29 weeks... and a bump in the road

Well, so far this week has been about learning to not take things for granted. Chet and I were just recently talking about how easy this pregnancy has been and what a blessing that has been. Things have really been moving along very smoothly. I haven't had any major physical complaints, have been able to keep working and exercising and baby seems to be growing well. Sounds great, right?

Over the weekend, we headed over to Leavenworth for a nice weekend away. I probably got a little dehydrated from exercising and then packing in the morning but everything seemed fine. On the car ride over, I noted some non-painful contractions. It didn't seem like a big deal so we watched it and I drank water. By that evening, I was having 4-6 an hour. After talking to the midwife, it seemed like likely it was related to dehydration and traveling so we discussed drinking a ton of water, relaxing and seeing if things improved. It seemed to get better and I was able to sleep. 

The rest of the weekend, there were periods where it would be worse and better. I was starting to get a little concerned as they seemed more regular and my abdomen just felt consistently tight while walking around. I was drinking about 4 liters a day of water so I knew I wasn't dehydrated too. On the way home, they were happening every 5-8 minutes consistently. I tried a bath, drinking water, laying down... but they kept happening. In my mind, I was oscillating between fear of preterm labor and going in for something ridiculous and minor. Eventually, as they were persistent, the midwife said to come in to the hospital to get it checked out.

Well, not quite what I wanted to be doing on my days off but I'm thankful it worked out that way. We headed in and ruled out an infection as the cause (UTI, etc). But, because the fetal fibronectin test came back positive (negative equals less than 1 percent chance of delivering in the next 2 weeks, positive equals about a 16-17 percent chance of delivering in the next 2 weeks if there are symptoms). So, we did a cervical ultrasound which showed some shortening and softening. With those two strikes putting me at slightly higher risk for preterm labor, it was felt best to try a shot of terbutaline (which is quite painful and didn't really help much), do some IV fluids (1 liter? I could have easily drank that much but it made sense to try) and observe overnight with the OB seeing me in the morning. 

Luckily, after seeing the OB in the morning and watching, things didn't seem to be getting worse and I wasn't dilated so we got to go home to rest and follow up in a couple days. No work this week though while we are sorting this out and seeing if it is anything to be concerned about. It seems a bit better today after doing a lot of nothing so I am hopeful this will just be annoying contractions that cause me to slow down a bit and not preterm labor that results in our little girl coming early.

There have been some blessings in this and some learning... First, I can't see the midwives for care until this is cleared up but the OB I am going to see the gynecologist I saw a year or two ago a few times and loved. She is a great mix of practical, evidence based, intelligent and very personable. Second, I had more days off this week already so it wasn't as big of a burden on my co workers. Third, we once again are humbled by God's strength when we are weak. As Chet wisely reminded me when I was fearful about our baby girl coming early, she belongs to God and is in His hands. She is a gift for us, not ours to hold tightly to. This is definitely an opportunity to trust that He has all of us in His hands... and He knows our future whatever may come. I can't fill my mind of worries about having a premie, grieve the loss of the rest of this pregnancy, etc... instead I need to trust and give this up to God. The likelihood is that it will be fine and the rest of the pregnancy will be okay (maybe with me just taking it easier and moving a bit slower) but this has definitely brought us back to reality and that each day is a gift. We'll see what tomorrow brings at my follow up appointment.