Tour of Labor and Delivery?

My unplanned tour of Labor and Delivery began when I noticed on Wednesday night that I had a bit of watery discharge. I sort of wrote it off, thinking that maybe I had leaked a little pee or something. Then Thursday around lunch time, I noticed it again. The ONE thing my doctor really emphasized was to pay attention to mucus and discharge because it can be a great clue if your cervix has decided to open slightly. I decided I should probably put in a very calm call to my OB. I spoke to the nurse and she reassured me that it probably was either just plain discharge that seemed more watery or even possibly pee, but then she said that the office takes this symptom very seriously, so they wanted me to go over to Labor and Delivery triage to be evaluated “just in case”!! I couldn’t believe my ears.

I finished up a few minor things at work, and got in the car and headed over there. I wasn’t sure where to park or where to go or anything, but thankfully it wasn’t a busy time of the day and everything came together when I got there. I was taken into a room immediately and asked a hundred questions including “do you feel safe at home” and “are you in an abusive relationship”. These questions were asked in a near whisper and I felt sorry for the women who have to think about how they might answer that question. After a pretty short time, a lovely young resident came into my room with her ultrasound machine and we took a peek at the little one. Everything looked perfect and the bag of water was perfectly intact. Although, I was quite sure that if this discharge was in fact amniotic fluid, that it was leaking very slowly, so I hadn’t expected to see anything less than a nice bag of fluid.

Then I was ushered into a room where they administered a few cultures. Maybe I’m just not cut out for this, but she used a speculum with no lubricant so as not to affect the result of the test, and it hurt like hell! I had this same experience when having my transfer, but was given a valium which clearly did give me some sense of calm. The good news was the test was negative for amniotic fluid. YAY! I’m still possibly going to be a mother in August! They ran a few other tests, I peed in a cup, and they released me after only 1.5 hours. This was a huge relief to me. Honestly, while the experience was scary, I had a feeling that everything was going to be fine. I also am glad to have had the opportunity to tour the facility and understand where to park so that when it’s the real thing, we can be calm.

Once again, this was a reminder that although I’m now 17 weeks pregnant, I’m still not able to just relax and begin to daydream about my little one. I’m wondering when I can get to that level of comfort.