we shall now refer to it as 'James Dean' because it has proven time and time again, that it is a rebel without a cause.
Yesterday when I got home from picking Addison up from daycare I started noticing contractions that were strong enough and regular enough that I started timing them. Between 4pm and when Derek got home just after 5, the contractions were coming about every 4 minutes. I quit timing them while we were getting Addison ready for bed and watching our show but around 7:30 they were coming close together and really strong so we went back to timing again. Over the next hour they came almost like clockwork every 3 minutes and got a bit stronger. Around 8:45 we made the call to go in to the hospital and when Derek's parents arrive at 9:15 we were out the door. They hooked me up to the monitors when we got there an confirmed that I was contracting about every 3 minutes and at their peak, for about an hour or so before they finally gave me some drugs, they were lasting a minute each time. Thankfully, Cohen was rolling around and kicking up a storm, proving that just like his sister, he is immune to what is going on in the outside world. Around midnight I was given a shot [same one I got three weeks ago] to stop the contractions. It slowed them down a little, they decreased in intensity and were coming every 4 minutes but still keeping up a pattern. The doctor had me take a double dose of my Nifedipine [the drug I'm taking at home every four hours] and admitted me for the night. They moved us to a private room [THANK GOD] and left us alone to 'sleep'. Between me having contractions and having to pee every 30 minutes because of the gallon and a half of water I had to drink and Derek being forced to sleep on a squeaky, uncomfortable couch I don't think either one of us got more than an hour's rest. The medicine did kick in and by about 3:30 the contractions had died down. At 4:30 the nurse came in and asked if we would rather be discharged and go home or be moved back to a shared room because they were out of beds and had women coming in at 6am for inductions/c-sections. We opted to get out of there and come home to our own bed [which never felt so heavenly]. Now, I'm stuck in bed - literally not allowed to get up except to pee and make some food for lunch. I will go in to see Dr. H tomorrow and see what our plan is from here on out. I'm having a really hard time wrapping my head around spending four weeks IN THIS BED. In the house was bad enough, but it allowed some freedom... but in bed. All day. Every day. Alone. Ugh... Not my favorite idea.
That being said - I will happily do it because the fear of having this baby eight weeks early is enough to make me do just about anything. They have all these terrifying statistics on the bathroom door (which I spent a lot of time looking at last night) about what can happen when babies are born before full term. I can't remember all of them but the list included: increased risk of SIDS, behavioral problems in childhood, lung development problems, the brain only being 2/3 of it's full size, etc. Basically, it's a list of all the things you never want your baby to deal with. So please understand that while I'm complaining on here and whining - I DO realize this is what needs to happen and my top priority is to make sure this baby stays put as long as possible. I'm just not a fan of the process....
It's not that I'm surprised by preterm labor - I dealt with it with Addison and went though much of the same drama with her that we are experiencing this time around. Late night hospital visits, bed rest, miserable medications, contractions... the list goes on. It's that I'm so incredibly irritated by it this time. Last time it was just plain scary [and please don't get me wrong, it's terrifying this time around too... especially because it's far worse this time] but now it's also incredibly inconvenient. I'm supposed to be working - I left work a full two months before I had anticipated. I walked in one morning fully planning on teaching and walked out twenty minutes later worried that I was in labor. Thankfully it was only contractions and not active labor. That was it - no goodbye to my kids or coworkers, no organizing things for my sub, nada. Just out the door and done in under thirty minutes. I'm also supposed to be being a mommy. It is heartbreaking to not get to pick up my baby girl when she's upset or tired and just carry her, to not be able to play with her after daycare or take her to the park. She wants to play outside in her car everyday when I bring her home and I feel terrible that we can't because I have to go and sit in the recliner and let her watch TV... because THAT is the only thing I can do with my daughter anymore. Then, as icing on the cake last night, we had to call Derek's parents at 9pm to drive out from Zillah so we could let Addison sleep while we went to the hospital and they were stuck at our house until 5:15 this morning. None of us got any sleep, but Derek and both his parents had to go to work on just a few hours rest and that makes me feel terrible too.
So... I'm here, in bed with Facebook and Pinterest to keep me company and a season's worth of Vampire Diaries on the DVR... I'm sure you'll be hearing from me on here a lot now... my computer is the only person I have to talk to during the day. =[
I realize it's asking a lot James Dean, but please behave yourself a bit longer.
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