29.5 weeks-back in hospital....

So I went to my 29.5 week appt yesterday.  Had ultrasound first, and like always, Ansen is doing wonderfullly.  Practice breathing a ton, moving around, lots of fluid, etc.  I got some amazing pics of my big cheeked little boy!  Like this one (with his little foot/toes hanging out above his head).  Is it normal for a baby at only 7.5 months to have CHEEKS like that!!  I am in love!!!!! 

At my appointment, they asked if I had any cramping, which I have had for the last 1.5 weeks.  Its been a cramping/achiness in my lower uterus near my scars, and I had chalked it up to annoying acreta stuff.  I was always noticing it, but it was bearable.  So Nurse Kathy (who is AMAZING btw) talked to me for a while.  I asked her about my risk of bleeding at home (which is a big worry to me when I am home alone with the kids A LOT) and she had asked dr and he said HIGH, like 60/70% chance.  That wasn't very reassuring.  I also asked about when I would hospitalized for sure, and she said they would admit me any time I didn't feel comfortable being at home anymore.  Like if I had wanted to today, I could have been admitted for duration of pregnancy.  I guess that tells you how serious it is, just bc they don't usually tell you to come stay at the hospital whenever you feel like it.  She then asked me if I thought that cramping/achiness could be contractions and I was like "nope, no way.  I don't feel any hardening of belly.  Its just located along bottom of uterus.  Isn't even happening THAT much" etc, etc.  So she called doctor and he recommended monitoring for an hour.  She told me it was up to me and if I was sure it wasn't contractions, I could go on my way....I told her she was the boss and to do with me whatever she thought I needed.  Well she said for some assurance, she would love for me to be monitored just to make sure it wasn't contractions. 

So I went to WETU (women's evaulation and treatment unit) and I felt silly for having to put on a gown and all that, since I was only staying an hour tops....but I put it on, layed down and they hooked me up to the monitors.  SO i felt that achiness/cramping.....and then a few minutes later I felt it again....and then I felt it again....and so I looked at the contraction strip (had been watching TLC, thinking this was going to be a waste of my time) and there are contractions on there!!  I kept having them, and was having them about every 3 minutes.  Some were worse then others.  I am thinking I must have only felt the big ones when I was sitting up/dealing with kids stuff, bc I would have definately said something if I noticed these were happening THAT frequently!

So one of my maternal/fetal doctors came in and told me that he was giving me some calcium beta blocker to relax my uterus....and that I would also be sent for another ultrasound to measure cervical length.  He explained that he DID NOT want me contracting, just bc any action in my uterus could cause parts of my placenta to pull away and bleed.  He was very happy though that I wasn't showing any signs of bleeding yet.  He also said the contractions might be caused by some bleeding going on IN uterus...bc the uterus will contract if there is a collection of blood in there that needs to get out.  I haven't noticed ANYTHING though, so hoping its just my uterus being wonky.  Weirdly enough, even when pg with the twins, I NEVER had consistent contractions like this.  I had c-sections bc I never could get into any kind of contraction pattern to dilate, even on pitocin.  Just weird.

So I got my first dose of meds and Nurse Kathy came to wheel me to ultrasound again, saying "I hope you don't hate me" laughing.  I told her that I couldn't believe I was actually having contractions-and she just said that she was glad I went to get monitored!  So my ultrasound showed that my cervical length is at 3.1 cm (at 29.5 weeks).  I had a cervical length u/s at 26 weeks when I came in for the bleeding, and that one had been 3.6 cm.  So my doctor said that it was shortening, but normal for gestational time period and that he was happy with it.  Went back to WETU, hung out there forever, got a 2nd dose of meds (get them every 4 hours) and they told me I would be monitored one more time and I would probably get to go home with a prescription after that.  So I got monitored again, and was still noticing the cramping, although it wasn't as strong as before....and the strip was still picking up little contractions here and there (not as regular as before).  My doctor came in and told me I was being admitted overnight, just bc they don't want me having any contractions with everything else I have going on. 

So here I am.  I noticed contractions here and there last night...but by midnight (and about 2 more doses of meds) my uterus is quiet and not one contraction was picked up.  YEAH!  Getting monitored again in 30 minutes and I am hoping that it doesn't pick up anything...bc that will tell doctors whether or not I can go home. 

Of course, I am starting to wonder WHEN I should be admitted, since they said its up to me....unless I have any bleeding of course.  Some days, I am extremely nervous being at home with the kids by myself (mostly at nights-just scared of a big bleed starting suddenly), but I LOVE being home around my kids.   They make these days go by much faster!  I guess I am just going to play it by ear..and symptoms. 

Will update more when I know more.  Time to order/eat breakfast before I am stuck on a monitor for an hour!