So yesterday, I learned the importance of proper hydration and fever management during pregnancy. It all started Sunday evening - I was feeling mildly dehydrated, so over the course of the evening, I sipped on 2 glasses of water and brought a third glass with me to bed. I started having some mild contractions that were may 60-90 minutes apart, so decided to go to bed early, around 8:30, to get some rest.
I woke up around 1am Monday morning to some pretty severe back pain, a little nausea, and contractions. So I started timing my contractions. When they were about 10 minutes apart for an hour, I dragged myself out of bed, finished the glass of water I brought with me, and promptly headed for the toilet and vomited it all up. I had read that nausea during labor was normal, so I didn't think much of it - I switched to ice chips and went about getting ready to go. I think I woke up G around 4am because I wanted to take a hot shower before going to the hospital, and he also started getting ready - and in the process, I made friends with the toilet 2 or 3 more times, usually right after a contraction finished. G also mentioned feeling nauseous, so at this point I was a little worried that we might have picked up the stomach bug that Baby L was currently recovering from. We left for the hospital shortly after 5am, with my stomach completely empty and my contractions were 6-8 min apart.
We got to the hospital, checked in, and I got hooked up to a CTG machine so the staff could monitor the baby. At this point I was soooo uncomfortable because I wasn't permitted to fully sit up, nor was I permitted to fully lie down - I had to sit in a sort of reclined position which was killer on my back. Since the baby was in distress though, I had to continue with monitoring until the staff was comfortable that the baby was ok. The doctor checked my cervix, and after all that, I was only 1cm dilated! I was just crushed, because by that time, my contractions were about 2 min apart and I was ready to go. The doctor advised that I had a low grade fever, the combination of the fever and dehydration were causing stress to the baby, so she ordered 1 liter of IV fluids and medication for fever.
During all this, G also made friends with the toilet and emptied his stomach, confirming that both of us likely had the same virus as Baby L. To make matters worse, Miss J texted us while we were at the hospital that Baby L vomited a little while after waking up, and then took a very early morning nap shortly after that. As usual Miss J is totally fine with no signs of nausea or vomiting (praise God!).
As the IV progressed, the contractions slowed, and by the time I'd absorbed a liter, had completely gone away. We are both relieved to not have a baby while everyone has a stomach virus, but at the same time a little disappointed that Baby #2 wasn't ready to join us. We briefly discussed the possibility of inducing labor since I was already at the hospital, but it also meant being hooked up to the CTG machine for monitoring, so I opted to go home. My doctor kept me at the hospital for a bit longer after the IV to make sure that I could drink water and eat some crackers without vomiting again, mostly so I didn't end up right back in the hospital a few hours later. Once I passed that test, I was released instructions to drink a lot of water and take Panadol (Tylenol) if the fever comes back.
We got home from the hospital around 10am, and I then proceeded to sleep 17 of the next 24 hours, getting up long enough to eat some more crackers, drink more water, and then go back to sleep. So...baby watch continues!
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