So THAT'S what a contraction is...

This morning I woke up and for reasons from which I will spare you, realized that things weren't quite right. I called the on-call doctor who wanted us to come down to Holy Cross so I could get checked out. Assuming the worst, I grabbed my hospital bag, a bag full of things for Isaac, my camera, and forgot my ID. Great! Meanwhile, Spencer DVR'ed the Jets game and got the car ready :)

We went to Holy Cross Hospital, had a horrendous time checking in (I was literally frustrated to the point of tears), and I was taken to triage in the labor and delivery unit and hooked up to a monitor. As we were there, a few other girls were admitted, chatting up a storm about how excited they were, how this is every grandparent's dream, etc. and at that point I did just burst out crying. Of course, that's the way it should be... excitement, anticipation... but it was hard to hear.

The on-call doctor came in, I filled him in again on what was going on, as well as the brief history of this pregnancy (he was somewhat familiar with it, but we havent' seen him at all through this), and the fact that should I need to deliver, it would have to be at Shady Grove due to the fact that we have met extensively with folks there and they are expecting us.

He took a look at the feed from the monitor, and apparently I has having contractions that were coming about 2 minutes apart. Nice. I suppose I might have recognized a contraction if we ever talked about "normal" pregnancy things in my prenatal visits, but since we don't, I had no idea.

I almost lost it again, mostly because I was just scared that they wouldn't be able to get them stopped. I was told they were Braxton Hicks, which they say are different from labor contractions, but you can never be fully sure. So, they (like me) wanted them stopped. After an IV and two shots of some "stop the contractions" medicine they let me come home. I have a perscription for an oral form of the medicine that I need to take every 4 hours from now until the end of the pregnancy. I was also told to take off of work Monday and Tuesday until my OB appointment Tuesday afternoon. So, it looks like I get an extended weekend :)

When I asked the doc what was causing the BH contractions, he said that sometimes with babies with an omphalocele there can be excess amniotic fluid which causes your uterus to enlarge, thus making your body "think" you're farther along than you are. He said that could be what was happening here. At each of my ultrasounds, my fluid has been at the highest end of the normal range, but perhaps it has now crossed over to the plain old high range. In addition to my OB visit on Tuesday, he wants me to get an ultrasound to have the fluid checked.

Anyhow, PLEASE pray that this medicine will do the trick and keep the contractions stopped. Not that I will ever be ready, but I am not ready for Isaac to be here yet. Also, it would really NOT be a good thing for this to turn into an emergency c-section because of all of the staff that needs to be present, how unique of a situation it is, etc. And please pray for my nerves :)