The day Ava tried to come early

I woke up Friday morning and stood out of bed only to develop a sharp pain in the lower right side of my abdomen. It didn't feel like contractions, but more like I had ran a marathon without stretching. I was able to get Austin and I ready for the morning and get him down to school. It was a tough morning since it was the first day where we had legitimate snow on the car and on the ground so I had a tough time since I wasn't prepared for that. Austin of course wasn't in the mood for much so I strapped him in and got him off to school. I got to work and never yet have I felt that I was waddling with this pregnancy but sure enough I was horribly waddling with the sharp pain. I had a meeting that morning to sit through and I was able to do so because sitting was actually relieving. But the moment I stood up after the meeting to walk upstairs, I knew I had to call my OB. Thank goodness they are right across the street and could fit me in right away. The Dr. thought I had appendicitis! He wanted to send me right back to the hospital for direct admission. As I walked out to my car, I just kept thinking that maybe I was being dramatic or maybe I wasn't handling pain very well. Needless to say, I finally called my mom to tell her what was going on and my parents came to the hospital in Jason's absence. Of course this all happens when he is on army leave. They hooked me up to the monitor and they ran some testing and I wasn't contracting at this point. But sure enough, not long after I had been there, the contractions began. So not only were we worried about appendicitis but now we were worried that I was in preterm labor. Not good!

So the testing began and everything was coming back practically normal. I kept getting good news after the other with the exception of starting Magnesium, what an evil drug. They gave me a 6 gram bolus which immediately gave me the feeling like I was run over by a semi-truck and was burning from the inside out. They kept me on a dose of 2.5 gram for the rest of the day so I don't remember much since it was just an awful feeling. Over my hospital stay my contractions started to slow down and after about 48 hours on the magnesium they were finally able to take me off and see how I would do. I got down to about one contraction every 10-12 hours and I wasn't having any cervical changes (which really defines preterm labor) so more good news. I also had a fetal fibronectin test that was negative which predicts going into labor over the next two weeks.

I really don't want to post this picture but I have to remember it's more of a documentation memory not  a beauty contest....

I was a basket case the whole time with the exception of day of discharge. I was missing Jason and of course missing Austin. My parents brought Austin by once a day but it was hard for him to stay in a hospital room and be entertained. It was short visits, probably for the better because I so badly wanted to get out of that bed and play with him. I had great visitors but it was hard to ask everyone to come since I was so tired and on that awful magnesium that lying in bed at times was tough enough.

I had a great ultrasound which showed that Ava was measuring right on time at 27 weeks and 5 days, and 2 lbs 6 oz. Even though that doesn't sound like a lot, I was thrilled to hear her weight because babies are born at that weight often enough to do just fine. The neonatal team even stopped by my room reassuring me that she would be well taken care of if she were to show up and that some babies are sent home at just 3 lbs!

I definitely feel God has been pointing me to patience right now as anyone that knows me, knows that I would be at work in two seconds if someone gave me the go ahead. But even I know that that is not the safest option for Ava. Thankfully I am reminded by many people that this time will fly by and it will be such short period of time in my life to be away from my career.

I have an ultrasound scheduled for this Thursday to check my cervical length to make sure it isn't shortening in preparation for delivery just yet. Praying for the continued good news that Ava gets to stay in the oven and cook that much longer!