by Jessica on December 16, 2009
Warning: This is going to be ridiculously long. If you have mega staying power, go forth and read.
They’re back. The Braxton Hicks contractions from Hades. Not that they were ever really gone, but let’s just say they’re back in full force with a venegeance. I started to notice them getting more frequently yesterday. After a couple of hours with the contractions getting increasingly closer together (we’re talking every five minutes or so), I took a Brethine/ Terbutaline pill. I haven’t taken one at all since my doctor told me it was unnecessary since my cervix wasn’t changing, but I thought having so many warranted this particular course of action. It seemed to work to slow them down, so I just chugged a bunch of water and hoped they’d stop. Later that night, I ended up taking another pill because they came back.
Tuesday morning, I wasn’t having any, but by the afternoon, they were every few minutes and lasting for a long time, probably three to five minutes each. The prolonged nature of these contractions is what had me freaked out. I obviously took another pill and put a call into my doctor’s office to get their advice. This was around 4:00. The receptionist took a message for the nurse on call, saying “everyone is really busy right now.” Uhm, okay. She didn’t even ask what was wrong, which I thought was insane. By the time 5:30 rolled around, I was royally pissed off that I had not gotten a return phone call and borderline hysterically crying because I was just so worried about these contractions. I called the on-call doctor and ended up talking to a nurse that didn’t seem overly bright and failed to reassure me at all.
Around 6, I got a phone call from the doctor’s office. Apparently, the skank receptionist didn’t give the nurse the message until they were about to close, and I could tell this nurse was NOT happy about that. She asked who took the message, and luckily I remembered. I told her she didn’t even ask what was wrong with me, and the nurse said this message should have been given to her immediately. I felt somewhat vindicated.
She told me that I should definitely take the Brethine in this situation, which I figured. I was worried about Knox being affected by all these frequent, long contractions and she said he would be fine as long as it wasn’t hours and hours of back to back contractions. I felt like it was hours and hours of contractions, so I still worry about that. She did say if my cervix is not being affected by the contractions, then they’re probably not strong enough to affect him, either. She said I may need to come in and get checked more often (apparently I am moving into the doctor’s office since I am there weekly as it is) because we don’t want to miss it if these do start to change the cervix. I have to call the office in the morning and talk to them again about this. I think I am going to insist on being monitored in the afternoon, when the contractions seem to be the most frequent and strong.
As of right now, 10:30 pm, I am STILL having contractions, even on the Brethine. Not as many, but still every 15 minutes or so. This is just so abnormal. AND I accidentally took the pills five hours apart instead of six. Please, self, let’s not do another thing to freak me out.
I feel like the biggest psycho calling the doctor every other day, but it’s not like I am making this up or just seeking attention. I am having contractions pretty consistently, here. Every time they have monitored me (twice) they haven’t picked up but one or two contractions total. This makes me feel like they think I’m some hypochondriac or making it up. I almost hate to say my name when they ask who is calling, I feel like saying “It’s me, the frequent flier. Just let me come in, check my cervix for the thousandth time, and send me on my way.” So frustrating.
I just want Knox to be okay. I try to tell myself that calling too much is better than not calling and having something be really wrong. What if I ignore these contractions and they turn into preterm labor? Or they start to affect the baby and I’m sitting at home trying to ignore them? I cannot let anything happen to this little guy, so if that makes me a psychotic hypochondriac pest, so be it. I’ll update tomorrow, but hopefully these contractions hit the road by then.
by Jessica on November 4, 2009
I am sick of conflicting opinions on this medicine, the contractions and my general state of being. I am being rotated through my OB practice at the moment, and I have to tell ya, not the best time to have problems when you’re seeing five different doctors. One told me to take the medicine as needed, one told me to take it every six hours regardless. Let me just say this. I don’t want to take this medicine unless it is absolutely necessary.
This is what I have gathered from the doctors: 1) Braxton-Hicks are harmless 2) Unless they are harmful. Helpful, no? Basically, if they’re not changing your cervix, you don’t need to worry about them unless you start to get a ton of them because then they could start to change your cervix.
Things I know: 1) These are Braxton-Hicks contractions 2) My cervix is showing no changes 3) The medicine makes me feel like I’m going to die/ pass out/ hyperventilate 4) I don’t like to take meds when I’m pregnant because it scares the heck out of me 5) I want to do what is best for Knox.
Therefore, I need an opinion that I can trust on what to do. So, I called my favorite doctor of all time, Dr. T. She is my gynecologist that helped me through the monitored Clomid cycles and I adore her and trust her immensely. Unfortunately, since she no longer does OB (she stopped to spend more time with her husband and family) she is not legally able to give me official advice.
So, her nurse called me back and talked to me for about 20 minutes about what was going on and what she had seen in other patients. She then called me back five minutes later and said something along these lines: “Dr. T cannot legally give you advice. But. If she hypothetically had a patient in your situation if she was still practicing OB, she would tell them, hypothetically of course, to take the medication as needed. This is a hypothetical situation.” LOL. They are awesome.
I feel good with this decision, and as of yet (knocks on wood) I have had only two BH all day today! I really think these started up so strongly because I was sick. I hope now that I am better that they’ll start to relax.
I am still having pressure around the cervix area, but I am trying not to panic (since the OB told me not to) and just to call if it changes.
by Jessica on October 26, 2009
Aside from the sickness I’ve been dealing with, this weekend also brought another stress: Braxton Hicks contractions. I’ve been getting these off an on since about 20 weeks in the normal way, a couple painless contractions a day. However. On Saturday, I experienced no less than 40-50 of them. I finally downed about three glasses of water and laid down on the couch and they stopped. I was still worried about it. Sunday brought more, though not as many. I called the doctor’s office this morning and told the nurse on call about it. She said that was way more BH’s than they want me having at this stage in the pregnancy and that I should come in.
So, luckily Trevor and I are on vacation this week and were able to go together. They did an internal ultrasound first thing to check my cervical length, which was great. They want it to be over 2.5 and mine was 3.8, which is average. Then, she checked on Knox, who was doing wonderfully. His heart rate was 161 and he has moved into a head-down position (who knows if he’ll stay that way). He was moving his little mouth a lot and had those tiny hands right in his face, as is normal for him.
I met with the doctor on call, who was AMAZING and had the best nurse ever, and she made me feel a lot better. She gave me a prescription for some meds that will stop the contractions if they come back, and I just take it as needed. She said that the contractions could have been caused by dehydration (even though I was drinking a lot- the sickness could have required more water than I was getting) or, it could just be normal for this pregnancy. I hope it’s not something that I deal with all the time! She said I should call if contractions start to hurt or if the medicine does not work in stopping them. I was supposed to go in Thursday for my regular appointment, but she rescheduled for next week so we could see if the pills were working.
She said that because of my cervical length, even though I am having preterm contractions, they are not worried about preterm labor, which is great. She did mention bedrest may be a possibility for me later in the pregnancy if the contractions become the norm- let’s hope they don’t! Chill out in there, Knox!
