July 1, 1999 update - 23 Weeks Pregnant
Pre-Term Labor Scare
Just a quick note to let you know that we had a small scare last week with some pre-term labor. Last Wednesday (July 23) I woke up with some crampiness. I didn't think anything about it, until I was out at lunch walking around a department store, and had a stop-in-my-tracks lower abdominal cramp and intense low back pain that shot down the backs of my legs. It lasted for a couple of minutes. When I got back to work I called Dr. Cope to see if this was anything I should worry about and she said get to the hospital. I met Randy there about 3:30 that afternoon and was put on monitors, as were the babies. I had not, nor did not have anymore of the strong contractions, but I was having a tightening and loosening of the abdominal area (uterus). I had had a few of these here and there over the previous weeks and thought they were Braxton Hicks contractions. These were coming pretty regularly and were registering pretty high on the monitor. The nurses called these "uterine irritablities" rather than actual contractions. They gave me a shot of Brethine (tocolytic drug) to stop the contractions. (Bad medicine - makes you tremor). And, two hours later gave me another shot. They hooked up an IV to drip fluids, and drew blood. They confirmed that I was dehydrated, and said this could have caused the contractions. By 8:30 pm they decided they would keep me overnight to rehydrate me and to monitor the babies and the "uterine irritabilites". I was sent home the next morning on bedrest until my next doctor's appointment on July 6th. (Yes, I'm breaking my bedrest rules by being up at the computer.)
I'm to be down on one side or the other in bed or on the couch: up for bathroom breaks, to fix a light lunch, and to shower in the mornings. I have Brethine tablets here at home to control any "uterine irritabilities" I usually have some every day, but no more contractions like last Wednesday. Work has brought me work and I've been in contact by phone and fax, which has made my days go by very quickly. And, Randy's been working hard to maintain the household. So, I'm hoping for the best at the doctors on Tuesday. I'm hoping she'll at least reduce me to partial bedrest so I can get back to work part-time. On Tuesday I will be 24 weeks, so we still have a ways to go to get these babies to a safe point for delivery. Keep us in your prayers. The babies are fine. It's my mental health that's a little up in the air.