Discomfort and Discharge

Last night was a rough night with tremendous pelvic pressure. I just couldn't get comfy and come morning, my symptoms were still lingering. In fact when I got up with My Girl, I experienced a streak of discharge falling into my pajamas and down my leg. It was reminiscent of the morning at 24w 1d with My Girl that caused me to go to the doctor to learn my membranes were bulging.

Today was a scheduled appointment with my new group so instead of calling and trying be seen sooner, I just waited until my 1:45 time slot, taking the morning to push through my discomfort and clean my toilets, pick-up my house, do laundry, make a casserole for dinner and start a crock pot of soup for the weekend. Call it nesting, perhaps.

My mom came over to be with My Girl who is under the weather with an ear infection, runny nose and cough. She is just not herself and with her asthma it's just too cold to take her out - my car read 17 degrees this afternoon. Anyway, she is holding her own and not requiring any oxygen and we hope it remains this way.

I haven't had much of an appetite all day but when I met Hubby at his office felt like a Dunkin Donuts hot chocolate and munchkins, which I ate on the way to my appointment.

Dr. Einhorn is the third doctor I've met from my new group. She was just as nice, kind and understanding as the first two docs I met. It is so refreshing to see a woman! After much talking about my symptoms and after she reassured me that it was okay to examine me, I consented to a fFN swab and an internal. Yes, my symptoms were that bad that I really wanted to know the "status" of things. I was almost certain this baby was on his way today. Also, I've once again encountered that each OB has their own philosophy and that no two docs will agree on anything. There is just something about the way this doctor delivered the information and explained things that made me feel comfy, even though it was probably (well, I know it is) not what Dr. Davis would have suggested or done.

In order to perform the fFN swab, the doctor had to place a speculum. She evaluated my cervix visually first confirming it was closed and that yes, I did have a tremendous amount of what looked like normal pregnancy discharge. It is not amniotic fluid nor does it look like I have an infection. Good news so far.

She took the swab which I need to prepare myself if it's positive, doesn't mean there is anything to worry about. A negative result almost guarantees that I will not deliver in the next two weeks. The swab is being sent to the lab and it's likely that the results may not be ready before the close of business today.

She then did an internal (again, Dr. Davis would probably not agree with it but I just need to know what's happening!). My cervix is closed and long, although she admitted that it does feel different with a TAC in place. The baby can be felt low in my pelvis so she feels he has started to drop, possibly causing the great pressure and discomfort I am having.

The group is on-call this weekend and she told me if anything changes: bleeding, increased discharge, rupture of membranes, contractions, just an off-feeling, to call and go to L&D. She also wants me to take it easy and reduce my activity, being sure to hydrate well.

Oh, I should mention prior to my exam, she prefaced things with, "if you are at all dilated, you will be having your c-section today." She then went on to reassure us that the difference between a 24 weeker and a 33 weeker is night and day. Something we know, but will admit it's nice to hear and we will never tire of the positive thoughts.

As we were leaving the office, Dr. Barsoum, the first doc I met from the group popped her head into the room to say that she had a lengthy conversation with Dr. Davis just the day before. She wants me to schedule my c-section which once I meet with the doc about the amnio next week, will be able to put it on the calendar. Hubby and I marveled at the idea that in exactly four weeks from today, assuming Baby Boy's lungs are mature, I will be sitting in my hospital bed recovering from my surgery with our son in his open crib next to me. Crazy! It's just crazy! We're so close to reaching our goal of full-term!!!

So, I left the office feeling much better than when I had arrived, mentally speaking. Tonight I am off to book club and tomorrow I am going for a facial (thanks to my mother-in-law). I reason with myself that those are not stressful activities and I should be okay to pull them off.

Here's to charging forward!