Practice Run

We like to keep things interesting around here.  Monday night I started having some uncomfortable contractions so I timed them and they weren't completely consistent so I went to sleep.  I woke up several times hurting but would eventually fall back asleep.  All day Tuesday I just didn't feel right, I was hurting and just basically didn't feel good.  Tuesday afternoon around 4:45 I started really hurting and tried calling Austin but he didn't answer.  I called my doctors answering service (they close at 4:30 and my dr is out of the country right now) and waited for them to call me back and I kept trying to get a hold of Austin.  By this time I was really hurting and crying because I was nervous and scared and at home alone and couldn't get in touch with anyone.  I spoke with the on-call doc and she said to go ahead to Labor & Delivery to get checked out but hopefully I wasn't in labor.  My parents came and got me and off to the hospital we went!  

The nurse got me all set up in a triage room to monitor Hannah's heart rate and my contractions and check me for dilation, etc.  I wasn't dilated at all but I was having consistent contractions every two minutes.  I didn't realize it until then but I had been feeling them all day, I just didn't know that's what contractions felt like.  

This is a picture of the monitor, the top part is Hannah's heart beat, it was going FAST when I'd have contractions, it was in this picture about 180 bpm so they had me move around shortly after this picture was taken to lower it a little, the blue area is where they like the heart beat to be at.  The bottom area is monitoring me and the peaks are when I'd have a contraction.  I have no idea what the scale is for contractions but the monitor showed 1-12 and mine were usually between 6-8.  They didn't hurt too much, they were just pretty uncomfortable.  

By this point Austin FINALLY called my Dad back and was on his way to the hospital.  He had been at work and was just working away and got in the car to come home and grabbed his phone to call me and noticed it wasn't on anymore so he restarted it and saw a TON of missed calls and text messages from me and every member of my family!  I'm sure he freaked out for a minute.  

Anyways, we spent about two hours being monitored and then they checked my dilation again and it was still at a zero so they said I was going home since I was just shy of being full term, my water hadn't broken and we want Hannah to stay in there a little while longer.  Fine with me!  I don't want her coming any earlier than she should so I guess my body was having it's first disagreement with little Miss Hannah because she wanted out and I wasn't having it, ha!  I won.  ;)  This time at least...

Look who made it!

They gave me a sleeping pill to relax my uterus and help me sleep and sent me home!  I've only taken sleeping pills once and that was while I was in the hospital for kidney stones and I was already in bed and just passed out.  Tuesday night they wanted to monitor me for at least 15 mins to make sure I didn't have a reaction to it since they were sending me home and let me tell you, you get a little crazy on those things when you don't go straight to sleep!  Austin said I was like a high school girl who drank wine coolers because I was just yapping away on the way home and not making a whole lot of sense.  I remember being really out of it but don't remember much after leaving the hospital but apparently, I was pretty entertaining.  I try my best.  ;)  

So, now I'm home resting even more than I was before and drinking TONS of water and just trying to make sure Hannah likes it in there for a few more weeks!  I'm still having contractions but not as often and they aren't increasing in intensity so I'm still good.  The nurse said my body is practicing a lot, hopefully practice makes perfect works out in this case!  Oh, and I now have just about all of Austin's coworkers cell phone numbers too.  We will NOT be having a repeat of Tuesday when the real thing happens!

All in all, it was a successful practice run at least.  I don't want to repeat it until it's the real thing but at least I know more of what to expect when it's time!