[TMI alert, not for the easily grossed out.]
Just a quick vent about yesterday which was a really, really bad day… As I wrote in my previous post the constant stress and exhaustion I’ve been dealing with since the summer (mostly work related but the mum life add-on has not helped) have lead to an increased risk of pre-term labour despite me otherwise having a low risk, healthy pregnancy. I’ve had a lot of contractions which have gradually gotten more painful and more frequent as the weeks have gone by. Braxton Hicks (BH) practice contractions are common and normal (although annoying and regardless of what they say, can also be painful) especially in the third trimester, but I know from experience there is a fine line between “false labour” and “early labour” symptoms. By the time I’d know for sure whether labour has started, i.e. whether the contractions have actually been strong enough to start softening and opening of the cervix, it’d be too late to do anything about it. When I went into labour with Maia, for the first 12 hours I was clueless and thought it was another false alarm. Obviously eventually there was no question about it but by then I was in established labour (for another 20-hours) and she was born (full term at 39-weeks). This week I’ve also been waking up at night to BH contractions and at peak I’ve had them every ten minutes, despite lying in bed doing nothing (BH contractions generally ease and go away when I stop doing whatever I’m doing). So I’ve tried to focus on resting as much as possible. I’ve also had throbbing ache in my lower back which is unusual and some strange pains right in the fairy (how lovely). Third trimester tends to be full of weird pains and rather gross symptoms which are totally normal, so I’ve tried to brush it all off as being business as usual. Reaching a full term pregnancy – minimum 37-weeks here in the UK – has many benefits for the baby and of course I’ve been worried about the increasing pains since I’m only 33-weeks now!
On Wednesday morning I realised that I’d lost a chunk of the mucus plug covering the cervix – like a a blob of jelly in my pants (no blood though, so it wasn’t the whole thing I reckoned). In the afternoon another one piece came out. For those who don’t know, while losing the mucus plug is not a clear sign of labour, often it’s lost when the cervix starts dilating and labour will eventually follow (within hours, days or weeks). With Maia, I lost mine about three hours before she was born, well into active labour. This is when I got really worried. What if those BH were actually doing something down there?? What if it wasn’t just another annoying false alarm but I’ve actually started dilating at 33-weeks, eek??!!
So I did the two things any woman would do:
1. Texted my mummy friends and
2. Googled.
As can be expected, the first source was reassuring telling me it’s totally normal to have bits of the plug come out and it can regenerate, don’t worry. The second source gave a range of answers from “no problem” to “imminent labour”… 😬 As a compromise I decided to call the midwife helpline the next day if I still felt uneasy. After a sleepless night I definitely felt uneasy (slash panicky). So I called the hospital and described the situation. To my surprise I was asked to come in straight away, even though I said I know what labour contractions feel like and this isn’t it. But as I’d said myself, if I’d wait until I’d know for sure, it’d be too late to do anything (for example give the baby steroids to help with undeveloped lungs, which apparently take 48h to work).
An hour later I arrived to the hospital. I had not asked my husband to join me, which in hindsight was a mistake. The following four hours were scary and stressful and I felt very alone. Side note: peeing in a cup is such an annoying task when you can’t even see the damn cup. I was seen by a midwife shortly after arrival who made a quick assessment and listened to my baby’s heart beat (strong and regular). I was not worried about the baby as he was kicking me so hard the entire bump was jumping up and down, but I was worried about whether I’d be taken seriously enough to have a doctor check me out. After a short wait, accompanied by a woman in active labour (oh dear), I was called in again, by a different midwife. This one attached two monitors around my belly, one measuring the pressure of the belly i.e. the contractions and another one measuring the baby’s heart rate. Google: “Cardiotocography (CTG) is used during pregnancy to monitor the fetal heart and contractions of the uterus“. I was asked to lie there for 45-minutes and press a button every time the baby moved. I felt quite comfortable and relaxed lying there on the cushions knowing I’d be looked after. The baby went quiet as well and I almost fell asleep. The monitor recorded 3-4 contractions (as far as I could tell, I saw the spikes and that’s about as many I had felt as well). The midwife seemed a bit dismissive though, and kept saying how the vaginal discharge changes thanks to pregnancy hormones (but hello! I don’t normally have jelly snails fall out of me! Plus I’ve seen the plug before…). I was asked to go back into the waiting room until a doctor had analysed the graph. I waited a long time… Maybe an hour and half? I totally understand I was by no means a priority as there were women there who urgently needed help, but it was not fun to sit there on my own, worrying too much to preoccupy myself with anything (should have listened to my hypnobirthing tracks or something…). I was mainly worried I wouldn’t have a doctor’s examination because so far I had not learned anything new. I knew about the contractions, obviously, and wasn’t that worried about the baby either considering that he kept kicking me but I just really wanted someone to check that the good old cervix was still tightly shut!
Finally a doctor called me in. She was lovely and really listened to me and said I’d done the right thing coming in. To my Googling she just said dryly “Google is a wonderful thing…”. She did a speculum examination to confirm the cervix was still closed (yay!!) and an ultrasound scan to measure its length: 23-25mm. This was very reassuring and she concluded that despite the pains and the regular BH contractions, the cervix had not been impacted. She also noted that my baby had turned upright, sitting at the bottom of my belly (kicking me right down there – explains the pain!) with his back arched around my right side and head on my left side, looking down. I was a bit disappointed as I’d been happy he had been head down for some weeks now, but the doctor said not to worry. It isn’t until much later in pregnancy that they would get concerned if he would not turn. My next scan is at 36-weeks and I have another midwife appointment next week, giving them opportunities to monitor us. When I left the doctor said to come back if the pain gets more intense again or contractions get more frequent. She stressed that all we had established was that I was not in labour that given moment. The situation could change at short notice and I should not think twice about heading back to the hospital if I had any cause to believe the labour was starting early.
It was 3.30pm when I left the hospital and I felt relieved, emotional, tired… and hungry! After grabbing a late lunch (random collection of comfort foods: ham and cheese toastie, orange juice, popcorn, a chocolate bar…) and took a bus home. At home Maia was still asleep and I snuck back into bed. I was still getting contractions but tried to relax by listening to my hypno audios and managed to fall asleep. I slept until 6pm when the nanny left.
What a day.
I might whinge about the discomforts of pregnancy but honestly, I’ll put up with anything to keep my baby in the belly and to make sure he’s ok.
Hopefully less eventful days ahead…
xoxoxo,
Sini