From: larrabee@cse.ucsc.edu (Tracy Larrabee)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Update on my preterm labor: bed for the duration
Date: 17 Nov 92 18:16:54 GMT
Organization: University of California, Santa Cruz (CE/CIS Boards)
NNTP-Posting-Host: arapaho.ucsc.edu

Well, I'm still in bed.  And the way it looks, I'll only get out of this
bed before Christmas if I do it to give birth.

I went to see my doctor on Monday.  I had a feeling things weren't going
to go well, so despite the fact that I had permission to drive myself,
I asked my husband to take me.  Result: I am now 95% effaced.  To recap
my progression, the week before I was 50% effaced and the next day I was
80% effaced (as I was the day after that).  The drive home from the
hospital seemed to set off more contractions, and the ones I had seemed
more uncomfortable.

With not much more than a wet paper towel between my son and the
world, my restrictions have become more extreme and my connection to
drugs more strong.  I guess I am lucky I am not in the hospital as it
is.  I have a little book in which I am to write every contraction,
anything special I did just before it (like eat, turn over, or visit
the toilet), and the timing of each dose of medication along with my
pulse.  I'm to call my doctor if anything seems at all odd--and I
should interpret that liberally.  I am to tell the staff not to put
me on hold but to get my doctor's nurse or beep my doctor (depending
on the time) right away.

So it has finally hit my husband and me that we are in for the long
haul.  He is revamping my arrangment in bed, he is getting more
matter-of-fact about being responsible for *everything*, and we are
spending time talking about things we could spend money on that would
make our lives easier. (Example: the baby's room is a horrid pink
color and he promised to paint it.  We are looking into paying to have
it painted.  And yes, I know painting the nursery isn't crucial, which
is why we don't want Dan doing it, but we don't want to give up all our
little plans for things to have ready for our little guy.)  This is 
quite a change from our most recent financial frettings.  Suddenly
the tenor of the times and the balance in our savings account doesn't
seem quite as influential as it was a week ago.

I'm glad I have computer access.  The email is a life saver.  Not to
mention the FAQ file, a phone call from an Oregon netter, and a fellow
net.bedrester who has loaned me two books: *When Pregnancy Isn't
Perfect: A Layperson's Guide to Complications in Pregnancy* and
*Pregnancy Bedrest: a Guide for the Pregnant Woman and her Family.*
I've only read the first one but it really scared me about how
ignorant I was about the signs of preterm labor.  There were enough
signs of what was going on with me to objectively state that I was in
trouble before I resorted to that self-exam--I just didn't realize
what it all meant.  I'm really glad I trusted the overwhelming feeling
I had that something was wrong.  I almost let my fear of appearing
hysterical keep me from getting help, and that would have been very,
very bad.  

I urge all you pregnant women out there to be aware of any tightenings
of your uterus.  If your whole uterus goes rock hard more than a
couple of times in an hour; if your uterine tightenings are at all
uncomfortable or if they seem to come as the same time that you have
"digestive distress": play it safe and ask your doctor about what is
going on.  I might have figured out earlier that something was odd if
my constant lower-digestive distress hadn't masked things.  Now my 
doctor says that that constant intestinal activity probably had a lot
to do with my current sedentary confinement.  Preterm labor just isn't
that uncommon: 6% of pregnancies have premature labor or premature
rupture of membranes.

On another topic, I feel like a poster child for late-in-life
pregnancy.  I'm not that old: I turned 35 yesterday, but I recently
read a UPI article about how pregnant women over 30 have higher
incidences of miscarriage (bingo!), chromosomal defects (bingo!),
preterm labor (bingo!), and stillbirth (please, or please--no bingo
here).

Anyway, I have had colleagues, friends, relatives, and my pets helping
to keep me sane through taking over my duties, putting up with my
phone calls, offering to visit, and giving me some warm and furry
affection.  I have some things going for me.  Maybe I'll finally learn
a little bit about patience over the next few weeks.  In any case, as
many of you have told me: six weeks will have been a very short time
to have invested in a healthy son. (If I just *knew* he would be OK, I
think it would make the whole thing quite a bit easier.)

You will probably hear from me again.  I hope I don't get too 
repetitive.
--
Tracy Larrabee		larrabee@cse.ucsc.edu