Wow, it's been a long time!

I can't believe it's been so long since I last updated.  There has been a lot going on, and yet not much all at the same time. 

On December 3rd, at a little over 33 weeks, I started getting regular contractions every 10-15 minutes.  Of course, this had to happen on the night that R had a show.  Luckily, our friend M was hanging out with me and took me into labor and delivery and hung out with me.  Sure enough, I was having contractions and at one point they got to every 3-4 minutes.  The Dr examined me and while I was 1 cm dilated, my cervix was still long and Connor was still really high, which is exactly what it had been the day before at my last appointment.  They put me on a drug called Procardia, which is a blood pressure med that works really well at stopping contractions.  Between that, laying down and fluids we got the contractions slowed enough that they felt comfortable letting me go home.  I was under strict instructions to stay on bed rest until 36 weeks and was told that I am only allowed to get up to use the rest room and to take a quick shower each day.  Through all of this, Connor looked fantastic on the monitors.  M took me back home and hung out with me for a few hours before heading home. 

About 2:00 am, I was laying in bed and started having a really difficult time getting a full breath.  I also had a splitting headache, but I had been warned that this could be a side-effect of the meds that they put me on.  I called the on call Dr and was told to come in and go to the ER.  So as soon as R got home, we went back to the hospital.  When we got there, my blood pressure was high and my pulse was racing (125 bpm and up).  While they were monitoring me and deciding which tests to run, the contractions started back up again, so two of the nurses from labor and delivery came down to monitor me as well.  While they were monitoring me, Connor did have some variable hear rate decelerations, which seemed to clear up as soon as they got me on fluids.  They were talking about doing a chest CT to look for blood clots, but I was really not excited about the idea of that much radiation so close to Connor, so they ran a blood test instead and since it came back normal I was able to avoid the CT scan.  They also ran an EKG, which came back totally fine.  They never really figured out what was going on with my racing pulse, but it started to get better with fluids.  We did discover that the longer acting version of the meds they put me on had dairy in them, so one theory is that it was partially an allergic reaction to the meds.

Once they were done with me in the ER, they moved me up to labor and delivery for more monitoring.  At this point it was 7:00 am and we were both totally exhausted.  I was still having contractions, so they kept giving me the shorter acting meds and kept me hydrated.  Connor was still doing great aside from that small incident with his heart rate while we were in the ER.  Eventually we got them slowed enough that they felt comfortable sending me home.  R picked up my meds and we stopped to get some burgers to go on our way home as it was 3:00 or 4:00 pm and we hadn't eaten all day. 

So, I have been on bed rest ever since.  I only have until this Thursday and then I am allowed to move around again.  I am so looking forward to it.  I am not good at bed rest.  I am still having contractions, and the meds don't seem to be working all that well anymore, but there is nothing else the Drs will do at this point.  I have been getting really uncomfortable and I think that he has dropped, because my hips, back and pelvis are killing me.  I'm hoping that there is some progress at my next appointment on Friday. 

I can't believe we could be meeting our son any day now!!