Braxton Hicks Contractions

So, for the past four days I've been experiencing what I thought were Braxton Hicks contractions. The first night I felt them, they were painful and happening every 5 minutes. Then they stopped. The next night, they happened sporadically, but were still painful. I did a little reading on Babycenter to try to determine if it was preterm labor or braxton hicks. Well, according to BBC, B/H contractions are painless. So, I started doubting myself and thinking "I must have a very low tolerance for pain because these are painful." I waited another day and decided to casually ask my friend Susan last night, when I was picking up Devin from her house. She told me that she thought she was having B/H contractions when she was pregnant with her son and it turned out to be preterm labor! Um, ok. That was enough to convince me to call my doctor's office to get their professional opinion. Yeah, I know, I probably should have called them from the get-go, but I was certain these were B/H contractions!! I didn't want to be "that girl". I'm a dummy.

So, I called the after hours number, spoke to a nurse on the emergency line and told her my symptoms. At this point, I'm still convinced they're B/H contractions. So, the nurse pages the on-call doctor and the doctor tells the nurse that she wants to see me at the hospital.

So, I drop off the baby with Mike and decide to play it safe and plug in the address to the hospital to my GPS device (which coincidentally happens to be my phone.) I didn't want to take any chances by taking a wrong turn or going the long way to the hospital. And, the nice lady's voice on the GPS device would be welcome company on the ride.

Yeah, so do you know where this f*ckn GPS Goddess sends me? Right through the heart of the WORST part of Boston. I mean, this is one area you want to keep your doors locked, eyes straight ahead of you, don't make eye contact with anyone. The normal 30 minute ride took me over an hour because I hit every single traffic light known to man! UGH! I'll definitely think twice before asking my GPS friend for any kind of help again!

So, I finally get to the hospital, I can't find the parking garage and end up valet parking my car. It's not that expensive, so I'm OK with that. I just wanted to see the doctor at this point.

After a few wrong turns, I get to the L&D admitting room, get checked in, and get escorted up to the triage area. A few minutes later, a nice nurse named Liz called my name and brought me into a room. She asked me the regular questions and then told me that Rachel, the midwife I've been seeing for both pregnancies, would be checking me out. I love Rachel. She's awesome and it made me feel so much better knowing she was going to be the one looking after me.

So, I put on my johnny, pee in a cup, and wait for Rachel. When she comes in a few minutes later, she told me that she's been looking at my chart and reminded me that I have fibroids on my uterus. OH YEAH! I remember now! I honestly forgot all about that. These fibroids were discovered when I had my c-section. My OB also told me they could cause some issues with future pregnancies. Yeah, well I forgot all about them!

Well, from what Rachel was telling me, some women experience excruciating pain with fibroids and go on narcotics for pain relief! OMG. Wow, well I truly hope that I will not be one of those women! I guess what happens is that the bigger you get in pregnancy, the fibroids begin to shrink because there's less blood for them to feed upon. The shrinking is what causes the pain and it does feel like someone is pulling my belly apart. It friggin hurts!

Bottom line is, I'll be able to take Motrin for pain relief. Rachel said that they'd probably want to do another ultrasound to compare the size of the fibroids from my 18 week ultrasound to see if they've shrunken. If they have shrunken, that would be the reason for my pain.

She did leave me with this advice: Don't wait three days to call them. Nothing is silly to call about. I need to heed their advice more often and stop being a freaking martyr!!!