21 Weeks

We decided to ring in the 21 week marker with a visit to the emergency room this morning.

At 4:15, I woke up with abdominal pains, back pains, and constant pressure in my lower stomach. These were the three symptoms I had when I went into preterm labor at 29 weeks with Eliza. I tried telling myself I just needed to eat, stretch, or use the restroom. After doing all three of these things, I felt no relief. Laying down did nothing to ease the pain, so I decided it was time to wake up Nathan.

We said a prayer and then immediately left; I was grateful we were only three houses down from the hospital. We were seen immediately and hooked up to fetal monitors, which would let us know if I was having any contractions. After an hour of monitoring, the doctor determined the pains were caused by uterine irritability (I had to come home and Google that term for further explanation).

My instructions were to go home and lay down for the remainder of the day. The doctor believes the discomfort is related to my body trying to keep up with the growth of the boys. Apparently, I am pretty small and the boys don't have anywhere to go but up and down. She stated that once I begin growing outward more, the irritability and the constant pressure will subside. I guess it makes sense.

I am extremely grateful everything is okay tonight. This morning, I started panicking as I envisioned the worse case scenario.  A blessing from my father-in-law and Nathan has brought me a great deal of peace, and I have the knowledge everything is going to be fine. These babies aren't going anywhere for a while!

As for the 21 week photo, I'll post one later. I don't want to remember myself looking haggard and horribly trashy in over-sized pajama pants and a t-shirt (even though it's what I wear every day). It has worked out well that we take the weekly photo after church on Sunday because I basically wear pajamas every other hour/day of the week. Don't be too jealous, though. It isn't that glamorous :)