Too Much Drama for This Baby Mama!!

(Posting below was written by Matt)

I wish I could say everything at Adrienne's doctor appointment today was perfect, but I can't. Over the past couple of days she has had what I would call SEVERE back pain . . . and sometimes the backpain would cross over to lower her abdomen. She left work early yesterday because of the pain and went to bed. She rested and worked from home all of today.

Luckily, today was her scheduled doctor appointment. I picked Adrienne up from home and we headed to her appointment with Dr. Firpo at 3:50pm (Dr. Leeds-Richter just had her baby, so Dr. Firpo is Adrienne's doctor until Dr. Leeds-Richter is back from her maternity leave). Adrienne told Dr. Firpo about her pain and at first thought it sounded like Adrienne was having what is called "Braxton-Hicks" contractions.

A GOOGLE search shows Braxton-Hicks contractions are sporadic uterine contractions that actually start at about 6 weeks (although you won't be able to feel them that early. You probably won't start to notice them until sometime after midpregnancy, if you notice them at all (some women don't)). They get their name from John Braxton Hicks, an English doctor who first described them in 1872. As your pregnancy progresses, Braxton Hicks contractions tend to come somewhat more often, but until you get to your last few weeks, they should remain infrequent, irregular, and essentially painless. Sometimes, though, Braxton Hicks are hard to distinguish from early signs of preterm labor.

Adrienne had a contraction in Dr. Firpo's office while Dr. Firpo's hand was on Adrienne's belly. Dr. Firpo said the contraction didn't feel like a Braxton-Hicks contraction. They ran some more tests and hooked Adrienne up to a contraction monitor. The monitor showed that Adrienne was having REAL CONTRACTIONS!!!!

We immediately checked Adrienne into the Hospital to undergo observation. While in the hospital, they gave Adrienne 3 separate shots of Terbutaline. Everytime she received a shot, her heart rate immediately raced up and she felt light headed. She also threw-up all over the nurse (after the third shot of Terbutaline).

So after sitting in the room for a couple of hours and seeing the REAL contractions gradually decrase, our minds were put at ease.

The hopspital also performed a fetal fibronectin test, which was negative. A negative test result means Adrienne has a 98% chance that she will NOT deliver the baby in the next 2 weeks. The negative test result, coupled with the fact her cervix is still closed, are very good signs that we have bitten the bullet and can hopefully postpone delivery.

We talked to the doctor, and if Adrienne can hold-off on delivering the baby until her 36th week, Adrienne and Baby Reese will be in good shape. We are at 31 weeks tomorrow, if you are curious.

So many of you are asking what next. Well, right now it is lots of rest (and water) for Adrienne and Reese. Adrienne was told NOT to work for the next four days and that if she does go back to work, no stress and no late hours is the order of the day. I told her on the way home from the hospital (at about 10pm), "that work dog don't hunt around here."

So please keep Adrienne and Reese in your prayers. We need both of them healthy and for Baby Reese to stay in Mommy's belly for a full term.