No Good Very Bad Day

Had my final check before vacation with Dr.A this afternoon at 1:45pm. I figured it would be our usual quick check for weight, doppler heartbeats, cervical check, and out the door. Not so.
Starting off getting weighed by the nurse...gained two more pounds. Blood pressure looks good. Gave my urine sample. Went into exam room to wait for Dr.A. He came in and as usual, started with checking for heartbearts. This almost always is a difficult task but today proved to be even more difficult than usual. Baby girl's heartrate was picked up immediately but even after looking for 10 minutes Dr.A still couldn't find baby boy's. Dr. A said he would have to do an ultrasound to verify that both heartrates were still present...yay for me. It is always so nice when your doctor says that to you. I might have been more concerned if both babies weren't throwing the biggest pary ever inside my ute right at that moment. I knew they were both fine but it is still a little unsettling.
Before heading out to the ultrasound room Dr.A said he wanted to go ahead and do my cervical check as well as my fundal height measurement. After doing my cervical check he looked at me and sighed. He told me I was 1cm dilated. He said he wasn't shocked but he also said he wasn't happy about it. He immediately took out his prescription pad and starting writing. He upped my dose of Procardia from 1 x a day to 2 x a day. He also prescribed an additional medication called Terbutaline which is typically administered through an IV at the hospital to stop preterm labor contractions. The reason he wrote it for oral consumption is so that I am able to take it in an emergency situation to hopefully stop progression of labor on our way to a hospital. In addition to those, he wrote another prescription for a FFN test (fetal fibronectin test) for the Monday after I get back from vacation. If you remember reading my post from the day I went to labor&delivery for contractions I talked about what the test is used for because I was also given the test that day as well. None the less, it can help to determine if I might go into labor within the next two weeks. It gives the doctors a better timeline to go by when trying to decide if they should administer corticosteroid shots to help mature the babies lungs before a preterm delivery.
After all that fun stuff, Dr. A left the room so I could get dressed and he went to start up the ultrasound machine. The second I stood up I started bleeding. Par for the course I guess. I wrapped the paper gown around my waste and stuck my head out the door to call him back in. He wasn't too concerned by it and just said that it was probably from the cervical check.
I got dressed and headed out to the ultrasound room to check for the babies heartbeats. They were both in there looking great. There were hands and feet everywhere! And just as I suspected, they were throwing a big old party in there. Besides getting to see them briefly, there was a good moment that came from our appointment today...Baby girl is head down! That's right! Looks like we may be going for the kind of delivery I was hoping for. Obviously, I don't want to get to far ahead of myself on that one but it was a good sign.
So to sum it all up: I am still contracting and now dilated to 1cm. I am on a much stronger dose of meds to control the contractions which will hopefully keep my cervical dilation to a minimum. I am allowed to go on vacation as long as I am off my feet, staying well hydrated, and carrying my chart around with me everywhere I go as well as my emergency contraction meds. And as soon as I get back in town I have to go in for my FFN test and then report straight back to DR.A for follow up.

Needless to say this was way more of an eventful appointment than I was hoping for. Let's hope the next one is nothing like it.

On a side note: after all that excitement at Dr. A's office, all I wanted to do was go home and take a nap (I only slept 4 hours the night before because I am so uncomfortable all the time). Went to CVS to drop off my prescriptions, since I have to take them with me, and SURPRISE, they don't carry the Terbutaline that I have to have in order to be permitted to travel. Again...par for the course I guess. Not only did they not have it but none of the other stores in Cincinnati had it either. They also checked Walgreens, Kroger and even Bethesda North Hospital. They finally ended up trying a store in NC where we are going on vaca and they had it in stock. Thank goodness. Seriously though...after all this and on no sleep...I just wanted to cry.

I am so glad this day is over and I will be on a beach sunning myself in just a few short days.

Oh yeah, by the way, I have had my due date wrong all along. I am actually due on 10/23/10 which puts me at 28 weeks and 5 days. Hello third tri!!