In "Due" Time

We had an unexpected "are we going to have this baby today" experience this week.  Wednesday afternoon, evening, and all through the night I started having regular contractions.  At first I didn't pay much attention because I've had the Braxton Hicks contractions for a while now that come and go throughout the day everyday.  However, by Wednesday night it dawned on me that these contractions were showing up on a regular basis.  I tried different methods of calming them down like a warm bath, laying on my side, propping my feet up, etc.  We went ahead and went to bed and tried to get some rest, but the contractions woke me up at about 1:00 am.  I let Tyson keep sleeping because I figured there wasn't any point in both of us being sleep deprived and he had to go to work the next day.  Finally after timing them at 3 to 5 minutes apart I called the birth center. One of the midwives called me back immediately and walked me through a few things to do and told me to call her back in an hour.  These contractions weren't really painful, just a feeling of tightness until about 4:30 by this time I was feeling some pain and called the midwife again.  They wanted us to go ahead and come in.  Tyson and I went in to the birth center Thursday morning and they hooked me up to two monitors (one for the contractions and one for baby's heartrate).  Baby boy was doing just fine.  His heartrate was great and he was moving all over the place.  They could obviously see now the contractions I was having which were 5-6 minutes apart.  The midwife who was on call at this point was Leigh Ann and she was awesome!  The more shocking part though was that when she examined me she told us I was 2cm dialated.  I think she was a little surprised too.  Tyson and I were just looking at each other like deer in headlights at this point.  The first step to try and get the contractions to stop was to start IV fluids.  After two bags of fluid the contractions were still coming, so we had to move to the next measure which was a drug called terbutaline that relaxes the uterus.  It took a while for Leigh Ann to convince me to let them give it to me.  The side effect is an increase in heartrate and shortness of breath plus it crosses the placenta and gets to the baby.  It's like getting a shot of 5 cups of coffee or something. :)  I'm just not a medication taking gal.  Anyway we waited a little longer, to see if the contractions would stop but ended up giving consent to try the terbutaline.   It was a challenge but I made it through three doses (which is standard).  Finally the contractions stopped.  If the meds wouldn't have worked the next step would have been to send us over to UNC hospital.  If I was truly in labor we would not have been allowed to deliver at the birthcenter until I was 37 weeks.  I'm 34 weeks now.  Truly though Tyson and I never got too anxious or worried.  We had complete peace the whole time.  Later when reflecting on the whole thing I was just reminded that our child's birthday has already been decided and we have nothing to fear.  The experience with the staff at the birth center was incredible too.  We were completely doted on the whole day.  Leigh Ann was so available and "with" us the whole time.  We were all like good friends by the time we left.  She was great about consulting with the doctor at UNC and the other midwives.   We're also thankful for all of the friends and family who were and are praying for us.  This is new and unchartered terrritory for us.  For now, I'm trying to stay off my feet and I go back to the birth center Monday for a check up.  It's really hard to stay off my feet though when my "nesting" instincts are in full throttle.  We now have the carseat installed and baby laundry is getting done.  We didn't so much as have a bag packed the other day, but we were reminded that all our baby really needs is us.  :)