Lornadoones for an Irritable Uterus

Yesterday was not the day we expected it to be. It was supposed to be a normal day of work with an entertaining free date in the evening. Instead, we had the opportunity to learn a bit about the labor & maternity ward at the hospital.

Immediately after getting out of bed, our drama began. I stood up and liquid trickled down my leg to the floor. This would have ordinarily been very weird, but the fact that it was pink/orange was just plan scary. This, accompanied by some small cramping, caused us to drive straight to the doctor's office rather than work. They confirmed that the baby was fine - heartbeat very strong - and sent us to the labor & maternity ward at the hospital for some tests.

During our long day at the hospital, we learned that the liquid was not amniotic fluid - thank God. It was also not related to any infection and was not the result of any internal issue with the baby. The cramps I felt in the morning were indeed contractions, but they were not the result of pre-term labor. They monitored me off and on all day, administered an IV to ensure that the contractions were not related to dehydration (which they were not based on earlier tests), and eventually gave me some drugs to calm down my uterus.

At the end of the day, they sent me home with instructions for bed rest for the weekend and told us that I just had an IRRITABLE UTERUS. This can happen for one day or several or even the entire pregnancy and often for an unknown cause. Who knew that a uterus could be irritable? Here's a link that describes it for those who are unfamiliar: http://www.irritable-uterus.com/default.asp

Here are some fun things we learned through our experience at the hospital:
- They serve boxed lunches at the maternity triage. Both Mike and I got one. I was excited because it was my first turkey sandwich in months (I've been avoiding lunch meats) and Mike was excited by the cookies - LORNADOONES. He ate his and mine.
- Our hospital is awesome. They were waiting for us when we arrived and were very organized.
- The nurses were wonderful, caring, and funny. They made us feel comfortable all day.
- Wheelchairs are kind of fun to ride around in.
- Our baby is VERY ACTIVE. They monitored the heartbeat nearly all day, and you could hear the kicks, punches, and somersaults through the monitor. Of all the patients in triage yesterday, my monitor was the loudest.
- Our baby has a very cute profile.... we ended the day with an ultrasound and had an opportunity to say 'Hi' to our little one for the first time in 10 weeks!
All fun aside, we hope the hospital visit does not become a recurring one.

Well, here's to reading books, watching movies, cross-stitching, and anything else I can do while sitting on my butt this weekend. To anyone who knows me, you must realize that I'm already bored.

Alysia