KandyKinz
Longtime Mama
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A bit of a rant...
I'm 27 weeks + 1 day.
One week ago, I was kept up all night by constant mild cramping/uterine tenderness and then the next day I was getting BH's quite regularly. By supper time they were coming consistently every 5 mins lasting over a minute each.
Many moons ago I actually did some training to become a midwife (left it to raise my family), but given all that I learned during my academic work and work placements I'm pretty knowledgeable about things and I'm not one to freak out when something deviates slightly from the norm. But even having checked my own cervix and knowing it was long, firm and closed, I was concerned by the sudden onset of general cramping combined with increased intensity and frequency of BH's. I was well aware of the fact, that may times cramping and BH contractions early in pregnancy lead to nothing, but I also know that that is not always the case. So I paged my midwife. At first, she tried to defer me to the next day, but I insisted that I preferred to get checked out right away. I really wanted to make sure that if I had a UTI or vaginal infection brewing that I get swabbed ASAP, so I could get treated promptly as either of those things can also stimulate uterine contractions. Anyways, my midwife really did not try to hide her annoyance with my insistence to get checked that day very well. And that attitude continued even once I got to the hospital, she just seemed very displeased I was there. I got the swabs I wanted, my urine was sent of for testing, she put me on the monitor for a mere 8 minutes and then sent me on the way telling me to start taking magnesium to help relax my uterus to calm the contractions. It's not so much the management that I'm upset over, but rather it was how she made me feel that I find most unsettling. And having been there, I really did try to make things as convenient as possible for her. I made sure I was hydrated and rested first to rule out those as the causes before I bothered her. I paged fairly early in the afternoon, well before suppertime....
I realize that her job can suck at times and that there's many times that you just don't want to get paged and that there are times when you don't want to be at the hospital and that you just want to go home and live your life. BUT when you take on that job, you kinda have to suck it up sometimes. You're getting paid to suck it up. It's just not fair to your clients otherwise. Back when I was in midwifery, I had reached the point where I just didn't have it in me to 'suck it up' anymore and have a life/be the mother I wanted to be at the same time. I came to the realization that my continuation in the field would put my clients at a disservice as at that time in my life I just couldn't always put them first and that really wasn't fair to them. So for my midwife to become the midwife that I so desperately avoided becoming was just very upsetting. I sacrificed a lot to avoid making clients feel the way she made me feel..... It just makes me
Emotional issues aside. The contractions have continued on and off. Some days they are bad and will come every 3-5 minutes lasting over a minute for hours. There were two days were things had calmed to the point where I was only getting 1 or 2 normal feeling BH and hour, I thought the magnesium was finally helping, but today I had another bad day of getting them much more frequently. Pretty much anything stimulates them. Needing to go to the bathroom, going to the bathroom, sitting in certain positions, laying in certain positions, standing for two long, walking, wearing pants (under the belly pants, over the belly pants, doesn't matter, they all irritate my uterus), having anything brush up against my tummy, sex is totally off the table these days and it seems like even thinking about my uterus tightening makes it contract. The intensity of them have stayed much the same. They hurt, they're uncomfortable, sometimes I have to stop what I'm doing, but they're not transition contractions for sure. They've definitely taken over. Thankfully my cervix is still behaving itself, atleast from a manual perspective. I haven't had an ultrasound to assess length... So for now, I'm just waiting for things to change in intensity whilst praying that they don't.
This is baby #4 for me. I had BH's with #2 and #3, but nothing like this, nothing remotely even close. All of my previous births went beyond 41 weeks, I'm having a hard time imagining I'll make it till February this time around, but Babe may surprise me (I'm hoping that will be the case), I've seen such things happen before, but when when your hunched over contracting so regularly it can be hard to remain hopeful.
Anyone else also currently battling an irritable uterus?
I'm 27 weeks + 1 day.
One week ago, I was kept up all night by constant mild cramping/uterine tenderness and then the next day I was getting BH's quite regularly. By supper time they were coming consistently every 5 mins lasting over a minute each.
Many moons ago I actually did some training to become a midwife (left it to raise my family), but given all that I learned during my academic work and work placements I'm pretty knowledgeable about things and I'm not one to freak out when something deviates slightly from the norm. But even having checked my own cervix and knowing it was long, firm and closed, I was concerned by the sudden onset of general cramping combined with increased intensity and frequency of BH's. I was well aware of the fact, that may times cramping and BH contractions early in pregnancy lead to nothing, but I also know that that is not always the case. So I paged my midwife. At first, she tried to defer me to the next day, but I insisted that I preferred to get checked out right away. I really wanted to make sure that if I had a UTI or vaginal infection brewing that I get swabbed ASAP, so I could get treated promptly as either of those things can also stimulate uterine contractions. Anyways, my midwife really did not try to hide her annoyance with my insistence to get checked that day very well. And that attitude continued even once I got to the hospital, she just seemed very displeased I was there. I got the swabs I wanted, my urine was sent of for testing, she put me on the monitor for a mere 8 minutes and then sent me on the way telling me to start taking magnesium to help relax my uterus to calm the contractions. It's not so much the management that I'm upset over, but rather it was how she made me feel that I find most unsettling. And having been there, I really did try to make things as convenient as possible for her. I made sure I was hydrated and rested first to rule out those as the causes before I bothered her. I paged fairly early in the afternoon, well before suppertime....
I realize that her job can suck at times and that there's many times that you just don't want to get paged and that there are times when you don't want to be at the hospital and that you just want to go home and live your life. BUT when you take on that job, you kinda have to suck it up sometimes. You're getting paid to suck it up. It's just not fair to your clients otherwise. Back when I was in midwifery, I had reached the point where I just didn't have it in me to 'suck it up' anymore and have a life/be the mother I wanted to be at the same time. I came to the realization that my continuation in the field would put my clients at a disservice as at that time in my life I just couldn't always put them first and that really wasn't fair to them. So for my midwife to become the midwife that I so desperately avoided becoming was just very upsetting. I sacrificed a lot to avoid making clients feel the way she made me feel..... It just makes me
Emotional issues aside. The contractions have continued on and off. Some days they are bad and will come every 3-5 minutes lasting over a minute for hours. There were two days were things had calmed to the point where I was only getting 1 or 2 normal feeling BH and hour, I thought the magnesium was finally helping, but today I had another bad day of getting them much more frequently. Pretty much anything stimulates them. Needing to go to the bathroom, going to the bathroom, sitting in certain positions, laying in certain positions, standing for two long, walking, wearing pants (under the belly pants, over the belly pants, doesn't matter, they all irritate my uterus), having anything brush up against my tummy, sex is totally off the table these days and it seems like even thinking about my uterus tightening makes it contract. The intensity of them have stayed much the same. They hurt, they're uncomfortable, sometimes I have to stop what I'm doing, but they're not transition contractions for sure. They've definitely taken over. Thankfully my cervix is still behaving itself, atleast from a manual perspective. I haven't had an ultrasound to assess length... So for now, I'm just waiting for things to change in intensity whilst praying that they don't.
This is baby #4 for me. I had BH's with #2 and #3, but nothing like this, nothing remotely even close. All of my previous births went beyond 41 weeks, I'm having a hard time imagining I'll make it till February this time around, but Babe may surprise me (I'm hoping that will be the case), I've seen such things happen before, but when when your hunched over contracting so regularly it can be hard to remain hopeful.
Anyone else also currently battling an irritable uterus?
Thankfully my OB also had an Irritable Uterus in her pregnancies, so she can sympathize completely. I also learned how to check myself for dilation so I didn't have to run off to the doctors every time the IU kicked up really bad (checking myself was the only reason I ended up going to the hospital at 34+6 weeks with DS2. I had him the next morning!). My OB suggested P17 shots this time around to help calm my uterus, and prevent another preterm birth. I start the shots in about 3 weeks, so we'll see if they help.
