A couple days ago on Thursday I was at school and my prep hour had just started. I had a ton of grading to get done so I settled in for a long hour of grading and I felt prompted to go to the doctor's office to make sure that everything was ok with Andrew. I blew it off at first thinking I'd just go after school, but I felt prompted again to go and knew I had to go right then. Without thinking about it I found someone to cover my last hour class just in case I wouldn't be back in time (which I thought I would be), and I headed off to the hospital to get a non-stress test done. Thankfully everything was ok with Andrew. His heart rate looked great and he was moving around just fine, but what concerned the nurse and doctor was me having contractions every 2 minutes for about 45 minutes straight. With me being only 33 weeks along the thought of Andrew being born right now was pretty scary and I knew he would have to be in the NICU for at least 3 weeks. (One of my sister-in-laws had a premature baby around 34 weeks pregnant and watching them go through their daughter be in the NICU was so hard for our whole family, so I knew what I was in for). The doctors sent me home for the rest of the day to rest and relax and told me some things I could do to slow the contractions down.
At this point I was really scared and very concerned for Andrew's health. I sent an email out to my family asking for them to pray and fast for us that everything would be ok and that Andrew would stay cooking for at least 3 more weeks until he was considered full-term. Even days make a difference--I knew each day Andrew spent inside was a day he wouldn't have to be in the NICU.
I went back Friday for another test and the contractions were still consistent, but had slowed down to 7-8 minutes apart. They put me on semi-bed-rest, which means that I can still go to school and teach, but as soon as I get home I need to lay down and take it easy. Yesterday we went in again for another test and the contractions were irregular and everything looked good.
I'm still on semi-bed-rest and this next week will be the real test if I can continue teaching full-time while taking it easy when I get home. Hopefully this week goes well.
I'm still amazed that within 2 days the main concerns of having contractions so close together have subsided. I know that it is really an answer to all the prayers that have been offered on my behalf. I'm so grateful for my family and for their faith and testimony in prayer. I know Heavenly Father is in the details of our lives and often answers our prayers through others. I'm so grateful for my family and for their willingness to pray for me. I've been comforted that no matter what happens everything will be ok with Andrew and everything will work out. I'm grateful for the peace and serenity that the gospel brings into my life.
I'm glad everything is okay, Bekah! Definitely rest all you can now! That is just about the only enjoyable thing about being 8 months pregnant in my opinion--taking all the naps you want. Everything else gets better when the baby is born. Other good news... I was having crazy, really painful contractions from about 32-36 weeks and then they just kind of got better and less painful, which I think means they weren't likely to cause true labor. For some reason you can get contractions earlier and then they can be less frequent and less painful as pregnancy progresses. One of my friends had the same situation. I hope Andrew holds off coming until after we get to see you at the end of the month!
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