Which Room Will We Choose?

Each of the rooms in the Labor & Delivery unit at the hospital are a bit different - different size, layout, lighting, etc. We know this because we have now checked into 3 of 15 of the rooms.... We figure you can't be prepared enough for the momentous occasion, and so maybe we'll get to choose our "favorite" room when we actually go in to deliver the baby.)

In all seriousness, we had another 'scare' on Monday and spent 2 nights in the hospital this week. I'll start with the good news and then do my best to explain what happened without releasing too much information (TMI) for those still of child-bearing age.

THE GOOD NEWS:
- Baby is very healthy (and completely oblivious to the craziness of this pregnancy). Another impromptu ultrasound showed our little one is measuring perfectly between 30-31 weeks gestation, in the 50% for its age, and has plumped up to about 3lb 3oz in weight.
- There has still been no cervical change, even with all the contractions Mom has sustained.
- Baby is already situated "head-down" and there is no indication that a natural delivery will not be possible.
- Mom has now received steroid shots to boost Baby's lung maturity in case a premature delivery occurs. The 2-round dose of shots is delivered to ensure Baby's lungs are capable of producing surfactant essential to normal breathing upon birth. The hope is to avoid the need for a ventilator, which can result in further complications for preemies.
- Mom and Dad are back home and the crisis was averted.

THE DETAILS (discontinue reading if you aren't interested in TMI):
Monday was another normal day of bedrest for me until mid-afternoon. I started having some contractions around lunchtime, about every 8 minutes or so. This didn't meet my criteria to call the doctor, but were a bit early in the day for me to start dealing with them. We know now that it is "normal" for me to have contractions each evening, even up to 7 an hour. Annoying, because they literally take my breath away, but apparently my lucky baseline. I was debating calling the doctor around 4PM since they hadn't yet subsided, when they decided to take an immediate step-change to every 2-3 minutes accompanied by some pain. I called my doctor and was instructed to take my next dose of medication early and call back if things hadn't changed.
At this point, I called Mike and asked him to come home. I had a bad feeling about things and wanted to make sure he was here in case we needed to make another trip to L&D. Things hadn't changed by the time he got home and our fate was cemented when I made a trip to the bathroom and was greeted by significant bleeding. This is a very scary experience and I don't wish it on anyone!
After administering many drugs, our doctor was able to stop my contractions and determine that we were not in serious risk of delivery. Blood can be a sign of very serious complications leading to immediate delivery, so thankfully my situation was different. The bleeding does not appear to be the result of placenta previa or abruption, but instead, may be stemming from a small cervical polyp that slowly bleeds with irritation and/or contractions. We stayed in the hospital for 2 days for monitoring and no further bleeding occurred.

THE BOTTOM LINE:
- Our doctors are phenomenol. They have approached each of our unfortunate events with seriousness and are taking precautions that certainly give us comfort in a situation where we feel very little control!
- We understand that bleeding is something to be very wary of, no matter what its source. Bleeding can lead to an increase in contractions, and contractions can cause bleeding. We, and our doctors, will continue to be on the lookout for any signs of trouble in the coming weeks.
- We, and the doctors, feel very lucky that I have been able to sustain so many contractions without witnessing any cervical change!

Here's to another (at least) 5.5 weeks of being pregnant:)

Alysia