Trip to Labor and Delivery

Two nights ago, the night after my appointment with the high risk ob, we took a trip into labor and delivery. I was having contractions 3 to 5 minutes apart that wouldn't stop even after increasing my meds like I had been told to do. I had gotten them to slow down 2 other times during the day, but this time it wasn't working.

So we headed in at 9pm without even waiting for the doctor to call back. When I got there the contractions were about 4 minutes apart and my heart was racing from all the meds I had to take. They called the doctor on call and he said that if I didn't have any contractions that showed up on the monitor after an hour to send me home. I was not comfortable with that AT ALL! It was difficult for the nurse to find my contractions since I'm so early, and the button she gave me to mark when I was having a contraction wasn't working. Just because they didn't show up didn't mean I wasn't having them! And the nurse could feel my tummy tightening up with them. Obviously, these contractions had been enough to shorten and dilate my cervix over the previous 2 days...so I wasn't leaving until they stopped and we knew I wasn't progressing more. The doctor on call then told my nurse to call my doc at home and wake him up. WHEW! He adjusted my meds and said to try to sleep and he would be in in the morning to check me out. He said that sometimes sleep can be very helpful in calming contractions even when medication can't. He also ordered the steroid shot to help mature the baby's lungs mature just in case, but I said I didn't want it until I talked to him personally about it.

He was right. By morning, they had slowed to 2 an hour, and my cervix was still the same as it had been the day before...1 cm dilated. He consulted with my high risk ob before letting me go home and they decided that I should remain on the higher dose of my meds until I go in again on Monday at least. They also agreed to wait on the steroid shots for now. They are most effective if given as close to birth as possible, so apparently they are confident that we have some time. I was released at about noon.

I hadn't had a trip to labor and delivery for over 3 weeks before this one. If I get 3 more weeks before the next one, I'll be very greatful!