when I get up and move around, but when I'm lying down and relaxing, cramping doesn't really happen - so maybe it is a good idea to "lay low" for a while. We'll see.