The Negligent Blogger

So it seems that I have been negligent in the area of medical updates. This is probably due to the fact that I would rather talk about something else, but then I realized that this was probably not something I should just leave up in the air.

Warning: Detailed Girl Stuff Ahead.

As of right now, I am on two medications. I take Procardia, a high blood pressure pill, daily to increase blood flow to the uterus, thereby warding off contractions. I also take Terbutaline (a drug originally for asthma with a convenient side effect of stopping contractions) when I start having cramps. I've only had to take this one once, so I'm not sure how well it works or if it is even warranted in my case. The idea behind the second pill is that if I take it and the cramps stop- it is a real contraction. If I take it and nothing happens, it is just pressure. The doctor said that Keegan is so low that he is causing all sorts of muscles in my cervix and pelvic floor to spasm- thus the cramping sensation. He said it would be very difficult to tell these apart from a real contraction, so every time I have these cramps I have to call the doctor, which usually results in a trip to the office or to triage. Every time I go, I go feeling like things are okay and that I am just wasting their time and mine. But then, I thought that the first time and things were NOT fine--- it just goes to show you exactly how much I know. Not a dang thing.

The thing about going to the doctor about all of this is that I don't know enough to even know what to ask. So then I try to look things up and come up with stuff like this:

Early dilatation, although something to monitor, is not always an indication of preterm labor. The external opening to the cervix may open slightly, especially in women who have had previous births. It is important to observe for other changes as well, such as thinning of the cervix (shortening) and whether or not the internal os (opening) is dilating as well.

Super. But how do I know if my cervix is shortened? Something to ask next time. Or I get a lot of results with (please imagine heavy sarcasm here) obviously professional answers written like this:

I'm gonna tell u my storie...ur not gonna belive what happened 2 me.

Let's just suffice to say that I am skipping their medical advice.

And occasionally I come up with a horribly sad story about how things went wrong. I don't read those.

Other than that- the doctor seems quite confident that I will deliver the baby very close to term. He said that at the earliest I he would expect at least another month. I may just be grasping at straws here, but I'm clinging to at the earliest as my new motto. I'm feeling pretty good about it. I don't spend a lot of time worrying about the possibility of him coming early. That might sound bad, but really it's probably just a self-defense mechanism. I'm okay with that. But even with that, I feel pretty stinkin' confident that all will be well. The glass is half full here people.