Maternity Triage - 30 weeks

So, we made our first and hopefully last visit to the maternity triage center. I was having my weekly NST and they said I was having contractions. I didn't feel anything at all, but they called to check with the doc anyway. She sent me over to triage to get checked out. Of course it was the first week that I went to the appt by myself! Since I wasn't in any pain I drove myself (it's only 2 seconds away) But, I had to call Tim and tell him to come to the hospital in the calmest possible way. I checked myself in and sat and waited. It only took Tim 15 minutes to get there and when he did I was hooked up to the fetal heart monitors and the contraction monitor. He looked frazzled and I was totally freaked out. Neither one of us has been through this before and had no idea what was going to happen. She explained the tests they were going to do. The fetal fibronectin, check my cervix and monitor me for a while.

Fetal fibronectin - they take a swab to check for the absense of this protein which indicates with a 99% accuracy that you're not in preterm labor. They use a giant cotton swab to swab the inside of your business. Kicker is, they have to leave it in there for one minute. OY! Before she did the test she asked if we'd had sex in the last 24 hours (apparently, that can cause a false positive) I answered "Um, no. Not in the last 4 weeks" and of course, Tim had a comment from behind the curtain.

Cervix check - ok, this one I know but since I was all hooked up to monitors and laying on my left side on a horrible bed with no stirrups I wasn't sure how the exam was going to happen. Let me tell you, this was very, very painful! She laid the bed back and I had to hold my leg up while she attempted to reach my cervix. In that position the cervix is far away and in a weird ass angle. Needless to say was she could not reach it and had to call another nurse in to try. So, I had to endure this fun twice! The second nurse tried harder and that hurt worse. She could barely find it which turned into a good thing since it obviously wasn't dilated at all.

Tim stayed behind the curtain for all this fun. I could just see his shoes and he could hear me in pain. Definitely not something I'm looking forward to repeating.

While we waited for the results of the test we just sat there and looked at each other. Every few minutes the alarm would sound that one baby moved and was no longer on the heart monitor. They'd come in and find him and leave. After about an hour of that, the first nurse came back in with a small needle. Terbutaline. She said "it's a small needle, but I hear it has a big sting." It's used to stop contractions altogether and if it works quickly it means no preterm labor and I get to go home. Well, mother effer! She wasn't kidding about the sting. I couldn't tell which was worse the cervix check or the shot. Ugh! Within 5 minutes I was jumpy and shaking. Fun side effects of the shot.

15 minutes later she came back with the results. Contractions stopped, fetal fibronectin negative. Woo hoo! She was sending us home! She said that she thought the doc was being overly cautious since I wasn't in any pain, wasn't bleeding or leaking fluid, but the doc said to do the tests so they have to do them. She said "we'd like to keep you pregnant for another 5 weeks." Exactly what we were thinking!

So, after 2 hours I was totally fine. Wasn't in labor and the babies weren't in any danger. Thank God!

29 weeks - Big NEWS!

I had my 29 week appointments this week. Another Biophysical Profile and an appointment with my doctor. Babies are doing very well! No growth updates until next week but I got to see Baby A put his toes in his mouth and Baby B suck his thumb. So damn cute! Lisa had to measure the foot when it was up by his mouth because it looked huge; it's 2 inches. Wowzas!

Not quite as funny as seeing Baby A grab his "boy parts" as Lisa calls them. My mom was there last week to witness that one! They sure do start early :)

My glucose tolerance test came back normal as did my iron and a few other things. The doc is very pleased with how the pregnancy is going and I have to agree :) We also talked about possible c section dates. We'll know more in a few weeks but it looks like they will be coming early. Our 2 tentative dates are July 20th or 30th!! OMG!!! The doc said that once the lungs are formed there isn't any reason for me to stay pregnant. That's good and bad news. We are NOT ready. They don't have names and the nursery is not done. It's making me very anxious! But, at least I won't have to worry those last few weeks.

And the fun begins!

Starting this week I have to go to the doctor twice a week to monitor the boys. Tuesday's to my doctors office for the Biophysical Profile(measures heart rate, movement, fluid, muscle tone and breathing) and Friday's to the hospital for the Non Stress Test. It's all very cool. Gotta love preventative medicine! I love that I don't have time to worry about them because I go so often, but I still worry every time I go that something will go wrong or be bad. Will the worry ever end?!?!

The other day, I drove myself completely insane worrying about having contractions. I wasn't even having any, but the books say that you should be paying attention to them. So, I laid on my side and kept my hand on my belly to see how many times in an hour it got hard. Problem is, when you push on the babies they push back so my belly got hard. I wasn't having any symptoms of ANYTHING, but I was driving myself out of my mind. I wanted to stab myself and get it over with! Tim isn't allowed to work until 9pm anymore. I can't be left alone that long with my own thoughts!