Home Monitoring
Cris Coffey (CCOFFEY@rugs.bry.indiana.edu)
Thu, 28 Mar 1996 09:46:31 EST5
John,
I can relate to your story although I didn't drastically dilate. In
the beginning, at my 19th week (almost 20th) I went to the hospital
with what I thought were just gas cramps. They were severe and
constant and it didn't feel right, so I went. I was examined and
monitored, and nothing out of the ordinary was found. My cervix was
fine and no contractions. They were going to send me home to rest
for one day before returning to work (and I felt stupid about
spending the night in L&D for gas pains!). They monitored me for a
while longer--nothing. The doctor decided to examine my cervix one
last time before sending me home and at that time my cervix had
slightly effaced in just the couple of hours I'd been there. This
was a red flag. It wasn't until a while after that the contractions
began showing up on the monitor.
That was it. No more work, strict bed rest. Home monitor morning
and night, and in between if I felt I needed it. Although I never
dilated more than 1 or 2 over the next 16 weeks, the monitor was very
successful in picking up my contractions. Even if I laid there awake
for the full hour, I counted and timed my contractions and thought I
was aware of when it was a good hour. Many times I was shocked when
the nurse called back and said that I went way over my limit with
contractions, although I never felt them. What a shock that always
was! At that point, I was ordered by the nurse to give myself an
extra dose of the terbutaline through my pump, drink a glass of
water, use the potty, wait 10-15 minutes, then get back on the
monitor for an additional hour. There were nights I spend a good
3-4 hours on the home monitor, with jolt after jolt of terbutaline,
only to end up in the hospital on mag anyway.
My overall experience with the monitor was good. I found that I didn't
always feel the contractions that counted, and the monitor picked
them up for me.
Cris