Preterm Labor....Again?

Well - I was discharged from an overnight stay at the hospital today. At 9 am yesterday, I was getting ready for church, preparing my sharing time and getting the kiddo dressed when my mucous plug fell out.

The mucous plug is what blocks the opening of your cervix to protect the baby from bacteria. When that falls out (and it doesn't happen for every pregnant woman), your cervix is dilating and it means labor is either hours away or days/weeks away. It's just not a sure sign of anything really. I lost my mucous plug with Enoch and went into preterm labor that day, they put me on a mag drip for 24 hours, sent me home on bed rest and Enoch was born a week later. I was 35 weeks and 5 days pregnant when Enoch was born.

I ended up calling my Dr yesterday because the MP (mucous plug) had blood in it. My Dr told me that just losing the MP wasn't much concern but since it had blood and my previous pregnancy ended in preterm delivery, she wanted me to come in for monitoring. On the way to the hospital my contractions were 4 minutes apart. I had also been contracting since 4 pm Saturday and they were 15 - 20 minutes apart.

So we made it to the hospital by 11, they started an IV for fluids and antibiotics for the GBS that I hadn't been tested for. Then they gave me a steroid shot for the baby's lung development in case he did decide to make an appearance, they also gave me a shot and a pill to stop the laboring. After 3 shots and 4 pills, my contractions were still breaking through every 4 minutes.

I was also dilated to 3 cms. Yikes. So after all the other efforts, they gave me a morphine sleep to relax my body to see if that would stop the contractions or just let me labor in my sleep. I didn't sleep and it didn't stop the contractions. Then they tried fentinol. That put me to sleep but did nothing for the contractions. So the plan from there was to get through the night, hope I didn't dilate further and the contractions would stop so they could send me home.

I did make it through the night without any hard contractions and no further dilating. They gave me one more steroid shot for the baby's lungs and sent me home on bed rest until 36 weeks. I'm 34 weeks and 4 days right now so if I make it to 36, I can get off bed rest and go back to normal behavior to try and go into labor. Haha.

So, hospital stay but no baby. He tried really hard to come yesterday but didn't make it, thank goodness. They say white males need all the time they can get in the womb. Its just better for them to bake longer. ;o)

Enoch was very excited when he found out yesterday that his little brother might be here soon. He even asked me when I got home today where the baby was. It was so sweet. I missed him terribly while I was away. Its hard being away from your children! It drives me bonkers.

And in case you're wondering, I am following orders and laying in bed right now. I'm posting this from my phone. Its hard to not get up and try to finish getting ready for this baby but Joe is doing a great job and he's even washing newborn clothes from storage. I love this guy! He's also setting up the bassinet and taking care of little extra's like packing another overnight bag for when this boy actually makes his appearance.

So thank you to everyone who has kept us in their thoughts and prayers. We really appreciate it. We'll keep you posted!!!