My 1st Trip to L&D

Last week I spent about an hour and a half of my afternoon at the hospital in labor and delivery. Late Wednesday night I was having a lot of contractions. It got to the point where I had 6 in one hour. I've read in many books and online that any more than 4 and you should call the doctor. We debated on calling her that night and decided to wait til the morning.

I called on Thursday and spoke with the nurse. I just wanted to be sure that nothing was wrong since the books and internet say a variety of different things. She said that if they became persistent and regular then to call back. It also came up in conversation that I was going on a long drive that weekend.

About an hour later she called back. She said she talked to the doctor and that Doc wanted me to have my cervix checked, just in case, since I would be traveling so far. But, since Doc was on vacation, I had to drive to the hospital and get checked there.

I drive there, get checked in, and change into my gown. I get strapped with a heartbeat monitor for the baby. They also hook me up to a thing that tracked my contractions. They wanted to make sure that the baby was reacting positively to the contractions.

Contractions + increased fetal heartbeat = good
Contractions + decreased fatal heartbeat or no change = bad

The good news was that the baby was reacting positively to the contractions. My cervix was completely closed. Bad news was that I was having too many contractions that I couldn't even feel, along with the ones that were noticeable. She gave me a big glass of water and told me to drink it all. Once I had it down the contractions lessened to where the nurse was happy. I was discharged and told to drink more water/juice, take it easy, not to be on my feet for long periods of time, and no long trips after the one I was planning.

Since then I've been drinking a ton of water and juice. And making many trips to the bathroom. My contractions have decreased. I still get them throughout the day, especially when I've been active or on my feet a lot. Taking a rest and drinking something have helped though.

Maybe this is a sign that I'm trying to do too much, which I know I'm guilty of. I'm just not one to sit around. I like to be up and doing things. I feel like I have so much to do before the baby comes that I can't sit still. On the other hand I have a feeling that if I keep going how I'm going then the baby will be here sooner than planned. I just have to find a good place in between.