In a day full of drama—mostly sad drama with a splash of hope and happiness—here is some more for you.

I’ve been having strong random Braxton Hicks contractions for over a month now.  I was convinced something was going on at the same time I was convinced I was overreacting.  Yesterday I began to feel intense pressure on the pelvic floor. 

Today it was worse.  My waddling is much more pronounced because I feel the need to push—and I know that I shouldn’t.  I was pretty sure that the babies were still up high because that is where I feel them the majority of the time.  I looked up signs of pre-term labor (remember that I am always prepared for the worse).  I have 3 of the signs!  And in addition to the three signs I have been experiencing, I have definitely had the “unexplainable feeling that something just isn’t right.”  (that’s technically a fourth sign.)

So I called the docs office for them to tell me to calm down and stop freaking out.  They didn’t quite do that.  Instead they asked me to come in for a ‘quick check.’  I did, and Heath and Keali were able to join me. 

First they looked for the heartbeats.  After about 30 seconds of not finding anything, I thought I saw some worry in Heath’s face, but I wasn’t worried at all.  I could feel both Kynan and Kaci evading the dopplar.  Then the kicking started and we got both heartbeats.  Very good.  Then they checked me.

The good news is that I haven’t dilated at all.  I was very relieved as that was my chief concern.  However, the cervix has begun to thin.  Apparently that is just as bad as early dilation.  Luckily for me, they decided it would be best to just start some medication to calm the contractions down a bit and hope that will slow the effacement as well.  The next step is bed rest, but I am certainly NOT ready for that yet. 

So—prayers and good thoughts that the medication will do what it is supposed to do (supposed to be really effective) and we can put off bed rest for at least another 7 weeks.

Both girls are being treated for impetigo—that was fun for me tonight trying to bath them separately and slather them with medication without Heath’s help (he’s at work).  Not so easy to do when all I want is to lie down to get this pressure to be relieved.

Now that we are all bathed and medicated—we are going to snuggle for an hour and fall asleep!  I can’t wait for the sleep part!