The first trip to the hospital

I found out today that Steve has been paying attention at all of our childbirth classes! What a good man! He mentioned that every pregnant woman averages 3-4 trips to the hospital before they actually give birth! A fact I forgot about but clearly something Steve remembered as we were on our way to the hospital this beautiful and sunny Sunday morning! Well, we had our first trip to the hospital today. I woke up at 4:00 a.m. this morning not feeling very well. After about 4 hours of cramping and bloatedness, I finally told Steve that I needed to go to the doctor to check things out. Well, it was a good thing we went because it turned out I was having pre-term contractions at about 3-4 minutes apart. I thought what I was feeling was the baby moving, but apparently it was contractions. YIKES!!! And while the doctor said it would be ok to have Benjamin now, I am only 34 weeks, so we want Benjamin to stay in the belly for a little while longer if he can! The doctor said my cervix wasn't dilated and that Benjamin would be in his first home for a little while longer! So after a couple of i-v bags to treat dehydration (that I apparently was having and DIDN'T KNOW IT) and a shot of Tusin, a drug that is given to relax tense muscles like a contracting uterus, we are all ok! I'm back at home relaxing and Steve is running around preparing our hospital bags now! This first trip to the hospital certainly was a wake up call that Benjamin could come any moment!