Saturday was the Intensive Childbirth Preparation class I mentioned earlier. It was intensive and entertaining and helpful. The doula who taught the class is amazing and she injected a lot of non-cheesy humor into the day. However, I came home convinced that I was leaking amniotic fluid after a small comment someone made during class that I don't even remember now. But what it did was plant the seed in my head that something was wrong. Lane went to the restaurant after class to help out the severely understaffed kitchen for a few hours, so it was just me and Google. Google told me that if I was leaking fluid, the fetus would be in distress and would die. So I deliberated for an hour, told Lane about my Google downward spiral and decided that I couldn't risk not calling the advice nurse with Lane concurring. I called Labor & Delivery, told them I probably just psyched myself out with too much Google, but I was being responsible and asking their advice. And the nurse was like "Come in. How soon can you be here?"
I took the bus up to Parnassus (door to door service on the 43!), got checked in and peed in a cup. I was then put in a triage room and given a lovely open-back gown and a knit tube top to wear over my belly. Lane arrived a few minutes later. I was hooked up to a heart monitor for me and the baby as well as a monitor to track any contractions. And a blood pressure monitor. Then I got a full lady business exam to see about the leaking. Good news -- my waters were intact and nothing was leaking and my cervix was still Fort Knox. BUT I was having regular contractions, which worried the nurses and the doctor. I have felt a few Braxton-Hicks contractions in the past week or so, but apparently I've been having way more. I just thought it was the baby flipping around, but once I saw them on the monitor, I could tell the difference. They figured I was pretty dehydrated and that was causing the dramatic contractions, so I got plugged in to a liter of fluids and survived my first IV. They continued to monitor the baby's heart rate and the contractions and after an hour, everything leveled out. When they were ready to let us go home, we got a quick ultrasound to check the fluid level and everything looked great, including the giant head on that poor fetus.
Lessons learned: When you have a question that you can't shake, call your doctor or advice nurse. Don't go to Google first -- just call. Don't feel like a dipshit or feel guilty for coming in, but do be gracious and nice to the nurses. Say really nice things to your partner, especially when he had to leave halfway through a me time dinner for one at Delfina to sit with you in the triage room. It will make him feel pretty good. Drink more water than you think you need. Way more.
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