Friday, June 13, 2008

Visit to "L&D"

L&D = Labor and Delivery.
Yesterday I was feeling mostly funny. Achy, funky, strange.
In addition to feeling off, I barely felt the baby move. Usually, he wiggles, he kicks, he's doing all kinds of acrobatics.
Yesterday, not much.
I even broke down and grabbed a soda from the beverage fridge at work. I never drink soda, but I thought the sugar rush might get him dancing.
I drank an entire 12 oz can of Coke.

Nada.

At this point I got down on my hands and knees (thank god no one happened to be walking by my office) and tried doing cat/cow stretches. I did some downward dog.

Nothing.

Normally I wouldn't be all freaked out about this, but I've been doing all kinds of things lately to get the baby to turn - laying upside down on an inverted ironing board, strange yoga positions, etc. I was paranoid that in doing all my twists and turns, I get him somehow wedged in an unfavorable position and his cord got stuck or some other doomsday scenario.

It was getting close to 4pm, and I was getting ready to leave for the day anyhow. I called my doctor.

"I hate to sound like a paranoid 1st time mom, but I haven't felt the baby move in a while, can I come in and see you guys?"
"Let's have you go down to L&D and get checked out" they responded.

Ok.
I can do that.

Drove the 20 miles in traffic, thinking the whole way all kinds of "what-if" scenarios. I'm really good at thinking of "what-if" scenarios. Adam thinks I'm being a pessimist. Hell, I figure I'm being a realist. Shit happens. Heck, shit happens to me. It's a fact. If I can just prepare myself mentally for the what-ifs, then they are not as scary. But regardless, back to the story at hand.

I arrive at L&D. This place is so nice! It's calm, cool and collected. The nurses are all so sweet. Everyone is laid back and friendly. It is SO unlike the L&D at the last place I gave birth at. It's like another world. Thank goodness this is where I'll be birthing.

They checked me in, they checked my vitals, they checked the baby. I hung out for 20 minutes for some monitoring. And wouldn't you know it, the moment I lay down on the bed to be evaluated, the kid starts doing acrobatics. Not like little kicks here and there, but full-on, belly moving gyrations. That little monkey! The nurse wasn't surprised. She said I should rest more. Try and lie down a few times a day.

Um.

I don't have a cot in my office. Nor a couch nor even a chair that reclines very well. Not very practical for me in my current situation.

But, the important thing is the little man is A-Ok!

And now I know how to get to L&D.
And I'm preregistered.
Not a complete waste of my time afterall.

7 comments:

Lindsay said...

Glad everything is ok! I think, at this point, it's much better to over-react and get things checked. It's just good Mommy-ing to go with your gut on these things.

Karla said...

So glad to hear that everything is fine! Good luck trying to get in some extra rest!!

-Bridget said...

I'm glad everything is ok and you are happy with the new hospital. That's reassuring.

I know the feeling of being panicked about movement and the moment they put on the sensor the baby is kicking that thing off my belly and into the next room.

But, both of my babies had to be delivered unexpectedly because I noticed a reduction in movement and went in to get checked and the babies were in distress. So, don't second guess yourself if it happens again. Head straight to L&D again.

DesiDVM said...

On Friday the 13th, no less...I'm so glad everything was ok. It's better to be the paranoid mom than the one who ignores obvious warning signs, KWIM? Listen to your doctor -- take it easy (as much as possible anyway)!!

WheresMyAngels said...

It is very smart of you to go in and be checked out. In my 9th month, I didn't feel my baby move for 3 hours, and I was almost in tears and refused to go have it checked out cause I was back stage at my Children's recital. Well baby moved later but my dh had a big mouth and blabbed to my DR. My Dr. chewed me out horribly. He told me that I would of felt horrid if some thing was wrong and that they could of helped and I waited too long. so don't feel stupid.

I saw a comment you made on another blog and saw your son's name and am dying to know how you pronounce it. I like different name's, only I have never had a father of one of my children, let me name one of my kids yet!! lol

Anonymous said...

Oh Rita, I'm sure you must have been freaking out!! I went through a similar thing when I was 8 months pregnant with Zoey. I did everything I could to get her to move, and it didn't work. Went in for a NST, and as soon as I'm hooked up, she starts dancing away inside me. A pain in the butt from the very begining!

Glad everything is okay though!

LauraC said...

Glad to hear everything is ok! I spent way too much time in surprise L&D visits, and never regretted the peace of mind I got from visiting.

I can't believe you're in the home stretch. Turn baby turn!!!

My little family

My little family
Mama bear, Papa bear & Xaelen bear

About Me

My photo
San Diego, California, United States
I'm gLobey, also known as Rita, also known as Mama. I'm a married mother of two awesome boys named Xaelen (age 3) and Quillan (9 months). They are super cute! My other half is Adazm, he's quite cute too.

My Blog List