Emergency Room Romp

This last weekend I had some pretty strong Braxton-Hicks contractions. We were walking a lot at the time and when I sat down they settled down. I honesty don't remember feeling anything like that last time since my labor came on suddenly with intense back pain which I was convinced was a kidney infection. So, after coming home and resting a little, I did some research on what contractions feel like and when I should be concerned. In the end, I decided to sit tight since they were calming down.

The next day everything was normal. When it was back to normal I realized how strong those contractions actually were. Hm. Maybe I should have called my doctor. Well, all's well that ends well.... After that, I got a long lecture from the friend of mine who with Z told me in the most delicate and non-panicky way that I should go to the hospital and get my "back pain" checked out. Anyway, she is well aware of my ability to give birth early, so she told me I had to be really cautious about this one. Of course, she is right. But this pregnancy thing is so inconvenient, you know?

Well, on Monday, all was well on the contraction front, but I woke up from a nap with crazy, heavy chest pain and pain between my shoulder blades. In my newly conservative state of mind, I called my doctor. I also took a Tums and a Tylenol. By the time the doctor called me back, the pain had eased up a little. But the doctor told me to go to the emergency room. Sigh. Really? Pack up the dude, drive to my Mom's to drop him off, go wait in a crowded waiting room? And I haven't even eaten dinner?

Turns out they take chest pain very seriously. I obeyed my doctor and went. They bumped me to the front of the line with chest pain and shortness of breath. I felt bad since by then things had eased up. It was nice to not have to wait in line, though. They did an EKG and cleared me of any heart problem. Then they wheeled me off to Labor and Delivery. Once again I had to put that silly robe on when I was least expecting it. I stared down that baby-warmer thingy and told it not to get excited- there were going to be no babies coming his way that night. They monitored the baby, who was doing fine and we waited for a blood test and ultrasound to make sure I didn't have a gallstone or something like that.

After a while, the pain I had in the afternoon came back and I was very thankful to be in a hospital bed where we could potentially do something about it. It also made me feel less ridiculous; once the pain goes away, I tend to minimize it, as if I had imagined it being that bad. This pain was unlike anything I've felt (not in intensity but in variety and location). It radiated from my shoulder blades to shoulder to neck to jaw and then head. John said it was similar to what he has felt with really bad heartburn before. Holy moley. I told him I would be far more sympathetic the next time that happened to him. They finally gave me some pain medication (the real stuff!) and it finally started to feel better. Oh, the relief! I totally see how people who are in chronic pain get addicted!

Anyway, they cleared me of any stones or inflammation of digestive organs. They don't know what caused the pain. Hm. I guess I don't care as long as it doesn't come back. So far, so good. They did give me a prescription for pain medication just in case. Hopefully I won't need it. I can say that I am taking this stage of pregnancy very seriously now. I am trying to take it easy and not lift things too much. I'm drinking water, eating healthily, taking naps when I can. I'm calling in reinforcements in babysitting. I'm also pretty sure I don't want to do this ever again. Two kids is it for us. But that's for another blog another day.