The Kindness of Strangers

So much changes as you travel on the pregnancy roller coaster. Sure there are the physical and emotional changes, but those are obvious. The ones that boggle my mind a bit are the ones that aren't written about in the hundreds of books you are given to read. When my pregnant belly started to show it wasn't obvious to everyone I was pregnant, I just looked like I was plumping out a bit. But now, as I enter my eighth month, there is no denying my condition. Like I said, the books prepare you for how you and your husband may react to the physical expansion. What they don't talk about is the people around you and how they react to you.

We were in a Taco Bell in Adel, Georgia-- keep in mind I had been driving for the past four hours-- and I sat down in a nearby chair while Jeff ordered some lunch. The cashier, with a slight look of terror in her eyes, stopped mid-sentence to ask if I was okay. Now in the middle of a road trip I might look a bit rough, but her concern even got me worried. I checked out the mirror in the bathroom and other than some messy hair I though I looked fine. What I didn't think about was that I could only see my face in the mirror, and it wasn't my face she was concerned about.

This has happened many times since. Strangers look at me and offer me chairs, or to carry stuff for me. They look at me with concern, and fear. No one has actually followed me around with a bunch of towels, but I know the thought has crossed their minds.

It isn't just strangers that express their concern on a regular basis. My coworkers all have a vigilant eye on me. If they actually have a betting pool going about my due date, then I want in on it. My coworkers always offer to get me water and constantly ask if I need anything. Their kindness towards me seems boundless.

Of course this past Wednesday I amped up everyone's concern a bit. You can read about Braxton Hicks contractions-- and you can ask countless people about them-- however, you will have no idea until you actually experience them. Now, being a first time pregnant chick, I polled a number of Moms about BHs and no one could really explain them in terms that made sense to me. Lots of women told me that it felt like mild labor pains, but not having been through labor yet, I have no comparison to work with. There were also some rather colorful descriptions that I will spare everyone from sharing. In fact, I've been having them sporadically since 20 weeks, but I've never worried about them because everything I read said that they are okay as long as they don't develop a rhythm and don't increase in intensity.

So when I started to feel a strange sensation in the womb area that seemed to be happening on a regular basis, I started to get concerned. Logically, it couldn't be labor because it didn't hurt that much, it was merely distracting. But once I started keeping track of these sensations I realized that not only were they happening about 7 minutes apart but that they were increasing in intensity. They were moving from distracting, to mildly annoying, to slightly uncomfortable. About 12:15 I called my doctor's office, where they apparently go to lunch everyday from 12:00 - 1:30. So at 1:30, I called in and was transferred to Nervous Nurse (I'll share her story in another post), who suggested I come in and see the nurse practitioner.

Jeff and I left work with the thought that we would be back in about an hour armed with the knowledge that I am fine and these are just Braxton Hicks contractions. So we get into the room and wait for the ARNP, who is the one person in the practice I have yet to meet, and she comes in and immediately begins an, um, intimate physical exam. Now I don't ask for much, but I would have really appreciated a "Hello my name is.." (not to mention a warning) of the impending invasion.

The nurse practitioner then sent us over to the hospital for an NST (which does not mean Northern Sea Turtle, or Nifty Self Tanner). They strapped me up to some monitors to track Atticus's heartbeat and movements. To do this Non-Stress Test, you lay on your side and they strap you up with monitors.

Apparently, a side effect of laying on your side is that it stops contractions. Now if only someone had mentioned this tiny little factoid earlier, we could have saved ourselves encounters with Nervous Nurse, invasive physical exams, and lengthy visits to the hospital. It also would have saved me from feeling like a defective car that makes a weird clanging noise right up until you bring it into the mechanic. After a rather lengthy ordeal, we learned that I was fine, Atticus is a squirmy little monkey, and laying down gets rid of BH contractions.

We didn't get right back to work on Wednesday afternoon, which caused everyone to worry and speculate about me. When I got back to work Thursday morning I told of our adventures the previous day. With each re-telling I felt more neurotic, and more like an idiot. All these women understood it was just BH, so I felt like a fool for not knowing this myself.

On the other hand, I've made it 33 weeks without freaking out about anything, so my number was up. Next time, I'll try to lay down a bit first, but if they continue, I'll probably do the same thing. Better safe than sorry.