Labor Scare

In the wee hours of Tuesday morning (5/24), Evie gave mommy and daddy quite a scare. Here's the background info - on Monday, I had a big work project to finish up, so I worked about 12 hours, with lots of sitting at a computer. I felt very sore and achy when I came home, so I ran a bubble bath and tried to relax. I'd noticed some slight cramping and contracting, but I tried to brush it off as normal. I laid down for bed at about 9, but I just couldn't fall asleep because of the discomfort. Finally, somewhere between midnight and 1, I called Labor and Delivery at Ochnser to describe my symptoms and they said it wouldn't hurt to come in. Kyle drove me to the hospital and we made our way to the 8th floor, where I was quickly greeted by a nurse. The staff was great. They made me give a urine sample, then had me change into a gown and lie down. They took my vitals and everything looked great, so they called the doctor in. He did a quick cervical check (to make sure I wasn't dilated), and told me that everything looked fine for this stage in pregnancy. He explained that I was probably just feeling more intense Braxton Hicks contractions than what I was used to. He also told me that I had classic complaints of round ligament pain, due to the uterus stretching. Apparently, each of these bothersome symptoms tend to get worse with every pregnancy. I was sent home and told to take it easy. All in all, I was very pleased with my experience at the hospital, although I'd prefer not to go back until it's the right time.

The next day, I only worked a half day because of my lack of sleep from the night before. After being at work, I had an "aha!" moment. The pains that I'd been feeling so sharply the day before seemed to be returning. I pulled the elastic in my maternity pants away from my belly and felt some relief. That's when it dawned on me - the majority of my pain was coming from the fact that my belly was no longer fitting comfortably into the khaki pants that I wore to work everyday. I was so relieved when I figured that out, and I'm proud to report that I've made some wardrobe changes since then that have made me (and probably Evie) much more comfortable!