xeryfyn's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Uterine Action So I inteded to write about Julia and her ever increasing vocabulary and propensity to spit out the most amazing verbal gems, but I think I shall sidetrack for a moment to chronicle the adventure that has become my uterus in action. Sometime on Friday, I began having some peculiar sensations in my mid-abdominal area, but brushed them off as general pregnancy discomforts. Yet another joy they failed to mention while gushing about how wonderful the second trimester can be. In any case, when they didn't go away and seemed instead to increase in frequency, I thought perhaps that I ought to be concerned. Of course, I did nothing that normal everyday people would, what did I do? Well, I went to the forums that I frequent online and I posted a query there, asking if what I was experiencing was normal for this time of pregnancy. Yeah so I got some panicky replies saying I ought to call my doctor. And, after sleeping on it, I did. Now, as you may recall, I had been going on and on about the literacy conference I was suppose to attend on Saturday. The prospect of a whole day of no worries, no Julia and reading and writing advice was *the* schiznat. On the morning of the conference I awoke to more of the same pains which I now realized were Braxton Hicks contractions but they were also accompanied with some pressure in my groin and pain in my lower back. So i called Health Link, just to make sure what the "right" course of action would be. To no one's surprise (except perhaps my own) the right course of action did *not* entail sitting in reading lectures for the day or writing tutorials, but rather hooked up to a fetal monitor and lying about timing the contractions, enduring a pelvic exam to ensure that I was not entering preterm labour. And instead of hearing a lecture about the most effective way to reach a reluctant reader, I got one about not exerting myself doing anything, like grocery shopping, playing too rough with Julia and walking too frequently. My doctor also suggested cold showers for hubby for the next couple of weeks lest bedrest be in my near future. So now I am struggling with the idea that my isolation factor might increase a thousand fold if I dont lay off everything. And while some moments it is a relief to know that its OK that I can't climb one flight of stairs without wheezing and clutching my burgeoning belly, it frightens me as well. 25 weeks is much too early for Peanut to make an arrival and so every week that this little one stays in utero is a good week indeed. Everything during the non-stress test where they monitored Peanut's heartrate and movements were absolutely normal and the contractions I had (and still have) are classified as non-progressing contractions that do not help to dilate my cervix or otherwise increase my chances of preterm labour. Still, needing to rest as much as I can and possibly lay off of working as much as I had anticipated being possible in this last few months of pregnancy is a bit disheartening. I find myself making plans that I am unsure whether or not I am able to keep and have become a bit more hesitant about making commitments to people that i dont know that i can fulfill. So there it is, worries that, like so many things, feel magnified late at night. I am feeling fine and otherwise don't want to be alarmist, but I am much more aware of the risks that i have and enter into this next phase of pregnancy a bit more cautiously and with less carelessness than I had been exhibiting before. (Note to self: no more furniture moving and less caffiene. Sigh.)
And so we go. 12:35 a.m. - 2004-04-19 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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