32 weeks 4 days

My marathon of Braxton Hicks contractions finally ended mid-afternoon on Monday.  I averaged about 10 contractions per hour all day up until that point.  Suddenly they began to wane and I went back to having the occasional contraction once every hour or two, if that.

I went to the doctor yesterday for my 32 week checkup and talked with her about what had happened.  She asked if I had called while the contractions were occurring and I said yes, but that the phone nurse had suggested I wait to come in until my scheduled appointment.  She checked my cervix and I was not dilated at all and my amniotic sac did not appear to be ruptured, so that was all good news.  The baby's heartbeat sounded great.  She put me on a prescription for no strenuous activity "until this issue is resolved", for at least a week.  She said she doesn't even want me running up the stairs.  I'm not allowed to do my elliptical machine, either.  (Which means I'm going to need to be more careful of what I eat.  Boooooooo.)  She told me that if the contractions start to occur again, she wants me to drink a bunch of water and lay down on my left side for an hour.  If they continue after that, I'm supposed to call again.

Ironically, after being home from the appointment for just a couple hours, another contraction marathon began.  They lasted all through Bible study, and then after the Bible study girls left I laid down and they seemed to decrease a bit (to about every 10 minutes).  I went to bed after that, with plans to call today if they continued.  When I woke up this morning, I had several in a row, and then suddenly they stopped again.  I've only had a couple since then.

So we'll see what happens.  It would be nice to have a reason for all this, but it may just be one of the body's many mysteries.  I must admit that I'm a little worried that if I call again they'll do something crazy like put me on bed rest.  I definitely do not want that.  I was whining and complaining last night for the 30 minutes I was laying down due to the contractions before bed.  There were just so many other things I wanted to be doing. Don't get me wrong.  I love reading, playing on the computer, and watching movies with my hubby.  But I had a to-do list that was calling my name and there was nothing I could do to check off a single item.  So frustrating.

Anyways, on another note, my uterus was again measuring large yesterday, so the doc requested that I get an ultrasound at my next appointment to see how big the baby is.  Yay!  I can't wait to get another view of Krew. :)  The appointment is on Jan 18th, so I'll have some pics to share after that point.  Dave and I are also excited for one more confirmation that Krewson is indeed a little man and not a little woman.  :)

Alright here's your weekly picture.



32 1/2 weeks.  I didn't have a half-finger, but you get the idea. ;)

Thanks so much to everyone who has showed concern over the last couple of days!  I really appreciate all your thoughts and prayers. :)

32 weeks 2 days

I'm not sure what's going on, but I am having an abnormal number of Braxton Hicks contractions. :( I've had these quite often since the middle of my pregnancy, but suddenly this morning they became much more frequent than usual.  I had 5 or 6 while I was in the shower and they were making me so uncomfortable that I laid down in bed for another hour before heading into work.  They continued while I was laying down and while I finished getting ready, so I called the doctor's office on the way to work and left a message.  The phone nurse called back and talked to me a bit about them, and when I told her how often they were she said that yes they should probably see me.  However, my 32-week checkup is tomorrow, so she said that it should probably be ok to wait until then unless I am very worried.  She said that they will be more concerned if I notice a pattern to the contractions or if I show any signs of bleeding.  Neither of these things are taking place, so I seem to be fine for now.  She said to take it easy, drink lots of fluids, and call back if I feel like I need to come in at any time.

I've started recording the time of each contraction once I got into work.  I've had 31 since 9:49am this morning and it is now 1:27.  So 31 contractions in around 3 1/2 hours.  That's quite a lot.  They generally say to call the doc if you experience more than 4 in an hour.  I'd say I'm a bit beyond that.  The good sign, however, is that the contractions are typically very short.  Longer contractions are more worrisome.  I really feel like everything is probably fine, but I can't help but be a little concerned.  If you'd keep me in your prayers it'd be appreciated. :)

I'll provide an update whenever I get one!

God bless,
Kara