37 weeks and an unexpected trip to the hospital

Well, today has been a very interesting day, which I am so glad is over!   First of all, I am now 37 weeks pregnant....only 3 weeks to go, can you believe it?  I sure can't.  It still feels really far away to us though I know it will be here before we know it.  To back up, I went to the Doctor last week and she checked me for the first time.  Everything looked great and I was 1 cm dilated!  That was fun to know.  She also said his head is low and she could feel his head.  She still said that most first time moms will go to their due date so it's hard to tell if he would come early or not.  As I have mentioned before, Cooper has never been a super active baby and not one to move a whole lot.  That is normal for him and I have gotten used to it and tried not to stress about it too much.  Well, over the weekend, I noticed that he really hadn't moved much at all and started to worry a little.  I knew I was going to the Doctor on Tuesday (today) so I was going to just wait and see if he started to move more.  Well, it has been 3 days with hardly any movement at all and I wasn't sure if something was wrong or if this was just normal.  So I went to the Doctor's visit today and they always ask me "how is the baby's movement?"  I told the nurse that he hasn't moved much over the past 3 days but she just brushed it off and said it's probably because he's bigger and running out of room.  I agreed and said that's what I was thinking and  was completely satisfied with her answer.  Then the nurse practitioner comes in and asks me the same question about his movements.  I told her again that he hasn't moved much the past 3 days, but he's also not a big mover.  She begins to ask me more specific questions about his movement and as I was answering her questions, I could tell she was not satisfied.  She asked me if I had felt him move at all today and I said no.  She basically told me she didn't feel comfortable letting me go home and that she wanted to get things check out to be sure.  I thought "that's fine, I'll just get another ultrasound and hope that everything is fine".  Um, no, that is not what she meant.  She basically told me that she wanted me admitted into the hospital to get some monitoring and testing done on the baby and get an ultrasound there.  Say What?  So I go over to the hospital where they had to admit me and it was all starting to get a little scary from there.  I had to answer a million questions, sign a bunch of paper work, get in a hospital gown, get my own private room, and get hooked up to these machines to monitor the baby.  I'm sitting in this room by myself pretty freaked out and not able to get a hold of my husband at work.  Then I have different hospital workers around me saying things like "If you have your baby today...."  or  "if you stay here overnight" and "if you have visitors..."  I'm thinking, what just happened?  I was just going to a doctor checkup and now they are talking about having my baby today or staying here overnight??  What is going on?

I then have to lay on my side as they monitor the baby's heartbeat and I have to push this button every time I feel him move.  About 30 minutes went by and there was nothing.  I start to worry again.  The nurse comes back in and says something about he's not doing what she needs him to do at this point so she is going to try a few things. I asked her what that could mean and she said that he could be "sick".  I'm not really sure what sick means but doesn't sound good.   I'm fighting back tears at this point just praying everything is okay.  She brings me some juice and then says if that doesn't work, she is going to try her next trick which is a noise machine.  I'm just praying that he would move!  Finally about 10 minutes later I could feel some movement...it wasn't strong, but at least it was something.  Then the machine gets really loud when he's being more active.  She comes back about 20 minutes later and said he did great!  She said all the loud noises on the machine means he is doing his "aerobics" and passed the test well.   I then have to wait in the room for awhile longer before going into another area to wait for my ultrasound.  After more waiting, I had the ultrasound and everything looks perfect once again.  Relief!  It was a more intense ultrasound that lasted longer than ones I've had before.  Then I have to go back to my hospital room to wait as they call my doctor.  After all that, 4.5 hours later, I was "discharged" to go!  Praise the Lord!  I asked her what could explain why he hasn't moved much but she really didn't have an answer.  Oh Cooper, if you only knew what you have put me through!  ;) I was joking that he better be an easy baby like everyone tells me to make up for the stress he has put me under with not moving much!   For all your pregnant mama's out there...never complain about your baby moving too much or kicking too hard...you have no idea how great your have it!  I'm praying that he will move more daily so that I will not have to stress over this anymore, since they want me to call them if he doesn't move again.  Only 3 more weeks of this.

At 37 weeks, I'm still feeling well overall, just starting to get more and more uncomfortable.   I'm waking up more at night and it takes such effort to turn over.  My feet are still giant and swollen where my tennis shoes barely fit!  Though I'm so ready to meet our baby boy, I really wouldn't mind if he went to 40 weeks and I'm probably the only person who has said that :)   I feel like I have a lot more to do to be ready and I just feel the closer to 40 weeks, the better overall.  I'm definitely more tired and I feel like I could go to bed right now at 6:30pm and sleep through the night.  A trip to the hospital will definitely wear you out...I'm just emotionally exhausted!

Though today was not fun, I'm thankful that I know now everything is great and Cooper is doing well. I am thankful that I have great medical care and am at a great hospital.  I'm thankful that my Doctor and practitioner are cautious even if I don't think it's necessary.  I am glad to spend an afternoon at the hospital that was unnecessary than to wonder and then regret not ever saying or doing anything if something really was wrong.  Here's to 3 more weeks...I can do it!