So, at my doctors appointment this week my doctor seemed really concerned about my contractions I have been having. I was not concerned though - totally normal right? She told me that I can't lift my kids "unless it is an emergency". I wanted to laugh as I watched Bridger and Angeli terrorize the tiny office room we sat in as she said that to me. I told her that was probably not really going to happen but that I promised to try and take it easier. She said she doesn't want the baby to come early, and I honestly thought that sounded pretty good! :O) No, I really don't want the baby coming as early as Angeli or earlier. Babies that come too early are really not the happiest to be out of the womb, that is where they belong and thrive for good reasons. BUT, I would be thrilled with 2 weeks early so the baby doesn't come during Stew's finals as Benjy's due date indicates. I informed my friends after my appointment that I was not really possible to take it easy so I wasn't even going to stress about it.
Today as I carried out this Laissez-faire attitude and was totally ignoring my doctor I received a call from the nurse who is overseeing my pregnancy for Medicaid. She calls me every four weeks to check on me. The first thing she asked was if I was having contractions. I answered yes and wondered what she'd have to say about it. I took hope that she'd say it was okay as long as they were stopping when I rested. But no such answer came. She started stressing out too. I had to try and convince her it was ok. Isn't it normal to have contractions!!! I mean "it was the same way with Angeli", but that didn't work so well because Angeli came early. As she questioned me and we talked ways to take it easy she was even more stressed... I have two toddlers, a husband in med school, and I am running my own business -lifting clay not too lite. It was a loosing battle. She finally said "Well, I hope you don't end up on my list of women on bedrest or being admitted to the hospital". A little dramatic right? She made me promise to be "kind to myself". Which I did, but wondered if she could make my kids promise to be nice to me too - honestly they are the ones with the power. In the end I was annoyed because I figured I had to listen after all. If the message is being hammered into me twice in two days I guess it's for a reason. Honestly though, what kind of taking it easy is really possible!?!?
Stewart wouldn't let me do hardly anything yesterday after I told him about my appointment. My doctor said I cant go to the store by myself anymore, vacuum, lift my children or anything heavy, and so on. Humph!
So ladies, what is normal contractions or braxton hicks? How often or what advice did your doctors ever give you? I think they might be overreacting because Angeli came early and are assuming my contractions are worse then they are. Is this stressing really necessary?
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4 comments:
I'm probably not the best person to leave a comment on here. I've had 3 pregnancies, and each one, I've had to be on bedrest for several weeks for preterm contractions. So, I know you're not going to want to hear this from one more person....but, if you've already had one preterm birth and a history of lots of contractions, taking it easy is really the best thing to do. I can't imagine trying to do that with a husband in med school and two toddlers wreaking havoc in your home. Almost impossible, I'm sure, but with some prayer and creativity, maybe you can at least cut back on some things and lower your standards of cleanliness for a while. White male babies do the worst, as far as preemies go. I was told this again and again when I was on hospitalized bedrest after going into labor with my twins at 32 weeks (fortunately, they were able to stop my labor even though I was 4 cm dilated for 4 weeks). For your baby's sake, just find little ways you can cut back...like cutting out exercising for the time being or whatever. Even if you can't do everything, maybe you can find some things you can cut out. I highly recommend seeing if they'll do the fetal fibrenectin test on you every 2 weeks, if they're not already. It can tell with very high accuracy if you're likely to go into labor the 2 weeks following the test. I'm thinking of you and praying that everything will go well. I know it SUCKS to have a pregnancy that has any problems, but definitely worth a few weeks/months of inconvenience to save your baby some time in the NICU.
I know I already wrote a novel of "more information than you could possibly want to hear", but I thought of a few more things. From the research I did on the fetal fibrenectin test, here's what I found out. If it comes out negative, your chances of going into labor in the next two weeks are less than 1 percent. If it comes out positive, then the average woman will go into labor on average 25 days later. That was almost exactly what it was for me. Once it came out positive for me, my doc gave me steroid shots (to help speed the babies' lungs) and put me on STRICT bedrest. I went into labor 24 days later. My OB at the time told me that until the fetal fibrenectin test came out positive, I only had to take it easy but not do full bedrest. I know this is probably way too much info, but I just wanted to let you know. Praying your kids take it easy for a while.
Okay, I tried not to freak out about this yesterday...but since you're admitting some fear, let me just say first off that I am quite worried about you. I've been worrying since yesterday about the best way to help. It's really unfortunate that I'm leaving for two weeks, but after that, I want you to tell me 2-3 times a weeks that work to drop the kids off, or have me come and sit with them. I'm serious. You need to make sure that baby cooks for long enough. Think of it this way--while it might inconvenience everyone (you, Stewart, your friends, etc) to be asked to help now, it will be far more inconvenient if you have to be hospitalized for weeks and weeks. So, let the bouse go to crap, scale way back on home business work, no more excercise for you...I think you're just going to have to do it. It's going to suck, but it will be worth it in the end. Also--maybe you could start laying down with Bridger to nap while Angi's down. I know he's not alway going for it but if you could get a set lay down time every day, I think that would help. In short, yes. I think you need to worry about this. The baby coming two weeks early, no big deal. Baby coming eight weeks early--very big deal. I love ya, and mean only the best for you. You know how bossy I am! :)
I have no clue. How bad are your contractions? I'd bet on your friends and doctors though. Good luck with toddlers, I know. Just don't stress about cleaning and the small stuff. Keep your kids in the yard instead of going out. You've heard it before, but nothing's more important than your baby and your health. Things could be bad for you too chica! Take care!!! Only 10 weeks.
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