A bump in the road.

This weekend we hit a little bump in the road with baby. I was working the weekend and had had a really busy night on Friday. I was doing a lot of lifting and running around and had never been as tired as I was on Saturday. So the rest of the weekend I had requested to do 1:1's (which requires me to sit with one patient to keep them safe, whatever the reason need be). Saturday I had a really easy 1:1, but on Sunday they assigned me to a different one. The patient was lethargic most of the shift but around 7:30 the patient decided to try and climb out of bed, confused, and completely off balance. I put the call light in because I could tell she was going to try and fight me and not be able to be redirected verbally. She then tried to dive out of bed and I was able to guide her to the floor safely. She then attempted to get up again and ended up falling onto me and the belly. Right afterwards the baby was moving around like crazy so I felt like everything was okay. Within 20 minutes, however, I started having contractions and they weren't going away. I should have gone down to labor and delivery right after this happened, but my adrenaline was so high and nobody was suggesting it so I felt like I had to just keep working. I called my mom and talked to her telling her what happened and this is when I started really feeling a cramping type of contractions that I had never felt before and together we decided I needed to get checked out right away. Once I got down to labor and delivery they automatically admit you and monitor you for 4 hours anytime there is a bump to the belly. Almost immediately when they put me on the fetal monitor they were picking up many contractions and I was starting to feel them more and more. They checked my cervix right away and did a test called a fetal fibronectic test which is basically just a test of fluid around my cervix that would tell us if there were chemical signs of labor. My cervix was thick and closed (which is good) and the test came back negative. So for the time being it was just to monitor and hopefully slow down these contractions. They gave me a fluid flush (which is just a bag of IV fluids given very quickly) and then continuous fluids after that - which can help slow down contractions. They drew some labs to just check my numbers. A few hours after the contractions weren't stopping, they decided to check me again and my cervix was starting to thin out and the baby was moving down closer to the birth canal - both signs of premature labor. They decided to go ahead and get a series of 2 steroid injections on board called betamethasone which would help the baby's lungs mature faster in case she does come early. I got the first one at about 1:30 am and you are supposed to get the 2nd 24 hours later - which would have meant that I was going to have to stay another night. Through talking with the midwife and because my contractions had stopped overnight they were okay with letting me go home and resting and just coming back for the 2nd injection. I went and had that 2nd injection this morning and when they put me on the monitor I had about 4-5 contractions in 20 minutes (which is more than normal). They were hesitant to check me because sometimes this can stir things up further. They sent me home monitoring my own contractions and if I have more than 10 in an hour I am supposed to call. I have an appointment with my midwife tomorrow where she will check my cervix again and just continue to monitor baby and me. Needless to say, I am off of work until I am at least 34 weeks - and possibly after that. My job is just too stressful and dangerous for me and baby right now. Just being on my feet is putting me at risk, and thats before I even cover the 50 pound lifting requirement to do my job and everything else that comes with it. My job for now is to just relax and take it easy. We still have the 3D/4D ultrasound scheduled for Friday with my family and Clint and his mom - so that will be wonderful to see her and hopefully get some good shots of her little face. That is as much of her as I want to see for at least a few more weeks, though! I will update after my appointment tomorrow. Hoping I have no exciting news.