On Monday, August 15th, I had a routine ultrasound with my perinatologist, Dr. Christmas. I was 22 weeks and 1 day pregnant. Everything was fine with the baby, but the tech thought that my cervix looked like it might be open. Dr. Christmas agreed and they decided to do a pelvic ultrasound to take a look. It was instantly apparent that my cervix had funneled about 9/10 of the way. Dr. Christmas informed us that I was going to go to the hospital immediately and be put on a monitor to see if I was having contractions. The doctor’s office is in a wing of the hospital, so we just walked over to Labor and Delivery. Needless to say, we were terrified.
We arrived at Labor and Delivery and were shown to a very nice labor room. The nurses had me change into a super stylish hospital gown and I lay down on the ridiculously uncomfortable bed. It became much more uncomfortable when they put me in the Trendelenburg position (a position in which the head is approximately one foot below the knees). They propped pillows under me so that I was tilted to one side, stuck all kinds of tubes and needles on and in me, and hooked me up to the monitor. I was indeed having contractions, so Dr. Christmas prescribed a drug called Indocin (Indomethacin) - a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug. This relaxed my uterus and stopped the contractions. I also tested positive for GBS (Group B Streptococcus – not the one that causes strep throat), which may have caused an infection in my uterus, which may have caused the contractions, which may have caused the cervical incompetence. The contractions stopped after about an hour.
The nurses told me that I probably wouldn’t be going home until the baby was born and that I might be flat on my back until then. I was too anxious about the baby to give that much thought. It was a pretty rough night. I spent most of it staring at the monitor to see if I was having contractions. I could barely move and my back hurt from being in Trendelenburg. My mental state wavered between terror and exhaustion. Little did we know that this was just the beginning.
We arrived at Labor and Delivery and were shown to a very nice labor room. The nurses had me change into a super stylish hospital gown and I lay down on the ridiculously uncomfortable bed. It became much more uncomfortable when they put me in the Trendelenburg position (a position in which the head is approximately one foot below the knees). They propped pillows under me so that I was tilted to one side, stuck all kinds of tubes and needles on and in me, and hooked me up to the monitor. I was indeed having contractions, so Dr. Christmas prescribed a drug called Indocin (Indomethacin) - a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug. This relaxed my uterus and stopped the contractions. I also tested positive for GBS (Group B Streptococcus – not the one that causes strep throat), which may have caused an infection in my uterus, which may have caused the contractions, which may have caused the cervical incompetence. The contractions stopped after about an hour.
The nurses told me that I probably wouldn’t be going home until the baby was born and that I might be flat on my back until then. I was too anxious about the baby to give that much thought. It was a pretty rough night. I spent most of it staring at the monitor to see if I was having contractions. I could barely move and my back hurt from being in Trendelenburg. My mental state wavered between terror and exhaustion. Little did we know that this was just the beginning.
1 comment:
All of us at Or Atid are excited beyond words about Aerin's progress. We've chosen a date for her Bat Mitzvah and we're thinking about what colleges/or universities she might attend--although maybe we should leave that up to her father and mother!
Mazal Tov!
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