> Lisa's Story (Due Date: December 2005)

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My husband and I are approaching our 13^th wedding anniversary this May. It is easy to remember what anniversary is coming up because we also have a 12 year old daughter. You see, we got pregnant on our honeymoon. I’m not sure why people always say “we got pregnant” when it is clearly the woman who is pregnant but, oh well! We were open to having children right away and never thought my pregnancy would be anything other than normal, however from the beginning it was far from normal. I was very nauseous 24 hours a day, I had migraine headaches, and had trouble regulating my glucose level. Needless to say I hardly left my bed and can hardly tell you what my living room looked like in my new apartment. People say the first year of marriage is usually the toughest but my condition made it even more challenging. To make matters worse I found myself to be in a lot of pelvic floor and abdominal pain every time I stood too long or walked around too much. I did not realize at the time that the pain was due to constant contractions. I had a hard time mentioning things to my OB/GYN because I didn’t want it to seem like I was complaining so I just figured it was normal and tried to ignore the pain.

When I was thirty weeks along I started having bad menstrual cramps mainly in the middle of the night and during the day I was having a lot of pressure in my pelvis. Early on in my pregnancy I had a lot of cramping so again I figured it was normal. At the time we were also on vacation so I wanted to wait until we got home to mention it to my doctor. After we got home I had a doctor appointment when I was 32 weeks along. At the end of the routine visit I happened to mention the cramping and I asked if it was normal. The doctor decided to check my cervix and when he did he found that I was two cm. dilated and 70% effaced. I was shocked. He then put me on strict bedrest, terbutaline pills, and Zantac for heartburn so I could stay flat. He told me to call whenever my contractions got close together and were regular. That seemed to happen every weekend so every weekend was spent in the hospital. At about 34 weeks gestation the doctor we saw in the hospital was very concerned that I might give birth and so he maxed me out on the IV drug Mag Sulfate. This drug shut down all the muscles in my body. I couldn’t move and I couldn’t see well because the lack of muscle control made my eyes crossed. It also made me vomit and made me extremely hot. Despite all the miserable side effects it worked to stop my labor. I ended up making it to 36 weeks at which time my water broke. I gave birth to a healthy baby girl within three hours and she was able to come home the next day.

Eighteen months later I became pregnant again. I was hopeful that things would go better this time. No such luck. I started having contractions that were three minutes apart at only sixteen weeks. This time however I let my midwife know right away. Usually doctors will not put a woman on medications to stop her labor until she is at least twenty weeks along but my midwife made an exception. She put me on Procardia and bed rest. The Procardia ended up giving me bad headaches and so I was put on the Terbutaline pump. After being on that for about a month it started to affect my breathing. It had built up in my system and I was having trouble catching my breath. I went to the hospital and the doctor I saw told me there wasn’t anything else they could put me on and I would have to go back on the pump. I knew that was not an option for me so I insisted I be allowed see a Perinatologist. Reluctantly the doctor agreed and he made sure to let the Perinatologist know I was just a nervous mom. I was really glad I saw the Perinatologist because he was aware of a new drug treatment plan to put me on. It involved a lower dose of the Procardia than I was on before and another medication that I can not remember the name of. This held me until 36 weeks and one day. One day after I stopped the meds is when I went into active labor. Again I was blessed to give birth to another healthy baby girl. This birth also was only three hours from start to finish and she also was able to come home the next day.

Now, almost ten years later I found myself pregnant again. This may sound odd but I knew I was pregnant even before I took the pregnancy test because I could feel my uterus contracting. I was very worried I was going to miscarry. I told my doctor and she doubted it was contractions I was feeling. Believe me, when it is your third pregnancy you know what contractions feel like! This doctor also told me if I was going to miscarry it was inevitable. I told her I wanted to see a Perinatologist and instead she made an appointment with a genetic counselor because of a Connective Tissue disorder that I was diagnosed with after I had my second child. I really didn’t feel I needed a genetic counselor. I wasn’t concerned that my baby could have a genetic disorder. I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to carry my baby to term. I ended up switching doctors and found one in my insurance plan that was a Maternal Fetal Specialist which I found out was the same as a Perinatologist. I went to see him and I told him about all the contractions I was having. Apparently the drugs to calm contractions were not being as widely used because there was no proof that they were effective so the only thing he told me was to listen to my body. This was kind of scary to me but I realized that I just needed to take matters into my own hands. I stayed off my feet as much as possible and drank about a gallon and a half of water a day. These two things definitely seemed to help and my doctor was good about checking my cervix whenever I asked him to.

Fortunately I did not start dilating too early. Towards the end of my pregnancy the contractions were getting really painful and intense. I actually got to 4 ½ cm without being in active labor. Finally, at 37 weeks the doctor decided to induce me because we were both concerned that I would not make it to the hospital when I was in active labor. I also did not know how to tell when it was active labor, after all I had been experiencing painful contractions that were every 5 minutes for quite some time. When he told me he would induce I shouted, “I LOVE YOU!!!” I was so relieved that there was finally a doctor that seemed to care about my well being. From the time I was induced to when I actually gave birth was only two hours. I gave birth to another healthy girl.

I really do not know why I always experience an Irritable Uterus when I am pregnant. I suspect it might be because of my autoimmune condition. Not to get all spiritual but my pregnancy experiences have taught me a great deal. Through them I have learned that I am not in control of my own life and I have learned how to lean back in God and trust him to take the reins. I think it is only by His grace that I have three beautiful, healthy daughters.