Nothing To See Here

Well, the contractions continue to drive me a wee bit batty.

These contractions are the type that take my breath away and make me start to do the pant-pant-pant breathing that I was taught in a birthing class four years ago.  They come very regularly, with increasing frequency and pain, for nearly an hour. . . sometimes even an hour.  Then, juuuuuust as I am about to call L&D and head in, they stop. 

Then, within an hour or two at the most, they start again.  Lather, rinse, and repeat.

They happen when I am laying down.  They wake me up from a dead sleep.  They happen when I am sitting.  They happen when I am driving.  They happen when I am eating. The only thing that seems to stop them, or at least really lessen the discomfort, is taking a warm bath.  Of course, the fact that they stop/slow down and that a bath takes them away indicates that they are simply false labor.

But I am gonna be honest.  They don't feel "false" and they are driving me nutty.  I remember this with Emma, too, and she didn't end up coming before the scheduled c-section, so now I am wondering if after all of the platelet issues, might we actually go to 10-11-12?  That is only two weeks from today.  If we do go that far, I will have enough short term disability from the c-section and then two weeks of saved vacation to make it to Christmas, which would be WONDERFUL.  My company gives us the week of Christmas off, so I wouldn't have to be back until after the New Year. 

I know, I know.  All of the wondering and speculating will get me nowhere and fast.  He will come when he is ready, or at 39 weeks, on my scheduled c-section date. 

But. . . these contractions, they get inside my head and start messing with me good.  I went to the grocery store today and they were coming so fast and furious that I left half my list unshopped for, checked out quickly, and went home.  I unloaded the groceries, keeping an eye on the clock, as they came 3 minutes apart for forty five minutes.  And then?  The dastardly buggers stopped.  They are back now, as I type this, but not so fast and furious (maybe ten minutes apart) and I don't think they mean business.

Oh, well.  At least I got the ice cream before I abandoned the shopping trip.

Progress

I had my 37 week appointment today.  My platelets were the highest they have been in several weeks at 99k.  No rhyme or reason to this, other than with thrombocytopenia of pregnancy, they tend to bounce in the 90 - 100k range.  This trend increases the likelihood that I will be awake for the c-section, so I am glad for it.

I had been having some pretty painful (having to breathe through them) contractions throughout the day, so it was good timing to have an appointment.  The NP checked me and I am 3 cm dilated!  Now, a woman can walk around for weeks this dilated, so it doesn't necessarily mean anything.  However, while she was examining me, I had three more contractions (about five minutes apart).  She told me to go home, monitor the situation, and if the contraction pattern continues, she wants me back in L&D for monitoring tonight. 

So. . . it could be baby time pretty soon here!

Or, the contractions, which have slowed down in the past hour, could continue to slow down and nothing could come of it.  But in any case, the countdown is on!

Full. Term

Well, we made it.  I am 37 weeks pregnant as of today. Any day past this is gravy.

I am very pleased that my body (platelets) have held out this long.

People, I am HUGE.

None of my maternity shirts fit.  Shirts that fit at term with Will and Emma will just not go the distance this time.  I managed to escape without stretch marks with Will and Emma.  My belly looks as if it has been clawed by a wild bear this time 'round.

It is all worth it, of course.  But I am relieved to be in the definitive home stretch.  I am eager to meet this little guy and get the "two to three" transition underway.

Another week would be ideal, but I am also ready.  Car seat is in the car, nursery is set up, my parents are packed and on notice to head up at my call. 

Of course, there is also the quite ironic possibility that we will make it til my scheduled c-section date of 10-11-12.  I have a feeling Andrew is gonna keep us on our toes from the beginning, so we'll see.

Wrap It Up

I had my 36th week OB appointment yesterday.  Andrew sounds great!  His heartrate was a lovely 140 and he kicked soundly at the doppler several times while we laughed at him.  I am measuring a full two weeks ahead (big boy!!) and he is definitely an active little guy.

Dr. S feels confident that my platelets will hang out in the 80,000 and above range and told me we could go to weekly blood draws.  If I am still pregnant the week of my scheduled c-section, he will want to do them every other day.  He didn't seem that concerned about the platelet issue, but he was concerned about the 2+ protein in my urine and some other pre-eclampsia symptoms.  I have developed these issues in my previous pregnancies, so this isn't unexpected. 

My blood pressure, which has been running in the 110/60 range was up slightly to 130/70.  I also have italian bread loaves where my feet used to be and my fingers have started swelling.  I have been having mild headaches and my nanny noticed on Friday that my face seemed a bit swollen.  Dr. S agreed.

He asked me if I was in a place with work where I could stop with relatively little stress.  I said that I could definitely be done with my work in the field and then take a few days to wrap things up from an administrative standpoint.  He said that it would be best if I could do the administrative work from bed.  He made it clear that he wasn't putting me on bedrest, per se, but that if my BP and swelling isn't down by the next time he sees me, he likely will.  They moved next week's appointment to this Friday, so I feel as if the clock is ticking on getting work things wrapped up and done.

While it will definitely be nice to be off of work for a little bit before the baby comes, it definitely makes me nervous to be taking so much time off of work.  I won't be taking a long maternity leave (eight weeks of STD from the c-section, plus the two weeks of vacation I have saved), but if I go to October 11, this adds another three weeks on to that.  And remember that I am not eligible for FMLA because I will not have been with my company for a year until October 24.  I don't think anyone is giving my job away while I am gone, but it is still a little scary to be taking "unprotected" leave.

But I also don't really feel as if I have much of a choice at this point.  I am definitely not feeling great, and I have noticed this feeling getting much worse these past few days.  I am hoping that resting up a bit more will help and, in the scheme of life, three weeks of work here and there really isn't that big of a deal.  The most important thing right now is getting this baby baked and here safely.

Chugging Along

My platelet count continues to hover in the acceptable range.  I go in every Monday and Thursday for my draw and then keep a watchful eye on my phone until Dr. S's nurse calls to give me the results.  Other than that, things just keep moving along.

I turned 36 weeks pregnant yesterday.  Holy moly, that seems amazing to me.  I feel like it was just yesterday that I was noticing my pregnancy symptoms and saying to M, "I think I might be pregnant."

And now, here we are, practically on the brink of number three!

Yesterday, I was hauling my whale-like self up the stairs, out of breath and physically exhausted by the time I reached the top.  I thought to myself, "It's almost over."

And then I realized. . . No, it isn't.

I will have three kids and an entirely new level of exhaustion in but a matter of weeks.

I guess I have logically known this baby is coming for quite some time, but it was that moment yesterday that it really seemed to hit home.

I am a bit (more than a bit) scared, if the truth be told.  But I was super-duper scared when I was pregnant with Emma, and that turned out okay (actually, more than okay, I'd like to think).  It IS more work having more than one, so I am assuming my workload will increase again, but I just have to hope it is doable.  I see mothers doing it every single day, so I know it is possible.

And it doesn't really matter, because. . . it won't be long now.

Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

My platelets did not go back up, they basically stayed the same at 90,000.  This was enough to make my OB comfortable with the fact that this is a true diagnosis of pregnancy thrombocytopenia, a completely harmless condition related to pregancy which will resolve in the days after delivery.  Women with this condition rarely have counts that go below 80,000, which means that I will not be at any risk for complications during the c-section.

I will still have to likely be put under a general, but he did tell me that some of the anesthesiologists will agree to do a spinal if the patient has a long record of platelet counts that never show that drop beneath 80,000.  He said he would talk with the providers and see, but no guarantees.

I was discharged on normal activity with the expectation that I will have bloodwork every Monday and Thursday until Andrew arrives.  If the counts ever get below 70,000, I will be readmitted and we will proceed in the direction of a c-section, especially if it is after 36 weeks.

It was weird to leave the hospital.  The last few days have been a rollercoaster.  From the crazy call from the nurse telling me to scoot to the hospital, to the low count on Saturday, to the contractions yesterday. . . . we went from discussing the logistics of a pre-mature baby and coordinating my post-op recovery to . . . Back to our regularly scheduled program as if it all never happened.  My hormones probably didn't help, either.

You know that feeling you have when you leave the hospital with your newborn?  How nothing really matters outside of the realm of feeding, diapering, calming, and bonding with your new baby?  Time and date doesn't matter, it all kind of stops?  I felt that way when we were leaving the hospital, only there was no baby, and no real reason for the suspension of reality.  It took me a bit of time to acclimate.

I still feel tired (exhaustion is a side effect of the thrombocytopenia), but my swelling is completely gone and my feet look normal.  I am continuing to have semi-regular contractions, but they build to a crescendo and stop just as I am about to call triage.

The kids were so happy to see me and I to see them.  It was good to get home, even better to climb into my own comfortable bed.  I will enjoy tonight, with no midnight blood draws, followed by 4 AM vitals.  But I will miss having no choice but to lounge around and have someone bring me food on a regular schedule!

And no later than one month from tomorrow, platelet count regardless, Andrew will be joining us!

Good Thing

I did not get discharged as I was hoping.  My OB was not at the hospital today and the rounding OB was clearly did not want to be the one to discharge me.  Honestly, I don't think they really know what to do with me, and the concern is that with my platelets kind of being all over the place, then they could just as easily go down as up. 

After the OB left the room, more excitement started.  I have been having BH contractions for quite some time so I wasn't too alarmed when I was told that I had contractions on the monitors these past couple of days.

Today, however, my nurse came in after about 45 minutes on the monitors and informed me that my contractions were now only 5 minutes apart. I was noticing them, too, at least more than I had been in previous monitorings.  She alerted the on-call doctor who ordered another hour of monitoring and no more food just in case things got started and it was baby time.  I had a couple of super strong, painful contractions that I actually had to breathe through, and then things seemed to calm down.  I was still having contractions, but they were spacing out and losing intensity.

Whew! 

So, I guess it was a good thing I was here, because had I been home, I likely would have gone to L&D.  At least I was here already.

So, next steps will be determined by tomorrow's platelet count.  I will see my OB when he rounds in the morning.  My loose understanding is that, at this point, if my count stays the same or goes up, I will get to go home.  If it goes down, I will have to stay here. 

And so we wait.