That's MY Birthday!

It was after midnight, and I couldn't fall asleep. Nothing new really. Trying to get comfortable these days is an accomplishment in itself and staying comfortable is even more difficult. After an hour of laying in the darkness, I sat up and felt a pain go down my left side. I decided I should probably lay back down. The pain continued, despite how I positioned myself.

Ever since my fainting episode on Tuesday, I have felt nauseated and light-headed. It was hard for me to eat or drink anything yesterday, so I attributed the side pains to dehydration. The pains then turned into contractions. I began timing them and finally decided it was time to wake Nathan up once the contractions were consistently 2 minutes apart for 45 minutes.

I rolled over and managed to say, "We need to go the hospital. Right now. I've been having contractions for over an hour, and they are 2 minutes apart."

Nathan jumped out of bed and said, "Well, I'm awake!"

We woke up Cheryl and Rex (my in-laws), and Cheryl sat with me to time contractions. She agreed we should go to the hospital in order to make sure everything was okay. We decided to go to the local Othello hospital, even though they are not equipped to handle premature infants. We were desperately hoping the contractions were something the community hospital could stop.

After a prayer, we were on our way. Unfortunately, it had snowed and the roads were extremely icy. Luckily for us, the hospital is only four houses down the street. As I took note of the road conditions, I realized any trip to the Tri-Cities would be hazardous (in case this was real labor and we needed to deliver). Nathan was great at calming me down and reminded me it was my birthday. He said the babies had to have their own birthday, so they couldn't be born today. I tried to smile, but I was pretty worried.

With Eliza, I went into preterm labor at 32 weeks, 34 weeks, and ultimately delivered her one day shy of 36 weeks. I only felt intense contractions like I did this morning on the day she was born; my preterm labor pains were an entirely different story. I tried not to focus on these facts, though.

I was admitted, and sure enough-- I was having contractions. The nurse, a really nice guy named Doug, said they looked minor (even though they didn't feel that way), but were definitely back to back. He said my body was "warming up" for delivery. He also let me know the contractions shouldn't be as uncomfortable as they obviously were. Some tests were done, and I have another bladder infection. Joy! The infection was causing additional uterine irritability, which made the contractions pretty painful.

Because the contractions were consistent for over an hour and showed no signs of slowing, I was given terbutaline to stop labor. [Warning. This is about to get slightly graphic: I was also 2 cm dilated, and the doctor could feel the suture lines on Baby A's head when he performed the exam. He said Baby A is definitely getting ready to come and that he could stay that low down until delivery. No wonder I have a hard time walking!] Within an hour of receiving the antibiotics via IV and a terbutaline shot, I felt immensely better. The contractions were gone, and the pain had subsided.

By 8 AM, I was back home. After being awake for 24 hours straight, I managed to sleep a few hours and have spent the remainder of my day in a weird fog brought on by a lack of sleep and a mixture of drugs. My birthday plans include sleeping as much as possible tonight. I can tell 25 is going to be an exciting age :)

I also have to say how incredibly grateful I am for modern medicine. I am so happy our babies can continue to grow strong. Even though I would have loved having birthday buddies, I would prefer they have their own birthday in a couple of weeks.