32 Weeks and Still at Home

Well, shockingly enough, I am still pregnant at 32 weeks.  My perinatologists are being ministered to and my nurse is praising God.  It’s great!  Okay, great for the baby, but I’ve had a rough couple of weeks.  Three separate visits to the Labor and Delivery triage unit, only to be sent home after one night’s observation.  I haven’t made it out of triage and into antepartum yet (good because it means I get to go home, bad because triage is not made for creature comforts like the rest of their unit is).  Here’s the standard routine so far:

1)  I experience severe pain and pressure (it’s ongoing until delivery right now because of my condition, but when it escalates, I call);

2)  I call L&D and tell them my situation and that I’m coming in for PAIN AND PRESSURE, NOT FOR CONTRACTIONS (although I have those consistently, too);

3) I come in and they check me, thereby inducing regular contractions;

4) They treat me for the contractions, keep me overnight for observation, and release me at 6 a.m. if the contractions have descreased.

This would be fine if not for the big issue:  for me, contractions and cervical change are completely unrelated.  I could go into the long history, but that would be boring right now.  If delivery were imminent, they’d consult with the perinatologist on-call, but it hasn’t been “imminent” during my visits.  During this past visit, they did an FFN test.  A positive result is supposed to indicate delivery within two weeks of the test.  Well, I tested positive.  They sent me home again.  I’m not worried, or even irritated; home is more restful for me at this point.  I guess I’m just disappointed that I keep having to drag Matt out for “false alarms.”  That’s not really true, though.  Each time I’ve gone in there has been a visible change (at the first appointment I had dilated to one, at this one her position was a little lower and I’d potentially dilated another centimeter); the changes just aren’t enough to be considered “imminent delivery.”  So I have to keep going when I feel changes.  It’s just a little tiring.  My arms are all bruised from IVs and anti-contraction medication at this point. 😛

The summary to this stream-of-consciousness narrative?  I’m praising God that I’m still pregnant and that Lia is growing perfectly.  I am EXHAUSTED from these triage stays and very much looking forward to dressing a little girl in red velvet Christmas clothes and doing family Disneyland trips with Matt and James again.  I can handle the pain as long as this little girlie is willing to stay in, but the fatigue and the inability to do housework or really engage with my son are not that fun.  All prayers are appreciated, and at this point God is blessing me with a positive attitude and a definite growth in love for my family. 🙂

Proverbs 19:23 – “The fear of the LORD leads to life: then one rests content, untouched by trouble.”