These are the warning signs of preterm labor:
- Contractions (your abdomen tightens like a fist) every 10 minutes or more often
- Change in vaginal discharge
- Pelvic pressure—the feeling that your baby is pushing down
- Low, dull backache
- Cramps that feel like your period
- Abdominal cramps
Besides the contractions and discharge, most of them can be the warning signs of having eaten a bad burrito, so how are you to know? The other night, without going into too much detail, I had 3/6 of the warning signs. My first instinct was to call the doctor, but having been accused of being a hypochondriac more than a few times, and it being 10 at night, I decided to wait. I didn't want to end up at the hospital with a bad case of indigestion! The march of dimes site recommended that you lay on your left side for an hour and drink a ton of water, so I decided to try that, and it worked! I still had some back cramps on and off the whole night, but I was definitely feeling better. The baby was also moving around a lot, which was reassuring. The next day I called my midwife and she recommended the same thing the march of dimes site did. She also said to call while I was having the cramps next time, not after, and if I had them again I'd have to be seen.
Here's a really cool
animation of what happens to your insides when you're pregnant. It really helped me visualize why I'm so uncomfortable! The ending is the best, ew.
Despite being slightly unnerving, that little episode reaffirmed the fact that I may not have the full 7 weeks until my due date, or even 4 weeks until I'm full term, to prepare for the baby. So, I've been kicking it into high gear and getting a lot of baby stuff done! As of now, I have all of my pre-admission forms handed in. I have my hospital bag half packed (I still need a few more things for that)! Eli started painting the rocking chair and fixing the changing table/ dresser. Eli and I are signed up for 4 baby classes, we actually went to one of them Tuesday night and it turned out to be a lot of fun! And, (thanks to Eli's dad) we have ordered the baby's
crib! I've also been making more progress with getting the apartment organized and put together.
Here's a little template I made of what the baby space will entail:
The more I prepare for the baby, the more questions I seem to have about
how to prepare for the baby. I feel silly for asking some of these, but here are a few things I've thought of that maybe some parents out there could help me with!
How many breast pads do you need at the hospital? Will they provide them?
Will they provide diapers for the baby, or should I bring those?
Does the baby wear clothes at the hospital? How many outfits does it need?
Any labor/hospital must haves?
