Thursday, January 22, 2015

Oi! Enough with the fake contractions.

Now I say fake contractions, but they feel real.  Oh, so painfully real.  

I had my first set of Braxton Hicks just last week at 23 weeks and two days.  I wrote down everything that happened so that I could give my doctor details...and now I have them for this post.  Here's how my day went:

-I woke up Wednesday morning at 6:00 a.m. with hip pain and lower back pain.  It was mild, but I usually don't wake up with pain (it progresses throughout the day) so I was a little uneasy.  

-At about 7:10 a.m. I took two aspirin free Excedrin, which was ok'd through my MD for pain and headaches.

-Got to work around 7:30 a.m. and walked to the other side of the building to hear about a co-worker's daughter who is 10 weeks ahead of me.  She had gone into pre-term labor the night before that was thankfully able to be stopped with no complications.  I walked back down to my office and the pressure in my back started increasing.

-At 8:15 I was in serious pain sitting at my desk.  Nausea, heavier breathing, sweating, painful tightness on either side of my belly button, a burning pressure in my lower back.  Crashing into my body in waves.  I was in bad shape.  Thankfully, I work in a hospital and asked a nurse in my office (who had worked labor and delivery for years) her opinion on what she thought was going on...Braxton Hicks. 

---Let me make a note at this point, that before she said it was Braxton Hicks I kind of thought it may be in my head since hearing about my co-workers daughter.  But when I doubled over in pain at my desk, I kind of figured it was actually something going on that was just a coincidence.

-As suddenly as the serious pain came on, just before 8:30, I was back to just mild back and hip pain.  I immediately picked up my phone and called my OB next door (thankfully in the same hospital I work in), and asked what the hell just happened.  I wanted my doctor to know what was going on.  I described what happened and asked a basic list of questions like if I was ok to stay at work, what should I do to help, when should I worry.  Basically, as long as I stayed off my feet as much as possible and kept my feet up when I could for the rest of the day, if they didn't continue, then I would be ok to stay at work.  IF they escalated or continued into the afternoon then I needed to come in.

Thankfully for the rest of the day I was able to have as little activity as possible and kept my feet up at my desk between patients.  So, I was only dealing with mild pain in my lower back and hips and a slight pressure that would increase with activity like walking.  Not bad at all.

I'm going to say thankfully again here.  Thankfully, they did not continue and I have not had them since.  Most sources online say that Braxton Hicks are usually pain free, but there are cases where they can occasionally escalate to a painful level.  I haven't been in to see the doctor since they didn't persist, but I haven't felt any complications so I think I'm ok.  Baby G is still moving around in there and I haven't had any spotting or serious abdominal pain.  Thankfully.

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