But, maybe they should be...
Night before last, we had to visit the hospital yet again for regular contractions that were extremely painful. I awoke at 1:30am in intense pain and tried to breathe it out thinking that maybe they would go away. I am on medication to stop the contractions (or at least minimize them) after all! After about 30 minutes in sheer pain, I woke Matt up and he held my hand and breathed with me, but they just seemed to get worse and worse. I took some prescribed pain medication that I had for my migraines. However, after about 30 minutes, they still were not any better, so we made the decision to go on to the hospital. It is literally 2 minutes from our house and we knew that we could get there faster than calling the doctor and waiting for him to call us back and most likely tell us to do just that.
Once we got there, they hooked me up to monitors and checked my cervix to determine if I had dilated. I was not, thank God! However, I was still having the contractions pretty regularly. Before they could call the doctor and get further instructions, they needed for me to be on the monitor for at least 30 minutes to an hour to get a baseline reading of how things were going. The pain medication had finally started to kick in, so the pain wasn't as excruciating, but it obviously wasn't stopping the contractions (which it isn't supposed to)! However, at least I wasn't in much pain. Matt closed his eyes for a bit to rest as it was 3 in the morning! I tried to rest, but it really wasn't working for me.
After about an hour or so on the monitors, the nurse came back in to tell us that the doctor wanted to give me a shot of Turbutaline to stop the contractions. Apparently, this is a much more powerful drug than what I am taking orally at home. She advised me that very shortly after administering it, I could feel flush, hot, shaky, and quite possibly like my heart was beating out of my chest. I thought, "well, good to know, but how bad could that be?" Well, let me tell you, within 30 seconds of her injecting me, my hands began to violently shake and I did get very hot. I even asked for a cool rag to put on my forehead, despite the apparent chilly room that we were in. We also noticed that within about 2 minutes or so from being on it, that my contractions stopped cold! It took a little bit longer for the "heart beating out of my chest feeling", but that did also occur.
The doctor also told the nurse that he wanted us to stay until he could see me later that morning while making rounds. So, Matt decided to go home for a bit to get changed into his clothes for the day and check on the kids who were at home under the careful watch of my dad. We just didn't want them to wake up to find us gone and get scared. It didn't bother me that he left since we live just around the corner and I was going to try to sleep for a little, if I could.
After about 2 hours on the Turbutaline, I didn't have one single contraction....not even a little one, so they ended up releasing me earlier than expected. They told me that my doctor wanted me to follow up at my regularly scheduled appointment in 2 weeks UNLESS I began to experience any more symptoms of pre-term labor.
We got home in time to say good-bye to Max before he left for school. I laid down for the rest of the day and pretty much didn't leave my bedroom until dinner. I was drained emotionally and physically.
I was told to continue with my original medications at home. However, the contractions have returned but are still not very consistent and at least bearable. So, once again, it is just a day by day thing.
Upon leaving the hospital, Matt said to me that we should definitely pack our bags a little sooner than we planned to and get the house ready a little sooner than we were doing. We still have to paint the nursery and rebuild Max's crib and arrange the furniture in the room. Little monkey won't be staying in the nursery for the first few weeks anyway, but that brings up another point, we also need to get the bassinet for our room out of the attic.
I sure hope he stays in there as long as possible, but based on his record so far....we need to be ready for anything!
Night before last, we had to visit the hospital yet again for regular contractions that were extremely painful. I awoke at 1:30am in intense pain and tried to breathe it out thinking that maybe they would go away. I am on medication to stop the contractions (or at least minimize them) after all! After about 30 minutes in sheer pain, I woke Matt up and he held my hand and breathed with me, but they just seemed to get worse and worse. I took some prescribed pain medication that I had for my migraines. However, after about 30 minutes, they still were not any better, so we made the decision to go on to the hospital. It is literally 2 minutes from our house and we knew that we could get there faster than calling the doctor and waiting for him to call us back and most likely tell us to do just that.
Once we got there, they hooked me up to monitors and checked my cervix to determine if I had dilated. I was not, thank God! However, I was still having the contractions pretty regularly. Before they could call the doctor and get further instructions, they needed for me to be on the monitor for at least 30 minutes to an hour to get a baseline reading of how things were going. The pain medication had finally started to kick in, so the pain wasn't as excruciating, but it obviously wasn't stopping the contractions (which it isn't supposed to)! However, at least I wasn't in much pain. Matt closed his eyes for a bit to rest as it was 3 in the morning! I tried to rest, but it really wasn't working for me.
After about an hour or so on the monitors, the nurse came back in to tell us that the doctor wanted to give me a shot of Turbutaline to stop the contractions. Apparently, this is a much more powerful drug than what I am taking orally at home. She advised me that very shortly after administering it, I could feel flush, hot, shaky, and quite possibly like my heart was beating out of my chest. I thought, "well, good to know, but how bad could that be?" Well, let me tell you, within 30 seconds of her injecting me, my hands began to violently shake and I did get very hot. I even asked for a cool rag to put on my forehead, despite the apparent chilly room that we were in. We also noticed that within about 2 minutes or so from being on it, that my contractions stopped cold! It took a little bit longer for the "heart beating out of my chest feeling", but that did also occur.
The doctor also told the nurse that he wanted us to stay until he could see me later that morning while making rounds. So, Matt decided to go home for a bit to get changed into his clothes for the day and check on the kids who were at home under the careful watch of my dad. We just didn't want them to wake up to find us gone and get scared. It didn't bother me that he left since we live just around the corner and I was going to try to sleep for a little, if I could.
After about 2 hours on the Turbutaline, I didn't have one single contraction....not even a little one, so they ended up releasing me earlier than expected. They told me that my doctor wanted me to follow up at my regularly scheduled appointment in 2 weeks UNLESS I began to experience any more symptoms of pre-term labor.
We got home in time to say good-bye to Max before he left for school. I laid down for the rest of the day and pretty much didn't leave my bedroom until dinner. I was drained emotionally and physically.
I was told to continue with my original medications at home. However, the contractions have returned but are still not very consistent and at least bearable. So, once again, it is just a day by day thing.
Upon leaving the hospital, Matt said to me that we should definitely pack our bags a little sooner than we planned to and get the house ready a little sooner than we were doing. We still have to paint the nursery and rebuild Max's crib and arrange the furniture in the room. Little monkey won't be staying in the nursery for the first few weeks anyway, but that brings up another point, we also need to get the bassinet for our room out of the attic.
I sure hope he stays in there as long as possible, but based on his record so far....we need to be ready for anything!
5 comments:
Good luck with everything Allison!! You've had a rough time of it--I hope the rest of the pg is smooth sailing and that he stays in there lomger!!
Turbutaline that is the shot I refused when I had early labor with Hailey (though I hadn't had the problems you have had!) I did let them do a shot to boost her lung production. She was born 5 weeks early but I was 28 weeks when I went into early labor. I was still having contractions very regularly when I convinced them to discharge me and let me go home to relax instead of doing the Turbutaline - I had to basically swear my life away that if they didn't stop within 4 hours I would come straight back. They stopped at home, I knew they would, I could tell the stress of being in the hospital was not helping. I hate hospitals!! I am glad everything is ok with you right now and I pray that baby holds on a little longer for you! I will tell you at 35 weeks H was 5lbs 3oz and perfectly healthy we stayed overnight and got to go home!!
Thinking about you!
I had contractions like that with my first pregnancy, and ended up being able to make it to 38 weeks. Rest, rest, rest :)
Whew! That was scary, huh? So glad it all turned out well.
I'm saying prayers for you that your little guy stays in there for at least another 8 or 9 weeks! :)
Yes - you can never be too prepared! I had to stay in for 3 days with #1 & #2 and be on the magnesium sulfate...and you described the feeling to a T! Aren't you so thankful for modern medicine?!
Prayers coming your way.
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