My First Pregnancy

My pregnancy with Cameron was relatively uneventful (up until about 27 weeks).  The first tri went by very slowly in my opinion (I think most first time moms would say the same).  We had our first ultrasound at 9 weeks I didn’t have any morning sickness, or physical issues, just a bit tired.  I guess I was lucky.

By the second tri, I had begun to do research and talk to friends about what kind of birth I wanted.  Until that point, I didn’t even know there was a choice.  We decided we were going for as natural birth as possible.  During this time I was also starting to feel more pregnant.  I would have told you then and will tell you now, I do not enjoy pregnancy.  I know it sounds horrible but I have never felt more uncomfortable in my life.  Don’t get me wrong, there are things I do like about it (like feeling the baby kick, or the plain fact that I am growing a baby) but overall, I just don’t like it. 

The day we found out the sex of our baby was great!  I had thought I was going to have a girl (I secretly wanted a boy) but that’s not how things turned out.  Andy and I had talked and agreed we didn’t really care either way as long as the baby was healthy.  Right after that ultrasound (18 weeks), we took a trip to the store and bought him his first outfit.  Soon after, we chose his name, Cameron Grant.

Working while pregnant was very hard for me…I didn’t work at the most inviting place.  When I told my boss (at 6 weeks) that I was pregnant, her exact response was, “Oh.”, followed by a LONG silence on the phone (can you say AWKWARD?).  In the medical profession, there are certain things that you can and cannot do during pregnancy.  For me, I wasn’t able to take x-rays, clean kitty litter boxes, mask cats down (anesthesia), etc which was a large part of my job.  My work place did not take this lightly.  We were a smaller clinic and I was 1 of 3 techs so that changed the work load for everyone and I was constantly made aware of it by my coworkers.  I went home crying a lot.

Anyway, around the 20 week mark I had really started to show and started feeling his little kicks.  It was very exciting.  I was feeling good.  At 27 weeks, things started to change, a turn for the worse.

Summer as going very well and I was enjoying being pregnant (for the most part).  I was lucky and was able to take vacation from work 1 week after the 4^th of July so I had a nice relaxing two weeks off from work.  The first day following vacation, I returned to work (veterinary technician).   I had noticed around 10 am that morning that my lower back had to started to ache a bit.  I figured this was the beginning of aching, tired portion of 3^rd tri and didn’t think too much about it.  I took some Tylenol and went on about my day.  Around 11:30am, I noticed that the Tylenol wasn’t helping much so I tried sitting/standing different positions to no avail.  I called my OB at this point to see if they had any suggestions or if there was anything else that I could take.  While talking to the receptionist, she put me on hold and came back a few minutes later and said that my doctor recommended that I come in and get checked to make sure I wasn’t dehydrated.  So, I went on my lunch break (her office is right across the street from where I worked) thinking it would be a quick appointment.  I showed up, they put a fetal monitor on me and we came to find out that I was having contractions every 2-3 minutes.  Next thing I know, I’m hooked up to an IV and having my cervix checked with luckily no change.  Andy came from work and we sat at the hospital for about 8 hours.  During that 8 hour hospital visit (which was my first visit EVER to a hospital), they gave me two bags of fluids in about an hours time (man did I have to pee!) and terbutaline to stop the contractions.  The terb. wasn’t too horrible, it did make my heart race a bit (it could have also been the surreal situation that we were in at the time, we were both slightly nervous about what was happening).  This is one of those situations in which my personality really shows through…I can honestly say, even though we were sitting in the hospital, I wasn’t too worried.  I didn’t really know at this point that this was just the beginning.  I just thought it was a fluke.

I was sent home from the hospital and told to take it easy until I see my OB.  When I saw my OB later that week, she put me on modified bed rest and told me to stay off of my feet and to watch for contractions of 6 or more in an hour.  If they came back, I was to return to the hospital. 

Saturday rolled around and I was watching TV when I noticed I was having contractions again (now I knew what they felt like) and was having about 8 in the hour that I had counted.  So, back to the hospital we went.  This visit, started like the last, the fluids, the terbualine but the contractions wouldn’t stop. I was kept over night since the Terb. wasn’t working and they had to give me mag sulfate. Magnesium Sulfate is a nasty drug.  It is very effective in stopping contractions but it makes you feel horrible. To quote drugs.com: “The adverse effects of parenterally (IV) administered magnesium usually are the result of magnesium intoxication. These include flushing, sweating, hypotension, depressed reflexes, flaccid paralysis, hypothermia, circulatory collapse, cardiac and central nervous system depression proceeding to respiratory paralysis.”  Great stuff, huh? I felt hot and very sick to my stomach.  I had to be catheterized (urinary) because I wasn’t allowed to walk.   The next day was worse because it left me with a horrible headache.  The urinary catheter was the WORST part of my whole pregnancy experience.  I’ve never felt so much pain or so dehumanized. 

That evening while in the hospital, my OB was on call and she came in to talk to me.  I totally lost it that point and ended up balling on her shoulders while she told me everything was going to be ok.  They checked me and my cervix was thinned to 1.8cm when it should have been around 3.8-4cm.  The next morning I was sent home on strict bed rest and I was to have a cervical U/S on Tuesday.  Tuesday came and I had my cervix checked.  I was 1 cm dilated.  I hadn’t had any contractions since Saturday so, strict bedrest was the plan.

In the same evening that I had the cervical ultrasound, I got up to make hamburger helper (figuring it was just a matter of throwing some hamburger in a pan). I made dinner and Andy came home.  After dinner, I got up to go to the bathroom and I felt a warm small trickle.  I honestly thought I just tinkled a little bit.  I decided to go to the bathroom to empty my apparently over flowing bladder and I got a shower.  While in the shower, I felt that same small trickle again.  I got out, called for Andy and sat on the toilet.  As soon as he came in, I trickled again and he heard it.  Then we knew. My water had broken.

In a flurry, we jumped in the car and were on our way to the hospital.  It didn’t really sink in until I walked up to the desk in the ER and had to tell the lady at the desk what happened.  Next thing I know, I was in a wheel chair going up to L&D. 

Again, like the previous trips, I was put on an IV, fetal monitor and given Mag Sulfate (here we go).  The next day, I spoke with my OB.  The hospital that we were currently at had two issues.  The first issue was that their NICU was completely full and second, it was only a level II NICU.  We decided that it was best that I get moved to Riverside in case I delivered sooner rather than later so that the baby wouldn’t have to be moved after he was born.  I was transferred to Riverside via ambulance.  It is very strange to feel so helpless.

From then on, I sat in the hospital for 5 days on every antibiotic known to man trying to keep the baby cooking.  Sitting in the hospital was horrible.  I wasn’t allowed to get out of bed, I was being checked every hour, and it was very lonely.  Andy came to visit and stayed with me as much as possible, but hospitals are very lonely places.  I was also poked a million times (I had 9 different IVs because my veins are so bad, plus the heparin shots in my legs, the steroid shots for Cam’s lungs, etc).  Our goal was to make it to at least 32 weeks.