Another day and evening came in the Maternity Ward. Casey and I had just settled in for another night of TV after we’d finished dinner - comfort food from Burger King!! Honestly, I just couldn’t eat another hospital dinner. The breakfasts weren’t bad, and the sandwiches for lunch were pretty good, but dinner was always bland and lukewarm, no matter what it was!
Casey channel-surfed on the cot next to me and after watching a couple of sitcoms, it was time for my favorite - ER!! Casey looked at me, eyebrows raised.
“Are you sure? Remember what happened last time,” he teased.
“That was just a coincidence,” I pouted. “There’s nothing better on.”
“Suit yourself,” he conceded and clicked to the channel.
Halfway into the show, I began to feel like a clenched fist was turning in my abdomen. Oh no, I thought, that feels weird. What’s happening?
Just then there was a light knock on the door, and the nurse on duty walked in.
“Just wanted to check on you, Mrs. Wilson. We noticed some activity on the contraction monitor,” she said gently, so as not to alarm us. She looked at the digital numbers on the monitor and then checked the paper coming out of the machine that looked like a seismograph printout for a recent earthquake.
“Hmmm…looks like you might be having Braxton Hicks contractions. I’m going to have the doctor on call check in on you and see what he thinks.” She left quickly and Casey and I looked at each other. I had a look of bewilderment on my face, and Casey’s had that “I told you so” smirk.
“My tummy was feeling a little weird,” I admitted. I glanced at the book, on the bottom of a stack of books I was supposed to be reading, but never quite seemed to have the energy or the focus to - What to Expect When You’re Expecting. Might be time to start looking at that a little more closely, I thought to myself.
“I’m changing the channel,” Casey said definitively, and quickly started channel surfing again.
The nurse showed up about 20 minutes later with a syringe and good sized needle. I was fairly used to seeing needles at this point, considering I’d been hooked up to an IV for the past five weeks, so it didn’t alarm me.
“This is Nifedipine to stop the contractions. The doctor ordered it after reviewing the printout from the contraction monitor. This should help slow them down.” She jabbed the needle into my upper arm. The medicine stung slow and hot as she injected it.
“It may take a bit for the medicine to take effect and the contractions to subside, but we’ll be keeping an eye on you, so don’t worry,” she smiled. Then she turned and left. Was I supposed to be worrying? Were they that bad? It felt different from the ones I had when I was first admitted…
I looked at Casey. He was now really concrened. I didn’t know what to say. He gave my hand a squeeze and said, “You gotta keep him in. It’s too soon.”
“I know,” I agreed. “But it’s not like I have any control over it.” We watched TV in silence for a little while longer. The contractions subsided and I dozed off to sleep without realizing it.
Comments