Contractions!

Yesterday I got my at-home contraction monitor. This is something that my doctor (Dr. Elliot of Phoenix Perinatal Associates) wanted me to be on because of the risk of pre-term delivery for multiples. The thing is that with multiples since you get so (soooooo) big, your brain can send hormonal signals that it's time to deliver too early, so you really need to be aware of any signs that labor is starting. I was amazed to find out that for women pregnant with multiples, contractions can be felt at about 20% of the strength of a singleton pregnancy. Basically what this means is that you can be having contractions and not know about it. This happens throughout all pregnancies, but again, with multiples. you're more likely to go into labor early.

So, the nurse came by around 6:30 PM and showed me how it worked, etc. It's pretty easy - there's a docking station type thing that plugs into the land-line, and the monitor charges on that. When it's time to monitor (twice a day for an hour each time) you remove the monitor, put it on a (very large) belt that goes around the belly, and turn it on. After the hour, you plug it into the docking station, call a phone number, get a fax tone and hit a download button. About 1/2 hour later, a nurse calls to tell you what they saw.

A contraction is considered a muscle contraction prolonged for at least 40 seconds. So far I have monitored twice and found out that I had 4 contractions each hour! Isn't that insane? I never felt a thing that I would consider a contraction. My doctor has my limit set at 6 per hour. If I hit 6 or above, they will call me and ask me to monitor again for an hour. If the number is still above 6, I'll have to go to the hospital. The nurses said that 4 an hour is fine though - no cause to worry at all. I was just so surprised that this was going on and I had no idea! This really is an amazing journey that God has put us on - so much to learn and experience!