We had a bit of a hiccup last night (Sunday January 3, 2010) as far as the pregnancy goes. At around 6:30pm I started to notice rythmic tightening of my abdomen (uterus), so I started keeping track. After 30 minutes of fairly regular contractions between 2 and 7 minutes we decided it was time to call the doctor.
They told me to come into the hospital. Sure enough I was having contractions which needless to say is a little scary & worrisome at this point in the pregnancy. They gave me an injection in the arm of a smooth muscle relaxer, which seemed to help nearly instantly. After nearly 3 hours in the hospital and careful monitoring of both my contractions & the baby we were discharged.
The reason? Well, they aren't really certain, but a likely culprit may have been my activity level combined with lack of water/fluids on Sunday. I did my 6.5 mile walk with the dogs (which I felt fine on), but hadn't consumed much in terms of liquids. They suspect the combination lead to the events, but even after consuming a lot of water last night & today I am still experiencing some of the same tightening (contractions) that I had last night. They aren't nearly as close together as they were last night.
The good news is that my cervix was closed tightly (a very good sign that labor is not likely to occur anytime soon). They also did a protein test that came back negative (meaning the likelihood of labor in the next 2 weeks is very minimal). Still, the contractions are of concern & I've been told to take it easy. I am at work, but since I have a desk job my doctor didn't think it was anything to be concerned about.