Two hospital visits in 1 week!

First off, I'm ok, baby is ok.

Now on to my stories. So my weekely PNA appointment was on Tuesday. I saw NP wonderful again, and apparently I've lost 3 more pounds!!! (For a total of 5 lbs in two weeks.) I swear I was trying to eat more since my last PNA appointment, but apparently, I haven't been. (I even went out to dinner with DH for our anniversary, ate my whole plate, had two rolls and cheesecake for dessert!) So of course, Nurse Wonderful wasn't too happy with me. She checked me out (felt the baby, checked his heartbeat and checked my fundal height) and all was normal. But she wanted me to have an ultrasound just to make sure. Unfortunately, the ultrasound technician was completely booked or busy or something that day at our clinic, so she sent me to the KP hospital for a Fetal Non-stress test and fluid evaluation instead. She said she just wanted to make sure my fluid levels were adequate and that wasn't the reason for my weight loss (which I knew it wasn't, the weight loss is due to all the stress I'd been having at work). So off to the hospital I went, with DH in tow. We got there and another nurse did the fluid level check. Everything was normal. Then she hooked me up to the fetal monitor. Pretty trippy to hear baby's heartbeat for that length of time. I had no contractions during the stress test (booooo, not going into labor just yet huh?), and baby passed the test - they look for at least two heart rate accelarations in the 20 minutes and he had four. So everything was all good. They sent me home with instructions to try to eat more snacks in between meals -- like shakes or jamba juice. I'm trying, I promise!! If only I could have this weight loss problem after pregnancy!!

Ok, flash forward to last night. I meet up with a girlfriend for dinner and (sorry this is kinda tmi) I noticed that my panty liner (which I've started wearing for the past three weeks to collect the excess discharge) is soaked through. I take it off, but dont replace it b/c I'm at dinner and dont have an extra on hand. No biggie I think b/c excess discharge is nothing new to me at this stage in the pregnancy. However, after dinner, as we're browsing through a store with another friend, I start to feel these sharp pains in my bladder and cramp like pains in my lower uterus (imagine severe menstrual cramps accompanied with someone stomping on your bladder). I was in pain for a good 5 minutes or so and it was uncomfortable. I had had these same type of pains Tuesday night, but figured it was baby stomping on my bladder. I tried to see if there was anything about this in my WTE book, but nothing. So when it happened again last night, I thought, hey, maybe I better call the advice nurse to see if its anything to be concerned about. So, I head out of the store, and stop off at the public restroom, to try to empty my bladder to see if it will help. At that time, I again notice that I have a lot of wetness on my panty since dinner.

So on the drive home from dinner (the pain is gone at this point), I call the advice nurse. I ask her about the pain, but in the process of telling my story, I also tell her about the soaked panty liner and wet undies. She tells me she's not very concerned about the pain, but its the pantyliner and wet undies that's got her more concerned. She says it could be leaking amniotic fluid. At this point, I'm doubtful, so I'm trying to barter with her, saying I think I'll just head home, change my underwear, put on a new pantyliner and see if those get wet too. Of course, though, she tells me that it would be her advice to just come in to L&D to make sure it's not amniotic fluid. This being my first baby and all, I feel guilty if I dont comply and say, ok, I'm turning around and coming in.

So I get to the hospital, and at this point my cell phone is dead. (Note to self, carry phone charger in car at all times!) I had called DH to tell him the situation (He's off island right now), but also told him, dont worry, I doubt its anything and that I'll call him as soon as I know what's up. And my lovely friend whom I was with at the store is worried about me, so she tries to check on me and my cell phone is now dead. So of course, she calls our close circle of friends to see if anyone knows what's up, and they dont....so they get in touch with DH. DH tells them I'm at the hospital and of course, that starts the worry chain. (My friends are super cute and caring!!!) I'm at the hospital for about 1 hour while the docs and nurses check me out. I'm hooked up to the monitors again, and lo and behold, I have a couple contractions!! I'm thinking, uh-oh, is this it? I dont have anything packed, none of the baby's clothes are washed, and DH isn't even here! But of course, the contractions stop and they are super inconsistent (totally normal for this stage in my pregnancy). I'm not dilated at all, and the fluid...it's just discharge (like I thought!!). So the hospital says I'm not in labor and my water isn't broken yet, but I did the right thing by coming in just to be safe. They also say that most first time moms come in to the hospital on at least 2-3 occassions for false alarms. I guess we can chalk me up to having false alarm #1 (even though I really didn't want to go, the advice nurse guilted me into it). I let DH and my friends know that I'm getting discharged and I head home. BTW: the reason for the pain? Apparently baby is banging his head on my uterus and cervix, which is causing me all this pain. According to doc, he's very active and this is normal. When I feel the shooting pain sensation, my instructions are to try to move around a bit (walking etc) to try to get him to shift. It should go away in a several minutes, but if it keeps staying consistent, then I should call the hospital again.

So today, everything is great. Baby is fine. I'm trying to eat more. And since I'm here, and able to blog (while at work!) you can see that for today, my work load is decreased. =) (Let's hope it stays this way!)

Tomorrow I have a baby shower with these same lovely friends who were all so worried about me. (Even the hospital staff commented on how lucky I must be to have such a great support group...and you know what? I am lucky!!). Looking forward to it!

(And another note -- which will be another post someday -- ITS THE RETURN OF THE MIL!!!! SHE'S COMING ON SATURDAY AND STAYING INDEFINITELY TILL THE BABY IS BORN!! ACK!!!!)