My first hospital visit: 29 weeks 1 day

This is not my usual weekly pregnancy update. I just wanted to check in and give you all an update on what’s been going on over the past few days. I’ll start with the most eventful item which was my fist visit to the hospital.

Last Thursday (right after my 29 week post) I was walking through the parking lot to my car when I felt a strong pain like one of the babies was kicking me hard down by my cervix. Immediately following the sudden “kick,” or whatever it was, I felt a very strong cramping in my lower abdomen. This cramp was low but I also had the more familiar tightening of my whole abdomen. It took my breath away (like the Braxton Hicks that I’ve felt for a while now) but this cramping was something I hadn’t felt yet. It was more like a really intense menstrual cramp that also sent cramping pain through my lower back (similar to the back pain I used to get during my periods.) I had to stop walking and breath deeply for about 30 seconds, then I got in my car to sit down and continued to watch the clock. I think it lasted for about 1 minute. The intense cramp then loosened, but I continued to feel dull cramping in my lower abdomen and back (and a lot of movement from the babies).

This was around 4:30pm just as I was getting off work. As I drove home I had more Braxton Hicks (my whole abdomen tightening) but since I still had the abdominal and back cramping I’m not sure if these were actually considered Braxton Hicks (since I’ve heard that Braxton Hicks are not usually painful). I figured I should call my doctor just to check in and see if this was something worth coming in for. Sadly the office had just closed and I couldn’t seem to get through to anyone through the answering service (since I’ve never called in after hours about anything during this pregnancy).

When I got home I laid on the couch with my feet up and drank water (as instructed by a friend who had dealt with frequent Braxton Hicks during her pregnancy). This didn’t seem to stop the cramping or the Braxton Hicks. I needed to run to the store to get some ingredients- I was planning to have some friends over to make caramel apples- and I was pretty sure I would be feeling better by 8pm so I made my husband drive me to the store. Walking around the grocery aisles caused my cramping to increase and I realize that it probably wasn’t wise for me to go shopping. Back at home I stayed on the couch with my feet up and my friends made the caramel apples without me, they were concerned but I assured them that I might go in to the hospital once they left.

At 10:45 the girls headed home and I again tried to call the after hours line at my doctor’s office- and still couldn’t figure out how to get through. I felt stupid for not knowing what to do in a situation like this, but I just really haven’t needed to call the Dr. until this point. I ended up looking through all of my papers and pamphlets for my hospital and found a note saying that after calling the office you have to stay on the phone until the line goes dead and then someone will answer- oops- didn’t know that! So I finally got through and they notified the on-call doctor. I got a call a few minutes later from my doctor and after listening to my symptoms she told me I needed to come in. I asked if I could wait until the morning to come in, but she insisted that because I’m pregnant with twins and it’s too early for me to have them that we needed to check it out. I was also concerned with the situation due to my possible Obstetric Cholestasis because it can sometimes lead to premature labor but I was trying not to let my mind go there because it was just too soon for the babies to come.

I had to wake up my poor husband and we headed to the hospital. Thankfully the hospital where I will be delivering has a floor specifically designated as the “Women’s Assessment Center” so we didn’t have to go to an ER. When we arrived we found out that I was 1 of 2 patients on the entire floor, so we got pretty immediate care. I was quickly checked in and set up in this room:

My first hospital bed

They hooked up my belly with monitors so they could keep track of the babies heart beats and also measure if I was having contractions. It took a while for the nurse to lock onto the babies’ heart beats because they were swimming around so much in my belly!

All hooked up to the monitors

The babies heart rates were fine, nice and steady- so they were not in distress- thank You Lord! My monitor showed that the tightening I was feeling were indeed contractions and they were occurring every 5 minutes. They say you should come in if you are having contractions every 10 minutes, so I guess it’s a good thing that I came in when we did.

Monitoring the babies and contractions

I did have a moment of concern when I found out I was contracting so often and realized that the tightness I was feeling wasn’t just from the babies moving around. I began to silently pray for the babies to stay put. It was too early for them to be born. Overall my husband and I felt relatively peaceful though especially since the babies heart rates were stable and not distressed. So all that was left to do was get my cervix checked.

I know women say this is painful so I was ready for it to be unpleasant. I wouldn’t say that it was painful as much as it was extremely uncomfortable and made me feel overwhelmed with the desire for it to be over. The good news was that my cervix was still completely closed! The doctor said it wasn’t thinning or opening due to the contractions so I was free to go! I am so thankful that my body is doing its job to keep these babies in the oven longer.

We were also able find out the results for my bile acids test while we were at the hospital. It turns out that one of my bile acids was elevated. This means that technically I do have Obstetric Cholestasis (OC). Because we did the blood test and started on the medication only a few days after my first symptoms of itching the doctor feels like we can keep it under control. I will continue to get weekly blood tests to check my bile acids and liver function. I will also begin weekly Non-Stress Tests (NST) on Monday. The NST are basically exactly what I had done on Thursday night- where I get hooked up to the monitors and they check the babies heart rates to make sure they are doing well while resting, while moving or during contractions. This test also can tell whether the babies are getting enough oxygen.

As for my OC, I have found that some days are worse than others. On Thursday I wasn’t as bothered by the itching, but this could have been because I was more focused on the contractions. Yesterday and today the itching has been back in full force and maybe worse than I’ve experienced up to this point. I’m not sure why some days are more unbearable than others. I am continuing to take my Usodiol pills three times a day and I cover myself in a nice thick layer of aloe vera gel multiple times a day.

My husband researched other liver conditions (like jaundice) and found that some were helped by light therapy. So I sat out by the pool for an hour today (it just happened to be 78 degrees today in the middle of November). We’ll see if there is some long term benefit to being in the sun because there was definitely no immediately relief today. Regardless of what we are able to do to lessen the itchiness I feel like I am having an easier time mentally accepting that I may just be itchy for the next 6-8 weeks. I’m more than willing to bear it for a full 8 weeks if it means my little boys will not come too early!

I’ll still share a short update with belly shots in a few days when I hit 30 weeks. Thank you all for your prayers for these babies and for my new condition. Knowing that you all are standing with us is such a supply and a comfort.