Well, since I can't sleep right now, I will go ahead and vent about my week! I am so exhausted at this point that I will try to make my thoughts coherent, no promises though.
So, Baby Thomas decided to throw a curve ball at us this week. Sunday night (almost 35 weeks) I went to the hospital after several hours of hard, close contractions that woke me up. After checking on the baby and monitoring my contractions they decided to give me a shot of turbutalin(sp?) to relax the uterus and stop the contractions. It stopped the contractions, but Thomas decided to go to sleep or something, so we had to stay 4 more hours until there was enough variability and peaks in his heart rate. It was fun, let me tell you. Since we didn't get to bed till after 5 am on memorial day, the planned BBQ was moved to Brian's sister's house, and I spent most of the day in bed, trying to ignore the contractions that didn't let up all day, except for maybe an hour at some point.
Tuesday morning I call my doctor to follow up on my hospital visit, now that she is back in the office, and am surprised to hear that I have to go back to the hospital right away to try and stop the contractions since I am pre-term still. I was a little annoyed because the contractions had slowed a lot, but the doctor insisted my cervix get checked. So, an hour later, as I suspected, I head back home without contractions (they finally stopped on their own when we got to the hospital).
Tuesday night, after showering at 8pm, the contractions pick up again and continue to increase. Brian is so tired I make him go to bed and tell him I will wake him if they don't stop by 10 pm. Of course they don't stop and nothing seems to help. I keep waiting and waiting, not wanting to wake Brian and go to the hospital again. Finally after calling the hospital a couple hours later, I give in to their advice, wake Brian and my mother-in-law, and head back to the hospital after midnight. I am now dilated to a 1 and the contractions don't stop. I am now 35 weeks, so the nurse doesn't think they will stop the contractions with a shot again. Two hours later the Dr. says to give me another shot because it would still be best to keep the baby in another week or two. They give the shot and within an hour the contractions are back again... it didn't work. But, I am still only dilated to a 1, so I get to go home and follow up with the Dr. five hours later at my regular appointment.
Wednesday morning I manage to get one hour of sleep despite the contractions. Then Brian and I head to my appointment to meet my new Dr. (Oh yeah, I now have to switch doctors because I can't deliver in Sunnyside anymore and have to deliver in Yakima... bigger hospital and NICU for pre-term babies.) I have a jam packed 3-in-1 visit... consultation, transfer of records, heart rate and contraction monitoring, ultrasound, and cervix check. Baby looks good, he is measuring 5 lbs. 15 oz., so he should be fine delivering early. Also, the hours of contractions since my cervix check at the hospital have done something. I am now dilated to a 3 and am 80% effaced. There is no stopping this baby from coming now. The doctor schedules an appointment for me for next week, but thinks he will see me at the hospital before then. He also tells me that the baby is resting his head on my sacrum which is why I am experiencing excruciating pain in my pelvis... something I just have to endure till he comes out. I am quite relieved and actually excited after my appointment. I eat and distract myself by cleaning the apartment and getting every last thing set up and ready for baby Thomas to come home. Contractions continue, but don't get bad enough, and I am exhausted.
Wednesday night, after 5 hours of steady contractions, my pain level gets high enough that I finally think it is time to go in. At 10 pm Brian takes me to the hospital. When we arrive I am sure I made the right choice because I am panting, unable to stand or stop shaking, and my pain is peaking at a 9 or 10. From the minute I was wheeled into Labor/Delivery I wanted to turn around and go home. I got the worst nurse in the history of nurses. From her initial greeting of "can't you wait in the waiting room?!" she continued to be so rude and unprofessional that I ended up spending half the visit crying and a portion of it screaming in pain (when she continually hurt me while checking my cervix and ignored my requests to wait until I could relax... Brian said he wanted to slap her and I couldn't stop bawling for about 20 minutes afterward.) I refused to let her touch me again, so Brian spoke to another nurse and got her to take over. The contractions subsided (or were traumatized out of me), my cervix was re-checked (no change). I got to end the nightmare visit and go home.
Unfortunately, I was only able to sleep for an hour. Contractions returned and I spent three hours trying to relax and fall asleep. Finally after eating, a bath, several shows on Netflix, extensive reading of "What to Expect," internet browsing, and a conversation with a hospital nurse... I fell asleep. I managed the longest stretch of sleep all week... 4 hours, except for a potty break and saying good bye to Brian as he left to work. However, when I woke up at 10:30 am I had heartburn and the most excruciating head ache imaginable (I had had a slight one for about a day). I ate breakfast and took a pain pill (acetaminophen + codine) that the doctor gave me, hoping it would wipe out my head ache and I could get back to sleep. Two hours later, I am beside myself with exhaustion and pain, so I call my doctor. The nurse tells me to go back to the hospital, get my blood pressure checked to make sure there isn't something else wrong causing the persistent head ache, and hopefully get some drugs to help me sleep.
At 1 pm today (Thursday) we head back to the hospital, hoping this will be our quickest trip and I can find relief from sleep soon. Almost four hours later we finally leave the hospital. Everything was fine, except that baby Thomas did not want to have a variable enough heart rate or peaks. So, we had to monitor him until that happened... they couldn't give me anything to sleep unless he was showing enough activity. In order to rule out placenta previa (which they really doubt, but want to be positive) they drew blood to run some tests and sent me home with a jug to collect my urine in for 24 hours for testing. Oh, and I am so hungry at this point since I didn't get to eat lunch that I throw up/ dry heave the water and Popsicle they gave me... fun! But, they do give me a shot of morphine. I get home at 5 pm and manage to fall asleep for two hours... again I am wakened by contractions. My headache has subsided almost completely though. I am able to eat a little and rehydrate my body. I watched some TV with Brian and then headed back to bed with him at 9 pm. I managed to rest (not sleep) for about an hour until my stomach was growling too bad I had to get up and eat something. Brian is, of course, sound asleep (I know he needs it badly too, but man am I jealous!) Have the contractions subsided?... no. Have the contractions intensified enough?... no. Am I able to sleep?... no.
So, here I am at midnight. It is now Friday, June 3rd. I am wondering if my head ache will ever really go away? Will my contractions go away or intensify? Will I be able to get anymore sleep? When will baby Thomas come? Is my water going to break tonight? Will the next trip to the hospital be for the delivery of our baby boy? Who knows? Are you as wiped out as I am after reading this?! :)
And now for the grand tour...
We are so grateful for all of the help we had moving. Brian's work provided a truck/ trailer, our new ward showed up with five men to help move in, and Brian's parents and sisters helped a TON! Also, our new neighbors on the front side of the duplex are LDS and have two kids ages 4 & 2. They had us over for dinner the first night. They are super cool and we have instant friends. The only downside is that they are moving in 6 weeks. Hopefully we'll get cool neighbors again. Anyway, we are very pleased with our new place. I have done more this week than I have in the last month! It is a good distraction from the pains of pregnancy for me. Only 8 weeks to go! I am excited to get everything set up for our new baby Thomas!