Baby Boo: 36 Weeks

Wow...what a week! I'll be short and sweet with most of it so I can tell you all about my false labor experience.

 

 

Thebump.com says nothing earth shattering this week about Baby Boo. It just mentions that if (s)he is born any day now that (s)he will have all systems ready to go!

 

I had my 36 week appointment on Tuesday and things still look great. I gained a couple more pounds for a grand total of around 26ish lbs.! We asked the doctor about any vaccinations I might need because the pediatrician mentioned a couple at the meet and greet last week. Dr. P said that his only recommendation is for me to get a flu shot (which I am hesitant of because of my experience a few years ago) but I totally trust him and plan to get it at my appointment next week. Anything for Baby Boo! They'll begin checking my cervix next week and I'll start going weekly until Baby is born.

 

Workouts are still going well and I'm having absolutely no pain. I just stop when I start to get tired or hot. I was able to tolerate 1 1/2 hours of a 2 hour Hip Hop class and I ran a mile at The Y the other day.

I had my last baby shower this past Saturday with Jimmy's side of the family. I received so many precious gifts and it got me really excited about Baby Boo coming soon! Thank you so much to his family for being a part of my celebration for the baby!!! My sis-in-law, Amy, posted some pics from the shower on my Facebook page if you want to check them out. Here's my 35 week bump pic:

 

Ok...what I've been waiting to tell you all about and why I was so quiet on Facebook yesterday:

Tuesday evening, around 930 p.m., I started getting cramps in my abdomen and just felt blah. I thought nothing of it because I was SO BUSY that day and had even ran that afternoon. I was just very tired and fell asleep on the couch. When Jimmy got home from volleyball, I told him I wasn't feeling well and we went to bed. I woke up around 130 a.m. and still felt very crampy and my abdomen was tightening. I also couldn't stop going to the bathroom.

 

It wasn't until the 2 o'clock hour that I realized that the tightening I was getting was regular and would come and go. After this realization, I couldn't sleep. I decided to start timing the tightening just in case they were contractions. I wasn't totally convinced at the time that they were contractions because they didn't hurt. They were anywhere between 7-10 minutes apart. I went back to the bedroom about 430 a.m. and told Mr. Boo what was going on. I still didn't hurt bad at this point, just felt crampy. I decided to call my OB to see if maybe they could get me in for an appointment to check my cervix rather than me deal with going to the stinkin' hospital. They nurse told me to keep timing them and if they are 5 minutes apart for an hour, I should go to the hospital.

 

Unfortunately, the contractions became closer and closer and were more intense but still not what I would call painful. They were 5 minutes apart for about an hour and a half when Mr. Boo and I decided to go to St. Ann's. While all of this was happening at home, we were packing for the hospital just in case. Luckily, I had all of our lists ready to pack...I just hadn't done the packing yet.

 

As we headed to the hospital, we stopped for a bacon egg biscuit just in case this was going to be my last meal for a few hours. We checked into the hospital, they took us to triage, and they started monitoring my contractions and Baby Boo's heart rate. They checked my cervix and said it was only a "fingertip" which basically means nothing is happening to it. Over the next hour or so, my contractions started to become further apart but I was still cramping pretty bad. She rechecked my cervix a while later and nothing had happened. At that point, they told me to go home. They also gave me permission to travel to WV.

 

My reaction to the experience: I was so excited at the thought of meeting Baby Boo earlier than expected that I took this experience very hard. When it was all over, I couldn't stop crying. I was just sad. I couldn't comprehend that I was having contractions that regularly for 14 hours and nothing was happening. Besides being emotionally bummed out, I felt so bad that I informed my family and work of all of this for nothing. Physically, the experience wasn't painful but my stomach was so fatigued afterwards. We did end up travelling to WV just after all of this and the ride sucked...BUT we made it here safely and I slept almost 11 hours last night! It was amazing.

 

I don't feel as sad today and I know that we made the right decision to go to the hospital. The doctor assured us that what I was experiencing appeared to be real labor (I was feeling so stupid after all of this). He said that I would have been wrong not to go to the hospital. Even though I know all of this, the perfectionist in me hates screwing up and I feel like I did such a foolish thing. Anyway, I'm feeling tremendously better today and Baby Boo is moving as always in my belly :)

 

P.S. Mr. Boo was awesome through the whole thing even though he was sleepy and was able to drive us to WV :)