Week 34: A false alarm.
This has been an eventful week for us! We had our 34 week scan on Friday, which showed the baby to be right on track growth wise, and at a healthy 4.5 lbs. already. And, much to Mark and I’s surprise, found that Little Doodle is a Little Doodlette! It would appear as though we were wrong thinking the baby was a boy. So Little Doodle is now our little girl, our daughter, Madeline. We had waited for so long to find out it took the rest of the day to sink in that we finally knew! Mark and I headed to Mothercare and bought our daughter a pretty sun dress.
Then came Saturday, and what a day it was. I was relaxing on the couch, on my first true day of Maternity Leave, and having just finished my course for the year the day before. Suddenly, I felt a tightening in my uterus accompanied by menstrual-like cramping. Ten seconds later, it was gone.
Twenty minutes later, however, it happened again… this time I mentally noted what time it was. I have had Braxton-Hicks contractions for weeks now, but these were not the same. Braxton-Hicks are not supposed to have pain or discomfort, whereas these did. Much like the first, this one passed as well.
It wasn’t until the fifth one, each spaced 15-20 minutes apart, that I called the labor ward at the hospital.
I spoke with a midwife over the phone, went through my symptoms and brief medical history, and she thought it best that I come in for observation. The next phone call I made was to Mark, who promptly left work to come get me.
“You need to get yourself a clean shirt and a few other bits in case we are there overnight.” he said to me on the phone.
“Wait, what?”
I knew this probably wasn’t the real deal: I was 34 weeks and the pain, while uncomfortable, was not by any means unbearable. In addition, it was localized in my lower uterus, whereas from what I’ve read true labor pains will be over the entire uterus. Never the less, the entire uterus was becoming rock solid every 20 minutes or so, with that vague menstrual feeling that was radiating down into my thighs.
I didn’t grab a shirt because, lets face it, I couldn’t tell my ass from a hole in the ground I was so nervous. Not nervous about labor per se, moreso that we just weren’t ready yet. We were banking on getting the full 40 weeks, having time to prepare for the arrival… and we hadn’t even packed a hospital bag yet.
Mark took me to the labor ward where I was hooked up to a fetal monitor. One doodah for the heart beat, and a second one for contractions. I stayed that way for almost an hour, was examined by the doctor and told nothing was happening with my cervix. After a bit more observation, a few tests, and a look through my medical notes the doctor had a discussion with Mark and I about what we need to watch for in the coming hours / days, and when we should call them again. Four hours after entering the hospital, we left again.
I barely slept Saturday night. Into Sunday I continued to have the odd contraction here and there, about one an hour if that. By midday I felt like a walking zombie as I had had hardly any sleep and my nerves were frayed, wondering if this was a sign things could be imminent. What I feared the most was, should the birth happen now, Maddie would need to spend time in the neonatal unit, and the thought broke my heart. I didn’t want to miss out on all the skin to skin contact, or the feedings, or simply being able to take our daughter home with us.
Thankfully, Maddie decided to stay in for longer, but it was really a wake up call for us to finish the last bits before the birth. For one thing, we need to get a hospital bag together, as I cannot imagine having to think that much whilst going through the real deal. Secondly, we are moving in the next two weeks and would really prefer if our daughter allows us to get that sorted before making her entrance!
Exciting times ahead.
