Friday M.I.A.

On Friday you probably noticed I missed my post. Now when that happens it means something has happened. I’d hardly forget to post my daily entry (weekends and holidays excluded). Before anyone starts sending us congratulatory messages, the babies are not here yet. It was just another trip to L&D, my home away from home.

I’d had some leaking. I wasn’t sure what it was, but didn’t think it was amniotic fluid. However, every book and message thread I’ve read and every nurse/doctor I’ve spoken to always say to check out things when something feels amiss. I’ve heard ‘better safe than sorry’ more times during this pregnancy than in my life. So I mentioned it to my home care nurse who administers my weekly progesterone injection. I told her it could be excess discharge (sorry, TMI) from the cerclage (the body’s reaction to a foreign object in the body) or just pregnancy hormones going crazy. I didn’t think it was amniotic fluid because it was consistently a small amount (compared to the gush when your water breaks). There are instances where small leaks do occur, i.e. sometimes after an amnio or CVS testing. I figured the babies were far enough along that if it was a small leak, it would be ok until my next doctor’s appointment on Wednesday. The nurse said otherwise. If it is a small leak, then the sterility of the placenta has been compromised which could be a dangerous thing (infection!) for the baby. She suggested I call my doctor’s office, which I did. I called and spoke to Mary (the nice nurse that gave me the negative results from the GD test) and she consulted with another nurse since no doctors were in the office. They advised me to go to L&D to get it checked out. Once again, it was ‘better safe than sorry’. I dislike going to L&D because I can never get out of there in less than 6 hours. Most of the time, I’m lying on an extremely uncomfortable bed with one pillow (if I’m lucky) and Mike has to wait downstairs. There are other women there that are about to give birth any minute and I hear them grunting, panting or moaning. At least this time, we didn’t go in late evening, rather we went in the afternoon and it was pretty crowded. For the first hour or so, I just lay there reading my book. Finally, they hooked me up and monitored the babies’ heart beat for 30-40 minutes. Finally, they tested for amniotic fluid and did an ultrasound. Everything looked ok, I had not ruptured (yay!) and got to go home after only 3 ½ hours!

So what was it? Well it wasn’t completely determined, but it could’ve been discharge or incontinence. I’ve never been so happy to pee in my pants or at least hope that was it. I worry discharge may be an indication of something bad, but incontinence is completely normal. Before you stat grossing out or start sending me packages of Depends, walk in my shoes for 10 feet. Not a mile, but a couple feet because you would then know what it feels like to carry so much weight in front of you. We’re talking about achy back, major pressure down there, basically feeling like the babies are going to fall out at any moment. I’d like to see how you guys would react if you had a (not so) little pea pod rolling over your bladder or kicking it. How long could you hold out before running to the bathroom? There’s a reason God made women have babies, men can’t handle it :-).