Pregnancy Update Weeks 32-35: Preterm Contractions, False Labor, and More

The past few weeks have been busy with lots of preterm contractions, false labor, and a couple of visits to Labor & Delivery. Our babe is still cooking, but I feel the countdown is on! I hope sharing my experience can help someone else too!

For more pregnancy updates, You can catch up with my first trimester recap here, plus weeks 13-20, weeks 20-24, my second trimester recap, weeks 28-32, our babymoon, and my prenatal supplement routine. All recommendations are based off of personal use and preference. I know pregnancy updates can be triggering for some, so please know this is just a recap of my experience.

Oh hellooo baby! Well, not quite yet, but I can feel it getting closer… with every single Braxton Hicks contraction that’s coming my way (and they are coming OFTEN, people!).

When I last left off in my weeks 28-32 recap, I starting hinting that things were just getting exciting. I actually finished writing that recap the day after I was in the hospital (spoiler: for the first time) for preterm contractions.

It was 5am, and I was up for the upteenth time to go to the bathroom. Our baby has been head-down for several weeks now so he/she is pretty much sitting directly on my bladder… which is already smushed because, well, he or she is running out of room. I average about 4-5 bathroom trips per night. The nights when it’s just 2 times are the best night’s sleep ever… or so it feels that way for now!

So my 5am bathroom trip wasn’t anything out of the norm, but then I started feeling contractions. Although I haven’t written much about it (they were pretty harmless and infrequent before this), I’ve been having Braxton Hicks (BH) contractions since early March (about 25 weeks). I couldn’t fall back asleep, so I went out to the couch in the living room and noticed I was getting contractions every 8 minutes. I drank a ton of water because Braxton Hicks can be caused from dehydration (and I was mostly sleeping for the 7 hours prior – not sipping my ice water in my Healthy Human tumbler that I keep by my bed every evening).

But when the contractions didn’t go away after an hour, and were still 5-8 minutes apart, I called the after-hours line at my doctor’s. My OB said to drink even more water and if they were still coming for another hour, to call back and come in.

You guessed it – they didn’t go away, so off to the hospital we went at about 7am. They hooked me up to a monitor (our babe was just fine), and yes, I was getting contractions every 4-5 minutes. They weren’t painful, but felt like a tightening in my stomach. Some did take my breath away for a second when they came on.

The team checked and I wasn’t dilated, but the doctor wanted to make sure labor didn’t progress, so I hung out for the next 5 hours and had a handful of tests to rule out causes of BH contractions (a UTI, dehydration, other infections, etc.). Luckily, everything was negative, but that gave me zero answers.

We were sent home and I was told to take it easy. No more workouts, nothing too strenuous on my body… I had strict instructions to stay hydrated and if anything changed (like increased frequency of the contractions, my water breaking, etc.) to call back.

Over the next 2 weeks…

I took it easy. And by easy I mean really easy. I stopped all exercise, except for a couple of 10 minute walks a day, took cabs around the city [instead of the subway], and definitely rested when I was tired.

I continued to have intermittent BH contractions, but nothing to write home about.

2 weeks later…

Fast-forward to almost two weeks exactly… I had just gotten back from a 15 minute waddle around the block, showered, and was feeling a bit tired so I went to lay down to read. It was 6pm on a Thursday evening. BH contractions started every 8 minutes, but again, I didn’t think anything of it because I’d been having these contractions for weeks.

Over the next hour, the contractions got closer together, eventually working their way to a crampy 2-3 minutes apart. I was feeling a bit shaky and nauseous, had no appetite, and with the increased frequency for over 30 minutes, decided to call my doctor. She said to come on in to get checked.

I seriously thought this was it.

I didn’t bring my hospital bag, but I thought our babe was going to come at 34 weeks and a few days.

It took 20 minutes to get to the hospital, and I swear the second I arrived my contractions slowed (which I learned is normal when you’re actually in labor and change location because you’re not as comfortable… weird how your body knows!). They were still coming every 5 minutes, but much less than the 1 to 2 to 3 minutes I had on the cab ride over.

Again, I was checked and wasn’t dilated, so I was monitored for 2+ hours before getting sent home.

False Labor

Let me tell you, I felt like the girl who cried wolf (but at least not intentionally!). I wanted to make sure everything was OK, and the doctors said I did the right thing by coming in to get checked, because I very well could have been in the start of labor. I was feeling more intense contractions than last time, with some cramping, but still it wasn’t PAINFUL the way “they” describe labor.

I’m seriously nervous that I’m not going to know when it’s “GO TIME,” even though “everyone” says “ooohhh you’ll know!” But what if I don’t?! I don’t want to be that girl giving birth in a cab… I’ll actually freak out!

I have no risk factors to go into preterm labor. I’m not diabetic, I didn’t gain too much weight, I’ve never been a smoker, I wasn’t doing strenuous activity or on my feet alllll day at work – nada!

Apparently my body got my Type A, we like to be prepared, message and is just gearing up for labor.

And it takes a toll on you. I partly think I’m crazy and I’m partly anxious that I’ll go into labor at any second (which I guess is normal when you’re less than 6 weeks out from your due date). My OB said I may not last until 40 weeks, but hopefully I get to 37.

What else is new…

My belly is huge (exhibit A above)! I’m lugging around an estimated 5-6 pound baby (per last measurements at my almost 33 week ultrasound) and I’m carrying very out. I know there’s no “normal” when it comes to pregnancy, but I’m definitely carrying front. Sometimes when I look in the mirror I think it looks like I stuck a ball underneath my shirt. Let’s just say my wardrobe is limited!

I’m still loving my pregnant body though. Despite my “fat” armpits (extra milk ducts, I know!), it’s been fun to watch my body change for the sake of our babe over the past 8 ½ months.

I’m SO thirsty! I keep my Healthy Human tumbler with me at all times… especially when I get into bed at night. I fill it up with ice and then pour water over it. There are still ice cubes in the morning!!! It’s crazy how it stays so cold – even without the top on! I also have another glass of water on my nightstand for when I’m thirsty throughout the night. Some nights I drink more than others, but usually the 2 glasses are enough (hence why I’m up 4-5 times a night!).

My appetite is confused AF. Some days I’m eating every 2 hours and others it’s totally diminished (like seriously don’t even want to eat dinner). There’s not much room in there, so small, frequent meals are the name of the game! I try to eat a bowl of veggies with at least 1 meal per day and feel pretty good about that, whether it’s a salad with a protein for lunch, zoodles for dinner… you get the picture.

But I’m craving sugar… and giving in! I usually don’t have such a powerful sweet tooth, so this has been new. I was craving sour candy for days straight and finally broke into these Surf Sweets sour worms. I only like 1 of the flavors (I am NOT a fan of grapefruit anything), but it’s SO unlike me to eat straight up candy.

I have to say… I’ve overdone it a few times and I’ve definitely paid the price with a sugar headache whether it’s from banana ice cream, Enjoy Life crunchy chocolate chip cookies, or sour worms – womp womp.

Hot flashes pop up. Seriously out of NOWHERE. For someone who always got hot flashes before her period, I expected a lot more temperature fluctuations throughout my pregnancy. But they just started and I’ll wake up dripping at least 3 nights a week. My husband thinks I’m crazy that I want to AC on to sleep when it’s still 50 degrees at night. But he obliges 🙂

What we’ve done lately to prepare for the babe:

• Took a hospital tour class (they don’t actually let you up on the floor)
• Finished packing my hospital bag
• Thought about setting up our nursery furniture (nope, still in boxes)
• Got our stroller (also in a box)
• Met with a pediatrician
• Booked an appointment with an allergist (never too early to plan for how to introduce common allergens since mama is allergic)
• Went on a few date nights
• Spent time with our niece and nephew before they get a new cousin
• Wrapped my head around actually going through labor and that all will be OK!

So fingers crossed I have another update to share before our babe gets here! Until then, do you want to know what’s in my hospital bag?!
XO