Finally . . . an answer

It has been a rough couple of days for me. I returned from the hospital yesterday and took a nap. At 3:00 pm, I awoke with contractions and excruciating pain in my lower right abdomen. I went ahead and took another dose of the medicine (1/2 the dose they gave me in the hospital), and the contractions improved but didn't stop. I took the 2nd dose 1/2 hr later, and still the contractions did not disappear. The pain in my lower abdomen gradually worsened. I called the midwives, and they told me to drink more water, wait for my next dose at 7:00 pm, and call back at 8 if the contractions did not improve. This was, of course, one of the worst possible nights for all of this to be going on - it was Yom Kippur, one of the most significant holidays we celebrate. DH went to services and left me on my own to rest (and I was actually able to call in and listen to services).

At 8:00 pm, I was in pain, but the contractions were feeling better. I ended up calling the midwives again, and was told to get in the bath for 1/2 hr, keep drinking water, and take my next double dose at 11 pm. By 10:30, I was in excruciating pain, and the contractions suddenly started to be 3-4 minutes apart again by 11. We called the midwife, and she said I would probably need to go back to the hospital. She suggested taking 2 tylenol (thinking it would help the pain of the abdominal strain) and take another double dose of medicine at 11, and give it no more than 1 hour. I sent DH to walk the dog and we started getting ready to leave for the hospital. While DH was walking the dog, I lay down and relaxed . . . and for the first time since we got back from the hospital, I started feeling better! The contractions slowed, lessened in intensity, and were fairly spaced out. The midwife suggested I try going to sleep, I take my next dosage at 3:00 am, but that if the contractions woke me up to head to the hospital. She said if I made it through the night, I needed to go into the office in the morning to be checked. I slept until 3:00, took my next dosage, and then slept until 6:00 am . . . when a contraction woke me up. I had contractions over the next hour, took my next dose at 7:00 am, and then started feeling better at 7:30 am.

We went to the office at 9:00 to be checked. My contractions seemed to be controlled, and I was relatively pain-free at that time. I kept feeling these "mini" contractions and some pain radiating out from one spot on my uterus, and I just felt like something else was happening. After talking about our options, the midwives decided to send me for an ultrasound at the Maternal Fetal Medicine office to check my cervix and see if there was a problem with my placenta. DH was able to drop me off for my bedrest and get over to services for several hours before we needed to go to the appointment. Poor DH - this holiday is a fasting holiday, so he had to do all this running around while fasting (you don't fast if you are pregnant).

At 1:45, we went in for the ultrasound. The good news is, they identified the problem! Apparently, since my 20 week ultrasound, a big giant fibroid grew on the outside of my uterus. I did know that I had a small fibroid on the outside that was about .5 cm before I got pregnant, and I was told it was nothing to worry about. Well, it decided to grow . . . huge. It is almost as big as my fist now, and apparently, it is angry and pissed off and causing all the problems/pain/contractions. The good news is that I do not have an abdominal strain. The bad news is, it will be difficult to treat this fibroid and it puts me at greater risk for pre-term labor. I will probably have contractions on and off throughout the rest of this pregnancy, and the fibroid will likely cause me pain. They added another medication which I can only take for 48 hrs at a time until I'm 32 weeks along. It will help the pain and help control the contractions. I started it tonight, and it does seem to be helping some - I hope the next 48 hrs really puts me in a better place and that the pain holds off. I can live with staying on the anti-contraction medicine, but I really don't want to spend the rest of this pregnancy in pain from the fibroid. Oh . . . and I'll probably have to have surgery after I have this baby to get rid of the fibroid, since it will probably cause issues with future pregnancies too (not that I can think about that now). So . . . odds are good this baby will make an earlier appearance rather than a later appearance. I really hope the contractors finish the house and we can move before this baby comes.

Anyway, we did get some good news . . . the fetal fibronectin test (the vaginal swab they did to check for pre-term labor) came back negative, so I should be safe for at least a few weeks! Also, I passed my gestational diabetes test . . . barely, but I still passed. Let's hope the meds work and I can keep this baby in at least 8 more weeks . . . and that they are not 8 miserable weeks for me.