The second trimester flew by! It’s crazy how must faster this pregnancy seems to be going compared to Molly’s. It had also been treating me pretty well. The sickness had stopped and the SPD wasn’t as bad as it was with Molly at this point. I was tired, but that was mainly due to the insomnia, waking up around 2-3am every night. My bump was growing nicely and I was feeling pretty well in myself. I have however only seen my midwife once, and that was at around 18 weeks. It’s weird how you don’t see them nearly half as much as you do in your first pregnancy.
That all changed pretty quickly.
On Tuesday 28th January 2020, I was at work. It was a normal day, going really well when all of a sudden during a game of UNO, I started to get period like cramping in my lower abdomen. At first I just thought it was braxton hicks kicking up a notch, but after 30-45 minuets of them coming regularly and increasing in intensity, I suddenly though it might actually be something more. Work were fab, they rang my Mother in law ( who also happens to work on site ) and she drove me home to my partner so we could head to the hospital.
I rang the pregnancy advice line whilst in the car, just to acquire their opinion on the situation. I was advised to head to a hospital different to our local, because of how early gestation I am. My local hospital doesn’t have the specialist NICU facilities, where as the other one does – If baby was making a rather early entrance they would have everything they needed.
Arriving at the hospital.
Arriving at the hospital I was having these pains every 3-5 minuets and becoming rather worried. I wasn’t even 28 weeks pregnant, It was far too early! I was taken to maternity triage and immediately told to pee in a cup before anything else. Then I was asked a million questions whilst being hooked up to monitors and a CTG machine ( cardiotocograph, more commonly known as an electronic fetal monitor ) before being told that I was indeed experiancing contractions. At this point I was in full panic mode. I needed to have a cervical examination to see if my cervix was changing in anyway – thinking out, opening, basically to see if I was in full blown labour. Luckily my cervix was still closed.
I was advised to have a steroid injection which matured babies lungs incase if delivery. I agreed and my gosh did it sting! I’m good with injections and needles, but lord, this one hurt, my poor butt. I also had 2 patches placed onto my stomach. These were hormone patches, designed to try and relax the cervix and stop contractions. I was then moved to a bed on labour ward for a while, before being moved down to ward.
The tiredness took over
The first few days in hospital were spent in a daze. An emotionally and physically drained daze. I was on strong pain medication that made me drowsy, but I couldn’t sleep. I’d wake every 10-15 minutes with a contraction. I was exhausted. I was having blood work done and multiple urine tests, yet nothing. No signs of infections. I was having monitoring every few hours, day and night, baby was fine. Completely happy and not phased by what was going on.
The consultants just kept telling me that They didn’t know why i was contracting. I was put on Buscopan in case it was due to irritable bowels or stomach, or anything. Nope. No change. To be honest, I cried far more than I’d like to admit and by Friday I had had enough. I broke down, well and truly. I was tired and frustrated. Of course I was super happy not to be in labour and for baby to be fine, but I wanted them to find something, anything, that would explain why I was contracting. Never have I wished for a UTI more in my life! Because, if there was something wrong, they could treat it and the pain would stop!
Things got worse
Saturday was a bad day. My contractions were getting stronger throughout the day. I had a few episodes where I went dizzy and threw up. Then, Saturday night, all hell broke loose. My contractions became unbearable and were coming every 3-5 minutes again. I had my cervix checked and it was still closed, but the midwife wasn’t happy with how things were looking.
I was transferred straight to the labour ward where I had a canular put in, and told I wasn’t allowed to eat or drink anything from now on. Then I had more bloods done and more urine tests done. Still no signs of any infections. I was in agony! The team decided to give me pethadin to try and help me relax. They only gave me half the dose, and it didn’t work. It took the edge of slightly, but I still woke with every contraction and it still hurt like a bitch.
By 6am the contractions were still going strong. I had a emergency scan done, where baby was laying transverse but moving around a lot, like it was trying to get into the head down position . The team were concerned baby was attempting to exit my body but was having a little trouble. Next thing I know, I’m meeting the team from the specialist NICU and they are going through what will happen when baby is born, how long baby will roughly have to stay in, different ways of feeding baby, chances of survival and long term complications. I was told they had a bed ect all ready. It was daunting and overwhelming, but I was ready!
Waiting…
8am rolled around and I was seen by a consultant who turned around and said baby would not be delivered. She said that baby wasn’t trying to move head down, and that I wasn’t allowed to have my baby. I asked what exactly was I supposed to do about the pain I was in, and her exact words were ” you’re going to have to just deal with it” – well, I lost my shit. Big time.
By this point I was done. Done with everything. I hadn’t slept in nearly a week, I was in extreme pain that wasn’t going away, despite being on pain medication. It was at this point I begged them to let me go home. I was told that I’d have to stay in as long as the contractions were still happening, and that the only way I’d go home is if they stopped, or I had a baby.
Afternoon came around and we were moved back down to the ward. The midwife in charge wasn’t overly happy I had been sent back down. She could see I was exhausted and arranged for me to have my own room in the hope it would help me rest. It’s hard to rest when you’re being woken up multiple times due to contractions and monitoring – but it was definitely quieter!
The Home stretch
My mum came up from Somerset to help out with Molly, which was greatly appreciated. Molly was well and truly spoilt! She bought Molly in to see me, and molly handed me a picture she’d made, full of stickers for the baby. Quite possibly the cutest thing ever! I hated being away from Molly, and having to say bye to her each time she left broke my heart. This was the longest I’d ever been away from her.
I had two more days of contractions, test, no sleep before the doctors finally agreed and allowed me to go home! I was told that I wasn’t to over exert myself in anyway. That I was experiencing threatened preterm labour and needed to rest and take things easy. Manage the pain with the medication given to me and to return if the contractions got worse or my waters brake. I couldn’t have been happier to be going home. We were reassured that my cervix was still closed with one more examination before my mum came to pick me up. Mum packed everything up for me and we left.
One Week Later.
Its now been almost a week since I came home and I am still contracting. I’m still not sleeping great ( writing this at 4am ) and I can’t do simple things like pick Molly up, or bend down to pick something off the floor. But I’m home. I’m in my own environment and that in itself makes me calm and more relaxed.
I’m now 29 weeks pregnant and so far, baby is still cooking away nicely! I have had to start my maternity leave earlier than planned, but work have been incredibly supportive. In fact, everyone who has messaged us these last two weeks have been so loving and supportive. I’m overwhelmed by the amount of kindness we’ve received. Family, Friends, Followers, we are truly grateful for it all. Thank you!
