Uterine Irritability

yesterday wasn't a fun day. i started having menstral-like cramps early in the day and they kept occuring every few minutes or so. sometimes it would only be a minute before one stopped and another one started. i researched online to see what it might be and concluded that it was round ligament pain or braxton hicks. i emailed my nurse to see what she thought but didn't hear back from her and toward the end of the day i started to worry. i called the labor & delivery ward and the nurse told me to come in for observation. they hooked me up to a monitor and gave me fluids to keep me hydrated.

it turns out that i have uterine irritability. google defines it as "weak but frequent pre-term labor contractions". my pregnancy book says that it's possible that premature labor could be prevented by full or partial bed rest and/or the use of medication. my doctor checked my cervix and said that it is still closed and the right size but asked me to stay home for the next 1 or 2 days and drink lots of water. TONS of water. she said that i need to monitor the contractions (how frequent, how long, etc.) and lay on my left side. if i notice that they are getting more consistant or getting stronger, or if i start bleeding or leaking fluids, i need to go back to the hospital.

so it's a little scary... but baby's heartbeat sounds good and he's moving around a lot so that gives me a lot of comfort. john has been a Godsend. he takes such good care of me. he's going to be such a good dad. he's such a great husband. we see dr. connelly (my OB) on thursday and she'll check to see if my cervix has changed. hopefully a little rest and lots of fulids will quiet this irritability and get things going smoothly.