Survived 48h of bed rest ... and remember to drink your water girls

lifeisbetteronthered · August 2012

I knew that keeping hydrated during pregnancy was important, thought I was doing a "good enough" job of it, but obviously never really understood how important it is.

Sunday night I started having some pelvic discomfort. Didn't think much of it ... probably just RLP, I thought. It kept me up much of the night because it stung a little more each time I moved. Monday I went into work, but it was obviously getting worse. By early evening, I'm having trouble breathing when the pain is coming on. I can't walk straight up, and it's getting more obvious that these are contractions (I'm only 20w2d!!!). They were coming every 5-10 minutes and really hurting. So I head to the hospital. They hook me up to the TOCO and confirm that they are real uterine contractions, but thankfully my cervix is still "thick and closed". The give me a bunch of IV fluids, tell me I can't get out of bed, watch me until they calm down a bit then give me the option of being admitted or going home with a dozen conditions. 48 hours of bed rest with only bathroom privileges, having to drink a minimum of 3 liters of water each day and a long list of reasons to come back immediately.

I saw my Ob this morning and was given the all clear to return to work, etc. Baby looks good, and other then a sore tummy from what my Ob described as the equivalent of doing a sit up every 5 minutes for 36 hours, I'm doing well too.

She also told me that surgeons deliver on average around 36 weeks. Mostly because we are on our feet all day, working 100-ish hours a week and not drinking enough because you can't drink while operating and it's a pain to have to scrub out to pee. She listed a bunch of surgeons we both know that delivered between 31 and 36 weeks, including 2 Obs. She showed me my blood work from the past 6 months, all of which show that I'm chronically dehydrated. Oops.

But if dehydration can nearly put me into preterm labour at 20+ weeks, I'll take the inconvenience of having to take a break to pee while in surgery. I had no idea that dehydration was the 3rd most common cause of going into labour (first being it's time for baby to come out, and second being a UTI).

So come on girls, drink your water. A couple more trips to the bathroom beat preterm labour and bed rest hands down.

JumpAroundBucky · August 2012

Wow! I'm so happy everything is okay. I have been in the ER three times thanks to dehydration, and I agree, it is not a joke!

zonagirlie · August 2012

(((HUGS))) I'm glad you and bb are okay. DRINK DRINK DRINK! I'm on my way to fill up my cup and my water bottle!

82Sonia · August 2012

Glad you're doing better! You just inspired me to suck down the last 5 ounces in my water bottle before going back to my iced tea.

jobiann · August 2012

So glad everything is okay...(I say this as I'm drinking a fresh big glass of water!).

RachelM05 · August 2012

Glad you and LO are ok! And thanks for the reminder. Now that I'm back to work I realize at the end of the day that I haven't had near enough to drink. Definitely need to make more of an effort!

spartyparty · August 2012

Wow that's crazy. I'm so bad about drinking enough water.I'm a teacher and just so busy with the kids that I always forget..plus I can't leave to go to the bathroom when I have kids. Although, I imagine being a surgeon is way worse b/c surgeries can take hours on end. Thanks for the lesson, I just filled my water bottle! Glad you're feeling better!

clariknittist · August 2012

Wow, really good reminder of exactly why we need to be drinking water often! Glad you're doing better.

eSynergy · August 2012

I'm glad you're ok...thanks for the reminder! I don't drink nearly as much as I should some days.

URMySunshine77 · August 2012

I'm glad that you and the LO are OK. I can see where you are coming from regarding having to scrub out of surgery to drink water. I would have probably abstained like you did.

For some reason I am really turned off by water in the morning. I should probably buy some juice for the a.m. just to get me going. Thanks for the water reminder.

Ktande22 · August 2012

good reminder! Glad everything went well! Hope you can beat the 36 weeks trend!

st.augbride · August 2012

Wow, that's a lot of water each day! I definitely don't drink nearly that much..and I also had cramping the other day and was told in the future to come in for it. I really need to get my liquids in better. But my goodness, I hate water!