Wednesday, February 3, 2010

The better late than never update

We had a little bit of a scare this past Sunday which sent us to Labor & Delivery. I was contracting pretty crazy. It was validating to watch it on the monitor and know that what I was feeling was really a contraction. At the same point, I was hoping they would stop once I got there...but they didn't, in fact they seemed to pick up in frequency.

They said I have an irritable uterus caused by all the fertility treatments and the D&C. I'm wishing now that I waited a few more months after my D&C to do this transfer. And then the bleeding from the SCH was just the cherry on the cake.

They said that contractions are contractions - the only difference between Braxton Hicks and Labor Contractions is BH are usually less painful and don't cause cervical dialation where Labor Contractions are more painful because they are causing cervical dialation. I asked about turbutaline, and they said that is only given once your cervix starts to soften and/or dialate. Because it has negative side effects too, they don't give it until there is a real need, which I apparently don't have. I have zero signs of dialation even remotely starting.

They said this was likely how it was going to be for me and that they would only get worse as the babies grew. They said I'm probably more sensitive to it - that if you lined up 10 pregnant women on the monitor, that they would all be having contractions but most wouldn't feel them all. I'm apparently feeling them all.

If this continues, I may be given the steroid shot at 24 weeks to mature the girls' lungs. There are also medications they can administer if my cervix does begin to dilate, God forbid. At this point, all I can do is hope and pray that the contractions stay light, that my water doesn't break, and that everyone stays put for AT LEAST five more weeks.

Quite a scare and I'm still freaked out, but I understand a bit more now and feel a bit more comfortable. I see my OB tomorrow and we'll see what is in store for us.

1 comment:

  1. Jennifer, so sorry that you are dealing with this. If it makes you feel any better, the exact same thing happened to one of my good friends (although she was carrying a singleton). She experienced very painful BH contractions and landed in L&D on the monitor more than once, but her cervix never changed with the contractions, even though they were very painful. She was given the steroid shots etc as well just in case. However...and this is the funny part...she didn't actually go into labor until 2 days after her due date! I will hope for a similar happy ending for you and your sweet little babies.

    Take care,

    Kira (kirabelle from June 09 on FF)

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