Category Archives: cramping

In Labor…Got Sent Home

Major TMI alert…if you don’t want to know the details, just know that I’m in early labor but was sent home from the hospital.

If you’re still reading, here goes…

I’ve had spotting since last Thursday, which is a bit concerning for a pregnant woman! When I saw my OB on Friday, she said that it was probably from my cervix dilating and I didn’t have to worry about it as long as it continued to be spotting and didn’t get any heavier or redder. Well, last night it definitely got heavier. When I woke up this morning, I noticed that there were also some clots. RED FLAG! I was pretty freaked out. It was 7am and I had gotten up early to get ready for my 9:45am doctor appointment (where I was hoping to schedule an induction for next week, since I’m overdue).

The clinic wasn’t open yet, so I called Labor & Delivery. They couldn’t consult my doctor because she was in surgery but they must have talked to someone else who suggested I come in. We got ready and got to L&D around 8:20am. Thankfully, the bleeding was not from a placental abruption or anything equally terrible. All the cramping I’m having turned out to be contractions. They were not regular, but all 3-8 minutes apart. Was still bleeding, but had not made any dilation progress. In fact, I’ve been dilated the same for about three weeks. Every hour was spent walking for 30 minutes, then monitoring for 30 minutes. My doctor decided to keep me there for monitoring until 1pm to see if I was dilating. While there was a small cervical change, there was no progress in dilation. My contractions remain irregular and I was sent home.

So here I sit, with contractions that bring severe cramps and back pain (albeit irregular) and continuous bleeding. I can’t believe I was sent home and not induced. I’m past my due date, for goodness sake! They said early labor could last like this for hours or days.

While we were walking the halls at the hospital, we saw a couple there who had been in our birthing class. She was only due one day before me. They were headed HOME with their baby. We were excited for them when we saw them. After being sent home, it’s just severely depressing. :-/

Well, Baby C, after a month of false alarms and this morning, we are definitely ready for you to get here. I’m convinced you’re never coming out and my body has no idea how to get you out. Hopefully this will all be over soon.

Not Getting My Hopes Up…

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Had to call the doctor today due to some spotting with cramping and they said that I’m probably dilating and labor will be coming soon. I have to say, I’ve heard that before and I am not getting my hopes up. I really wish my doctor hadn’t told me about a month ago that she thought I’d be early. I’m five days away from my due date (and I’ve passed the date that should really be my due date), and I’m starting to feel like we’ll have to go through an induction and smoke this baby out!

I hope they’re right. I feel like I should clean and organize things around the house just in case labor really does come shortly, but I can’t bring myself to do it. Argh. All those false alarms really messed with my head!

Labor is a Tricky, Tricky Thing

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I really thought that today was the day. I woke up at 6am with severe back pain and contractions. They continued to come every 6 minutes for the next 8 hours. We went for a walk, I drank a lot of water, ate some food, rested…everything that they always tell you to do to make sure they’re not Braxton Hicks contractions. They were the real deal.

And after 8 hours of consistency, they stopped.

ARGH!

Not only is it physically exhausting, it’s mentally taxing as well. We packed all the last-minute items in the labor bag and I was ready to go as soon as the contractions were to get down to 5 minutes apart. I was mentally ready for labor and meeting our baby. And now it’s back to the guessing game. Boo. It will be a very early night for me…hopefully I’ll get some sleep and hopefully I’ll be woken up by contractions again – this time 5 minutes apart and NOT stopping!

Labor – I Anxiously Await You

A Baby This Week?

Why Every Pregnant Woman Needs an Exercise Ball

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About a year ago when Hubster wanted to get an exercise ball, I was against it. I pictured this big ol’ ball taking up what precious little floor space we had. I pictured it sitting there collecting dust because neither of us would ever use it.

Then I got pregnant.

Toward the end of my second trimester when the aches and pains starting to really set in, I begged him to pull that deflated exercise ball (which, I was correct, had never been used) out of the closet and pump some life into it. I had heard the benefits of an exercise ball for labor (aka a birthing ball). If it helped ease pain in labor, it had to help during pregnancy, right?!

It. Is. Wonderful.

I bounce on that thing almost every day. Unlike sitting in a chair, laying down or standing, the exercise ball takes all pressure off of my lower back and pelvis. Last night, I think it saved me from a trip to labor & delivery. Cramping and back pain set in and my doctor suggested that it might be the baby’s position on a nerve. If I had an exercise ball, I could move my hips around to try and put baby in a different position. That’s when that little light above my head (you know, the cartoon light that pops on when you have a fabulous idea) sputtered to life. ”Yes, I have an exercise ball!” If the pain didn’t subside, I’d have to take a trip into the hospital to get checked out.

I proceeded to bounce my little heart out on that exercise ball and – alas! – Baby C must have been sitting on a nerve, because the pain started to subside. Hooray!

I strongly recommend an exercise ball for every pregnant woman! Whether you have issues with back pain or just for a strange instance such as the one I had last night, it could save you from popping pills for your pain, suffering in silence, or even from a trip to labor & delivery.

Preterm Labor Scare

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At about 1:00 this morning, I suddenly had menstrual cramps and low back pain reminiscent of a bad period. I was already laying in bed, so I figured I’d just keep trying to fall asleep and maybe they’d go away. An hour later, they still were bad and keeping me awake so I decided to call my clinic’s 24-hour nurse line. Their concern scared me a bit and they gave me the number of the birth center at the local hospital. The nurse that I spoke with really freaked me out when she said that her gut reaction is that I need to come in immediately, but that I should consult the OBGYN on-call before doing so. I was patched through to her shortly after 2am and she instructed me to drink lots of water and lay down to see if it would go away. If it didn’t, I would need to come into the hospital.

I was able to get a few hours of sleep, but when I awoke at 6am, the cramping and back pain were still there. I hemmed and hawed for a little while before waking up the hubster and telling him we’d better drive to the hospital.

It was a hard decision for me. I’m typically the one to shrug off my own pain thinking that it will pass; but I realized that I wasn’t making the decision for me, I was now making the decision for my baby. What a weird thought – it was the first time I had to make a decision solely for my baby…and he’s not even here with us yet!

A few hours, some lab tests and a fetal monitor watch later, I was cleared to go home. Everything looked fine, baby is super active and healthy. The fetal monitor was not picking up on any contractions and my lab tests came back clear.

I’m hoping that this doesn’t send me into a frenzy of washing all of his clothes and linens! I was definitely freaking out a bit last night, thinking about how it’s too early and none of his things are ready for him yet.

If you have any of the following symptoms of preterm labor, please consult your physician!

An increase in vaginal discharge
A change in the type of discharge — if it becomes watery, mucus-like, or bloody (even if it’s pink or just tinged with blood)
Any vaginal bleeding or spotting
Abdominal pain, menstrual-like cramping, or more than four contractions in one hour (even if they don’t hurt)
An increase in pressure in the pelvic area (a feeling that your baby is pushing down)
Low back pain, especially if you didn’t previously have back pain

You may read more about preterm labor here.