Four Hours at Baptist

I fretted about calling my doctor yesterday from about 10 am until about 3 pm.  I woke up for the second day in a row feeling extra tired.  The frequency and pain I felt in going to the bathroom seemed a bit more than just pregnancy related.  I felt menstrual-like cramps in my lower abdomen, but they were both subtle and inconsistent.  So, do I call the doc. on Saturday and risk having to go to the hospital or not?  Do I find someone to watch the kids and kill our afternoon just because I was uncomfortable?  Do I risk going and being told nothing is really wrong, I'm just pregnant with twins?  Do I risk not going and put my girls at risk?  Finally, after not being able to nap, I decided to call the OB and like I suspected, she sent me to Baptist Women's Labor and Delivery to be checked out.

They hooked me up in all sort of ways--two baby heart monitors, one contraction monitor, a blood pressure cuff and an iv.  It took awhile to locate the contractions on the monitor.  All the while I'm thinking, "Ok, so I am just a dork and these pains are not really contractions.  I over-reacted and worried too much."  Then the RN found them, and indeed they were 5 minutes apart.  I couldn't feel all of them, so I wasn't in much discomfort.  But, now I was concerned about what this meant.  They thought the contractions were due to dehydration.  So, they gave me half a bag of fluid.  Instead of stopping, the contractions increased to every 4 minutes.  They checked my cervix and found it closed.  So, that was a huge relief.  

Next they put more stock into my urinary complaints.  They came back with results from my urinalysis.  My doctor said it looked pretty bad and the UTI was most likely what was causing the contractions.  So, they gave me a shot of something to stop the contractions.  It didn't stop them all the way, so they gave me a second one.  That one worked.  Unfortunately, a side effect is an increased heart rate and shaking.  So, they sent me home shaky with a prescription for an antibiotic and instructions to lay low today.  So, I have been laying low.

I felt like it was a great result.  I am not a wimpy hypochondriac.  My girls are not at danger of coming early, since they discovered and are treating the infection.  There is hope that I will feel better than I have once the antibiotic clears up my UTI.  So, it was a profitable four hours!