Pre-term Labor

I got up on Thursday morning with a certain outfit in mind: The grey button-up dress I finally grew into that I received when I was pregnant with Quackers. Instead of my red shoes, I was going to go for black. It was supposed to be cold, so I wanted my black opaque tights. I felt great - I felt gorgeous (two outstanding feelings for pregnant women). Jake gave me a ride to school because Lucy, our Stratus, was at the body shop being fixed at someone ran into her in-front of her house on MLK Night. (Hit and run mind you...out-of pocket to get her fixed...). I got to my classroom and put my stuff down in time to meet Mr. McGlory, the ninth grade principal leaving his office right across the hall. He and I have the same scanning station. All of our students go through a bag check and metal detector upon arriving at school. I gave him a hard time about walking so fast because I couldn't quite keep up. He laughed and slowed down a bit. I went and moved around the bowls of keys and jewelry that the students take off and out of pockets before going through the detector. When it was time to head off to my first hour I went into the bathroom. It was there that I noticed some pinkish-brown discharge. I ran around and asked some women teacher friends about it. They all said that was the first thing that happened to them before going into labor. I went up to my class, and asked the teacher across the hall if she could sit with my kiddos for a second while I called my doctor. She did, but I was just shy of my office opening, so the answering service suggested I call back around 8:15. I waited until my class ended at 8:20. I called and got my favorite nurse who suggested I go into labor and delivery at my hospital just to make sure I wasn't leaking any amniotic fluid. I gathered all of my things again and went down to the office where I asked for some covers for my class and a ride to the hospital, HA! Dr. Miller, another assistant principal, was sending a fax and gladly agreed to take me. She got on her walkie-talkie and told Ms. Sanders, the principal, that she was taking me to the hospital. In less than a minute there were 5 or 6 ladies standing around us. I was totally calm about the whole thing. I wasn't expecting much more than an hour-long examination where they told me everything was cool and to take it easy.

When I got to the hospital, the examined my cervix first. They said it was very angry. As soon as they finished looking at it, it started gushing blood. They couldn't even feel how many centimeters I was because they didn't want to irritate it anymore. They sent me straight to ultrasound to make sure my placenta was in a good spot. If it would have been right over my cervix, they wouldn't have checked me again because it would have been too dangerous. Jake was there in no time. We both got to see Cora on the ultrasound. She is BEAUTIFUL! She has great chubby cheeks, sweet little lips, and the cutest nose! The placenta was in a good spot, so we were good. When I got back to my room, they hooked me up to the machines, and I was contracting every 2 minutes. They also checked my cervix and I was dilated to 2.5 centimeters. I shouldn't have been contracting, nor should I have been dilated at that point. They kept me in outpatient until 4 PM, when I was finally admitted to the hospital. They didn't know if they were going to transfer me to a hospital with a NICU. Outpatient had faster access to an ambulance door, hence the longer stay there.

I was monitored overnight. My contractions calmed down until around 5 AM. They were giving me some serious drugs to stop them. I spent the night on morphine because it relaxes smooth muscles, exactly what the uterus is. I was examined at 6:00 and they said I'd dilated to 3.5-4. The decision was made for me to be transferred to a different hospital. That was really hard because my doctor doesn't have privileges at mine, so I had to leave her behind. I took my first ambulance ride. It was bumpy. I got to my new hospital and they just kept giving me drugs, and my contractions just kept coming. The good news is that I haven't dilated more. My contractions haven't stopped. They moved me today out of labor and delivery to a different room where I have a bit more freedom and don't have to be monitored all the time. My contractions were a constant 4-5 minutes earlier today. They stopped giving me any medication to stop them. I'm sort of glad for that. The risks to Cora being born now are drastically reduced. They gave me a steroid shot on the first day that helped to develop her lungs, so she's great in that department, I'm just now feeling the contractions more often because there aren't any drugs to slow them down. Cora is still breech. I'm hoping she'll flip around because if she does decide to come it will be a c-section. At the ultrasound yesterday she weighed 4.2 pounds. She's pretty big already. After being in the hospital for what will be four days tomorrow, I'm getting really anxious for her to be here, but we have no idea when she'll make her grand entrance. My doctor said I could be here anywhere from a few days to a few weeks! It all depends on how my contractions affect my dilation. If I get to go home, I'll be on bed rest until she's here. Phew, that's a lot!

I just want to talk about Jake for a second...I HAVE THE BEST HUSBAND! He has been so great. He is so kind and sweet. He slept in a recliner next to me last night! And will do so again tonight. I cut his hair, and I kept thinking about how I needed to give him one last weekend. Today I said something about it, and gave him all the numbers he would need to tell the stylist, and he said, "But it wouldn't be the same." I am just blessed beyond measure. I know that God is looking out for our little family, and I will never EVER be able to express my thanks to Him for the amazing life that I have.

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