Trip to Labor and Delivery

Last Sunday (the 17th) I had contractions all day long -- they weren't terribly painful but much more uncomfortable than most of my Braxton Hicks and occuring every 2 -3 minutes for many hours. So, at the doctor's suggestion, we went into the hospital. They did confirm the contractions and gave me a shot of Terbutaline to stop them. The stopped right away after that. I was only about 1 cm dilated (not unusual for a 2nd pregnancy) so they sent me home without any restrictions (yay!).

While I was in the labor and delivery wing I managed to piss off the nurse. Not intentionally, of course but I did. As I said they gave me a shot of terbutaline which stopped the contractions right away. It also made me feel terrible -- heart racing, shaky, nauseated. Before they could discharge me I needed to be contraction free for 30 minutes. The doctor had ordered 3 shots of terbutaline (standard order) to be given 20 - 30 minutes apart. When the nurse came to give me the second shot I had been contraction free for 15 minutes. So, I said "Since I am contraction free after the first dose I would prefer to wait and see if I remain contraction free for the 30 minutes before getting anymore medication because I don't feel good from it." Her very professional response said sarcastically was, " Well, if you do that the contractions are just going to come back and you are going to end up staying longer and getting more medication than you would if we just give you the three standard doses." I said I was willing to risk it. She turned her back to me and left the room. From that point on she was rude.

After being discharged by the doctor 20 minutes later (because my contractions didn't come back and the doctor thought it was completely safe to discharge me) the nurse came back in the triage unit -- leaving the drape open while I was getting dressed. I quickly signed the papers and she left without saying good night, offering to give us directions back to the elevator, etc.

I thought maybe it was because she was busy, but instead she must of just been crabby that I challenged her, because out the 10 triage units we were the only ones there. We walked past 3 or 4 nurses on our way out who were snacking and gabbing. Hmmm!!!!

This week has been pretty uneventful -- the weather has been perfect, Erik feels better so it was a nice week. I am physically really tired but I guess that is expected as you are nearing the end of a pregnancy.