Bed Rest - Day 3

So I thought I'd add the events of this week to the blog since I have nothing else to do right now :) Summer school started this week, and I got to meet and hang out with my new first graders. Well I got to hang out with them M-W. On Wednesday I had a doctors appointment, just routine, but I had some concerns I wanted to address with Taz.. the main being I am supposed to be monitoring her movements (Riley's not Taz's) and making sure I am getting 10 kicks an hour after I eat a meal. That has been all fine and dandy with the exception of the past week or so.. sometimes I get 10, sometimes I get 3, sometimes I get 8, sometimes I get 10.. it's all been very irregular, so I asked her about it and told her I was concerned because she is usually quite active. So I had my appointment and then did an ultrasound to check fluid levels which they said were beautiful, check movements, again nothing wrong there, and all was looking wonderful! Then they hooked me up to the NST which monitors the babies heart rate and if my uterus is contracting. I was hooked up for about 15 minutes, when Taz came in and said, "Girl, you're contracting! Do you feel that?" I didn't but they were apparently pretty regular and pretty close together, so she wanted me to go to Labor and Delivery to check for preterm labor. Just to be cautious. So I went, got hooked up to all sorts of machines, and then got another exam. 

This is where the REAL fun began... a resident doctor came in to perform the tests they needed on me, which included an internal exam. I was on my hospital bed, and she needed to elevate my bum to get a better look, so they put me on a turned over bed pan, put the head of my bed all the way down and proceeded. I.E. my butt at this point was much higher than my head. Now for any of you who know when you put a pregnant woman on her back, there is all of a sudden a lot of pressure and weight from the baby, when you add some incline to that, there is even more.. Needless to say, I started to pass out.. Got hot and sweaty, recognized the passy out feeling from the time I did it in college during my biology final, and asked to sit up, sat up too quickly, lost vision for a moment and then was put on my side, got oxygen and all was right in the world again. Except during that fun episode, the babies heart rate dropped. According to the next doctor, "Well duh, when you try to invert a pregnant woman and cut off her blood supply, it also cuts off the blood supply to the baby" She was funny, and very apologetic. Each of these episodes are fine by themselves apparently, but when you put the worry about movement, the contracting, and the drop in the babies heart rate all together, it spells overnight visit in cedars. :) So I spent the night and Riley was monitored all night as were my contractions. Got released the next morning still having contractions, but Riley's heart beat was perfect all night so that put me at ease. 

Can I say that I LOVE having Taz as a doctor? I know it worries her that something is going to go wrong and that it's me, so she's overly cautious with me, but I would much rather have someone who I know is going to be overly cautious than someone who is just going to write off things as random happenings and then something really be wrong! Plus it was really funny to watch the faces of the doctors at cedars when they were trying to do things, telling me they couldn't get a hold of my doctor and I was like well I'm talking to her on the phone right now, do you want to talk to her? But here I am on bed rest.... Ideally I would be out permanently of work til Riley comes, but I think I'm going to go back next Wed-Fri to finish up the week. I promised I wouldn't go if my contractions were still regular, or if I felt in anyway there was something wrong, but I think I have a good feeling about it. 

Side note. Dan was amazing through all of this. He stayed with me, brought me food, and other things I didn't even think to ask for and then spent the night on a really uncomfortable looking cot while the machines beeped all night. I felt so bad for him, and do now too as I sit on the couch watching him make breakfast... He's amazing, and I love him..... I couldn't have asked for a better husband or partner in this.... Oh, and Taz says there is a 99% chance I won't give birth in the next 2 weeks, which is wonderful because I am determined to make it to at LEAST 37. So keep your fingers crossed!