One rough night
Yesterday was a very, very stressful day. Remember when I mentioned that Bill was in the running for The Biggest Jerk of a Husband award? We'll he's officially won that title & the stress from it sent me into preterm labor. I got to hang out in labor & delivery for a few hours late in the evening.

I found out about more of Bill's shenanigans around 3 or 4pm, which was the straw that broke the camels back for me. I'll probably go into more detail about all of this either later in the week or sometime next week - but for now - let's just say it's stressful. I kept my cool, no crying, no yelling or screaming - maybe some hyperventilating, but that was it. I went on with my day taking Logan to the grocery store about an hour later.

While at the store, I had been getting the crazy braxton hicks contractions again. I always get them at the store (or when I'm doing anything physical) so I didn't think too much of it. It was when we got home that I started to worry. I noticed them becoming more frequent & more intense. I kept a close eye on them for a couple more hours while drinking water & laying on my left side. By the time Logan was in bed, I started recording the count. It was more than 6 contractions in an hour. I called my OB.

The on-call nurse had me try again, on my left side drinking 10-12 ounces of water every 10 minutes. If I continued to get more than 6 contractions in an hour, then I had to call back & the nurse would let labor & delivery know I was on my way. Here's what went down in that hour:

9:30 - 12 ounces of water
9:37 - contraction
9:40 - 12 ounces of water
9:42 - contraction
9:43 - small, light kick
9:44 - larger, stronger kicks (thank God)
9:48 - contraction
9:50 - 12 ounces of water
9:53 - small light kicks
9:55 - hiccups, more kicks
9:57 - contraction
9:59 - contraction
10:00 - 12 ounces of water
10:02 - contraction
10:05 - very small movement
10:10 - contraction

At this point, I called the on-call nurse because I had 7 contraction in 30 minutes. She called labor & delivery to let them know I was coming, we woke Logan up & took him over to photographer friends house & were on our way. I wanted to drive myself since Bill was the whole reason for this situation, but he wouldn't let me (I still think he should have stayed home with Logan, especially since he was telling me I was fine & that I didn't need to go - dumb ass).

I got to the ER (the after hours entrance) & they wheeled me into labor & delivery. I got hooked up to all of the monitors to see how Carter was doing. The good news was that his heart rate was strong & that he was doing OK. That was my biggest concern, because I know that so many contractions can be stressful on the baby. But, I was contracting too often & too intense. I was indeed in preterm labor. And of course, I'm sobbing pretty much the whole time we're there.

The on call Doctor came in & ordered a test (kind of like a papsmear, but I forget what it was called) & then checked my cervix. It was still closed & high - so that was good. While we waited for the test results, he ordered a shot of terbutaline & started an IV. If the terbutaline didn't slow things down, they were going to add magnesium to the solution.

A side effect to the shot is increased heart rate & jitters. We'll for me, it was more like lower body convulsions. I was shaking just like when I was in labor with Logan. It started to make me sick & thankfully, I had some emergency zofran in the car (I wasn't about to pay the hospital for the name brand version). We hung out in the hospital for a while, watching something about buffalo in Yellowstone park while we waited for the contractions to slow down. The nurses would come in & out & check on the contractions. One of them said that I had a pretty irritable uterus.

Even though I was still getting some strong contractions, the test came back OK, meaning that I wasn't going to have the baby anytime too soon. The medication had slowed things down to a controllable level & then they gave me Ambien for the ride home so I could get some much needed rest that night.

First, let me say that I never take any sleeping pills other than occasionally Unisom because the thought of it just weirds me out. Well, my opinion hasn't changed since the Ambien experience last night. It was just strange & I'm sure I could have pretty much passed out on the floor while walking through the door. But, boy! Did I get a good night's sleep!

So, this morning I feel like I've been run over by a truck. I'm so tired & I don't have anything in me. Logan missed school this morning & we've just been hanging out out home. I have a client coming over to train, but I'm not canceling because she's the house cleaner too. I desperately need her help right now. Especially since I'm taking care of Logan all day & Bill is coming home late because of disc golf leagues (yeah, another notch towards Biggest Jerk of a Husband OF THE YEAR).