A trip to the hospital!

On Thursday I was feeling really energetic and after all the rain we've been having the weeds and grass in the flowerbeds was out of control so I decided to do some weeding. I handed Tate and his buddy Jack a little shovel and rake and I grabbed a hoe and went at it. Alex came home and told me to quit it, that he would do it on Saturday but that he had a ton of homework. I assured him I was fine, though I kept seeing the frustrated looks and hearing the exasperated sighs from the kitchen. I finally did quit when I started feeling crampy and exhausted.

I must have been nesting because Friday morning, even though I still wasn't feeling good I swept, mopped, did laundry and cleaned bathrooms. By then however I knew I had to be done. The cramps were feeling more like contractions and I sometimes had to stop whatever I was doing to wait until it passed. I knew I had over did it so I confined myself to the couch as much as I could with two kids and did nothing except drive to the park later that evening and sat down while the kids played. The "cramps" however would not go away and they hurt! Finally that night after the kids were in bed I gave in and told Alex that it felt like I was having contractions...and that they had consistently been coming every 2-4 minutes nearly all day. Although I defiantly told him all I needed was a good nights rest and I'd be fine he dialed the doctor's office and handed me the phone threatening to call his buddies on the fire department to come help him wrangle me to the hospital if I didn't comply. Fine!

The lady said she'd have the on call doctor call me back. An hour later there was no call and I went to bed. I was awakened at 11:30 by a call from Dr. Ott (who happens to be my doctor). I told him what was going on and that even though I was able to sleep through them I was still having contractions. He told me to head to the hospital. "Right now? As in...tonight?" Yep. So after calling Alex's mom to come sit with the kids we got to the hospital at midnight. They hooked me up to the monitor and sure enough I was having contractions and my cervix was thinning. (Yes Alex, my overprotective husband was right and his stubborn wife was not. Thank you honey!) We were forgotten for a couple of hours while two babies were born, but then a little after 2:00 they gave me something to stop the contractions and sent me home. By 3:30 the contractions did stop and I finally went to bed.

The next day Dr. Ott called again informing me that according to the urine sample I had some small kidney stones that apparently are a common cause of pre-term labor. He ordered lots of fluids and bed rest for the day and as long as the contractions didn't return and I took it easy I wouldn't have to come back in on Sunday to get checked out again. Mrs. Macho here decided to do as she was told. Well....almost. I did after all have a concert that night. Don't worry, the kids spent the day with Grandma and Grandpa and I slept and vegged all day until it was time to get ready for the concert. It went great too!

Ever since then, even something as small as sweeping the floor (a daily must in my house) making dinner and carrying Allie around for a minute gives me cramps. I might go crazy doing nothing, but having a baby 8 weeks early is not exactly an option I want to deal with. With that being said, anyone read any good books? I'm going to need something to keep me occupied and off my feet.