I'm still pregnant

I've been to the ER once in my life. I took my dad several years ago when he hurt himself pretty bad one day working in the garage. Luckily even though my dad was bleeding like crazy he was pretty with it and he took care of everything and I just sat there watching the doctor stitch him up. Other than that.....I only see the ER in movies. I've never really had the experience of going to the ER.....but that was about to change.

It was Sunday night and I was playing a super intense game of Aggravation with Levi, Chico and Clay. I love that game!! It was getting late and Clay and Chico left and I started getting ready for bed and for work the next day when all of sudden I wasn't feeling so good and cramping....then I went to the bathroom (for the billionth time) and realized I was bleeding...alot. Well I just stood there in shock for a minute...then was like....well this isn't good. I pulled myself together and as soon as I walked out into the front room....Levi looked at me and asked me what was wrong. I told him and he straight up said we are going to the hospital.


Now I was at first resilient to this idea....it was almost 11PM....and my midwife had told me a few months ago when I had an episode like this (my placenta had abrupted and I bleed alot @ 7 months) that if it happened again she would send me straight to labor and delivery. Being 36 weeks....I started freaking out thinking that my placenta was abrupting some more and that the hospital would make Baby J come even though he isn't ready. While I was mulling over all of this in my brain....Levi called his mom who of course was like "Are you crazy...call your doctor...bleeding is never good!" I called the clinic...knowing they would be closed....but the automated system or whatever transferred me around and I actually got ahold of my midwife!! Go figure. Well I gave her the run down and she said it sounded like my placenta was being crazy again or I was having pre-term labor symptoms. She couldn't necessarily diagnose me over the phone but she highly recommended I go get checked out.

Levi then called Clay and he came right back over and they gave me a blessing and then off to the ER we went. By this time I was in tears scared to death that I was going to be having a baby, but figured I'd rather be safe than sorry. Levi was heading to Vancouver British Columbia early the next morning so I'd rather have him there and find out nothing is wrong then wait another day and find out something terrible is going on and he is hundreds of miles away.

Well being as pregnant as I look, as soon as I walked into the ER, they wheeled me away, made me change and hooked me up to a monitor. A nice nurse came in and started asking me a million questions and checking out everything. I was still bleeding when I was there with her and she also said I was having contractions. I had dilated to 1 1/2 -2 cm and my cervix was soft. She said she needed to call the midwife to let her know what is up and find out what I need to do next. She came back and said the midwife said I had to be admitted and needed to see a specialist in the morning. The nurse was still super nice but definitely let me know the worst case scenario is that the "specialist" person would tell me that Baby J had to come....now. She then gave me the whole run down about having a "preemie" baby and being a boy he could have respiratory problems. Man of man...I was still a little scared at this point...but somehow I knew everything would be okay and I was just so so glad that Levi was with me.

The nurse then had me get back in the wheelchair and up to Labor & Delivery we went. We got set up in a room and she came in and took a bunch of blood (my hand still hurts) hooked me all back up, told me I couldn't eat anything and then said she would be in every so often to check in on me. Clay and Chico came up and stayed with us for a little bit but it was getting really late and they left around 1AM.

Well the time, of course, went by slower and slower and it was next to impossible to sleep. The nice nurse helped Levi set up a bed and got him some scrubs to wear (he was still in his church clothes). Around 3AM, I had stopped bleeding and was pretty much having next to no contractions. Baby J was finally settling down. He was so stinking active!! The nurse was constantly coming and changing the monitor because he kept kicking it and moving away. She just laughed though and said it was a really good sign that he was so active so she didn't mind changing it so much.

Finally at around 8:30AM they came in to take me to another room somewhere to have a fancy ultrasound done so the placenta and everything could be looked at. This was super cool, especially for Levi. The tech was really nice and pointed out everything to Levi and explained everything to him. Levi just loved seeing his little boy and watching him move.

Well, call it a miracle, but Baby J was in super shape. The tech said there was no sign of me bleeding and my placenta looked perfect. Baby J's heart was great, his spine, and face, and bones and everything were forming just like they should. All of his organs were perfect, his heartbeat was spot on. He was moving all over the place. The only thing that made her double check everything was that Baby J is a small little guy. He was only measuring at 33 weeks "standard measurements" and was about 4 1/2 lbs. (My midwife has been telling me this for a while too) So far, she said this isn't necessarily bad, more or less just good news for me that I will probably have a small baby.

Well the specialist (I can't for the life of me remember what his title was)...was coming down from the U hospital so I still had to wait for him. We went back to our room and waited some more. In a little while he came in and said everything looked great. All my bloodwork came back just fine. He too was just concerned about how small Baby J is. He said they would be getting with my midwife to let her know what is going on and then let me know what the plan would be.

Finally around noon...the nurse came in and said I was free to go. I'm on strict bedrest (I'm still going to work) and have to go back tomorrow to be checked on again, but hey me and Baby J are fine and as much as I hate being pregnant....I'm glad I am still pregnant.

Levi's job (and mine too) was super understanding of what was going on and are keeping him local all week so he can be home with me just in case something comes up. (Which, unless I do something stupid, don't think that will happen.) This is super good news too....that means he's guaranteed to be home for Christmas!!

Well I feel like I'm back to my old self, so to speak, and I feel bad (but it's kinda fun) asking Levi to do just about everything for me. I'm sure I will get aggravated and frustrated not being able to move around as much as I used to....but hey, only a few more weeks of this and it will all be over. I know it will be worth it.