Triage

Hi everyone,

We've just returned home from 3 hours in the triage room at St. Joe's. Everything is fine, as I'm sure you've already figured out based on the fact that we're home. Basically, I was experiencing some cramping in the afternoon (probably due to the chili that Brian and I made for dinner yesterday). I called the doctor, and they wanted me to go in and get hooked-up to the monitor for a while.

So, I did, and we found out that I'm actually having contractions right now. They're at about 7 minutes or so apart, which sounds a lot more serious than it is. They're probably Braxton-Hicks contractions, and they're nothing to be concerned about until 1) they start to hurt, and 2) they begin the dilation process to that magical 10 cm. This does NOT mean that I'm in labor; this happens a lot in late pregnancy, and first-time moms can often have contractions of this kind that happen on and off for weeks. The nurse says that Braxton-Hicks contractions can be regular, which was something I was unclear about. It's good to learn something!

What does this all mean? Well, basically, my body is really starting to prep for labor, and the discomfort I'm feeling at this moment might very well become more of a daily experience. Ugh.