Wow, I've been a bad blogger lately! So, for an overview of the last 3 weeks...
June 16th we made our first trip to Labor & Delivery. I was at work that day and felt some increased pelvic pressure. That is one of my preterm labor warning signs, so I decided to call the doctor. The on-call OB told me to head to the hospital and get checked out. Oliver and Lucy's heart rates looked great but I was having some uterine irritability (mini-contractions). They gave me a dose of Vistaril (helps to relax the uterus) and had me drink 32 ounces of water and lay on my left side. 5 hours later, the irritability was unchanged. The on-call doctor checked my cervix to determine if I was in preterm labor. Good news...cervix remained long, hard and closed. I was discharged with instructions to take it easy, which I've been doing for the past 6 months, and drink plenty 0f water. I saw my OB the next week and she was very upset that the on-call doctor manually checked my cervix. She says there are several less invasive tests that could have been performed to determine if I was in preterm labor. Manually checking my cervix could have actually caused preterm labor. Now I know...HANDS OFF!
July 1st, we made our second trip to L&D! I hope this doesn't become habit! I had fallen asleep on the couch Wednesday night and when I stood up to go to bed, I felt this gush of fluid. A little TMI, but, I checked my underwear and there was a good amount of clear fluid. It definitely wasn't urine so I called my OB's nurse on her cell phone. No more on-call doctors for me! She called my OB and then called me back with instructions to go to the hospital. On the way to L&D I was trying to stay calm, but I couldn't help but think our babies may be coming soon. Being 23 weeks, I knew I'd be transferred to St. Luke's on the Plaza and our babies would begin a very long fight for their lives. When we arrived, Oliver and Lucy's heart rates looked good and they were both moving around. The monitor was showing the same uterine irritability as 2 weeks ago. My nurse performed a test to check for leaking amniotic fluid. 10 minutes later the test came back negative! Thank goodness!! Our babies were safe! I had given them a urine sample and turns out I may have a mild UTI. I was given a dose of Amoxicillin and sent home. Since then, I've had a few more episodes of "leaking fluid". I guess it's just increased discharge. Gross!!! Sometimes pregnancy is NOT attractive! I had a follow-up ultrasound Thursday that showed 2 very healthy babies with a good amount of amniotic fluid in each of their sacs. Also, on ultrasound, my cervix remains long and closed.
As for me, I have been experiencing pretty severe back and rib pain. I treated myself to a prenatal massage a few weeks ago but, unfortunately, the pain continued during and afterward. I'm comfortable only when laying down, almost flat, on my back. Also, a 4"x4" area in my right upper abdomen is always numb or tingling. I'm not complaining, I just want to document all my pregnancy symptoms to look back on and share with our little miracles. On a positive note, I can feel Oliver and Lucy stretching, kicking and hiccuping almost constantly. This is the BEST feeling and I hope to never forget it.
June 16th we made our first trip to Labor & Delivery. I was at work that day and felt some increased pelvic pressure. That is one of my preterm labor warning signs, so I decided to call the doctor. The on-call OB told me to head to the hospital and get checked out. Oliver and Lucy's heart rates looked great but I was having some uterine irritability (mini-contractions). They gave me a dose of Vistaril (helps to relax the uterus) and had me drink 32 ounces of water and lay on my left side. 5 hours later, the irritability was unchanged. The on-call doctor checked my cervix to determine if I was in preterm labor. Good news...cervix remained long, hard and closed. I was discharged with instructions to take it easy, which I've been doing for the past 6 months, and drink plenty 0f water. I saw my OB the next week and she was very upset that the on-call doctor manually checked my cervix. She says there are several less invasive tests that could have been performed to determine if I was in preterm labor. Manually checking my cervix could have actually caused preterm labor. Now I know...HANDS OFF!
July 1st, we made our second trip to L&D! I hope this doesn't become habit! I had fallen asleep on the couch Wednesday night and when I stood up to go to bed, I felt this gush of fluid. A little TMI, but, I checked my underwear and there was a good amount of clear fluid. It definitely wasn't urine so I called my OB's nurse on her cell phone. No more on-call doctors for me! She called my OB and then called me back with instructions to go to the hospital. On the way to L&D I was trying to stay calm, but I couldn't help but think our babies may be coming soon. Being 23 weeks, I knew I'd be transferred to St. Luke's on the Plaza and our babies would begin a very long fight for their lives. When we arrived, Oliver and Lucy's heart rates looked good and they were both moving around. The monitor was showing the same uterine irritability as 2 weeks ago. My nurse performed a test to check for leaking amniotic fluid. 10 minutes later the test came back negative! Thank goodness!! Our babies were safe! I had given them a urine sample and turns out I may have a mild UTI. I was given a dose of Amoxicillin and sent home. Since then, I've had a few more episodes of "leaking fluid". I guess it's just increased discharge. Gross!!! Sometimes pregnancy is NOT attractive! I had a follow-up ultrasound Thursday that showed 2 very healthy babies with a good amount of amniotic fluid in each of their sacs. Also, on ultrasound, my cervix remains long and closed.
As for me, I have been experiencing pretty severe back and rib pain. I treated myself to a prenatal massage a few weeks ago but, unfortunately, the pain continued during and afterward. I'm comfortable only when laying down, almost flat, on my back. Also, a 4"x4" area in my right upper abdomen is always numb or tingling. I'm not complaining, I just want to document all my pregnancy symptoms to look back on and share with our little miracles. On a positive note, I can feel Oliver and Lucy stretching, kicking and hiccuping almost constantly. This is the BEST feeling and I hope to never forget it.
great to hear! I'd been checking on here hoping things were going well. I heard a lot of mixed things about the cervix checks. I had a lot of everything...internal ultrasounds to check the exact length and for funneling, manual checks, and ones with the god awful speculum. It's so scary, isn't it? I know they tried not to do it too often. And totally know you aren't complaining! Even if you want to though, go for it! It was always a pet peeve of mine when people would say things like "well you were the one who really tried to get pregnant!" Like people who go thru treatments aren't allowed to whine a little! puhhlease! Grrrr! ;-)
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