Lather, Rinse, Repeat

Hey everyone, guess where I am?  Yep, back in the hospital hanging out again, twiddling my thumbs!

The spotting/cramping continued on and off through the afternoon but got better in the evening last night. I decided to give it overnight (b/c I really didn't want to return to the hospital so soon!), and call my doctor this AM if need be.  I spotted more in the middle of the night and had worsening cramping.  I called this AM, and they told me to head back to L & D, pack a bag, and plan for an "extended stay" here.  Fantastic.  So I packed everything I could think of, and we hauled it here.  I went through triage again, where they hooked me up to the montior, did the speculum exam, the same song and dance as Monday night. They determined that my "cramps" were indeed contractions, but that my cervix is still closed, and the blood was old blood rather than active blood.  They had the monitor on for an hour or so, and they determined the baby was "tolerating" things just fine, and that I wasn't in labor.

So they sent me back here to the "family birth suites" room where I stayed yesterday.   They just do vitals every 4 hours here, no fetal monitoring unless I get worse.  I haven't been spotting in hours, even after the exam, so that is good. She said they cleaned out all the "old blood" in there, so that must be why.  The resident told me that if I absolutely HAD to go home they would let me, but they preferred to keep me tonight.  I agreed.  Now my doctor has to decide my fate when she does rounds tomorrow.  I have a feeling she isn't going to be real jazzed to let me go home again, since she is the one who sent me back here today and told me to plan to stay awhile.

Each doctor seems to have a different opinion, and I get to see whomever is on call at the time.  So some of them like to have no spotting for 24 hours, 48 hours, or even 2 weeks before letting people go home. I think my doctor is in the 24 hour camp, so that is good.  I only live 7 miles from here; it's not like it's hard for me to get back here if I need to!   Plus, I talked to my employer today, and while they are okay with me working from home, they for some reason feel that some of my job duties such as doing phone screens, setting up interviews, etc are "inappropriate" for a hospital room. I don't really get that, to be honest with you.   This is a private room with a door, so it's not like I'm broadcasting private matters anywhere! 

So hopefully if all goes well tonight, I can be released to go home again!  They said I could potentially keep spotting and everything would be fine if they baby continues to tolerate my "irritated uterus" fine. So we shall see!  I know I am in good hands here, and hopefully things remain status quo so I can keep working and getting paid for another few weeks!