{"id":1867,"date":"2011-11-02T01:00:43","date_gmt":"2011-11-02T08:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.streamdoubletrouble.com\/?p=1867"},"modified":"2011-11-02T10:15:04","modified_gmt":"2011-11-02T17:15:04","slug":"motherhood-uncovered-prematurity-is-a-pain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/motherhood-uncovered-prematurity-is-a-pain\/","title":{"rendered":"Motherhood Uncovered: Prematurity is a Pain"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.streamdoubletrouble.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/27976_396202954439_598019439_4143338_2567467_n.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-1869\" title=\"27976_396202954439_598019439_4143338_2567467_n\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.streamdoubletrouble.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/27976_396202954439_598019439_4143338_2567467_n-150x150.jpg?resize=150%2C150\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/27976_396202954439_598019439_4143338_2567467_n.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/27976_396202954439_598019439_4143338_2567467_n.jpg?zoom=2&amp;resize=150%2C150 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/27976_396202954439_598019439_4143338_2567467_n.jpg?zoom=3&amp;resize=150%2C150 450w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a>Today&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/motherhooduncovered.com\/1820\/prematurity-is-a-pain\/\">Motherhood Uncovered post<\/a> celebrates November as <a href=\"http:\/\/www.streamdoubletrouble.com\/2010\/11\/01\/put-the-nicu-nurses-out-of-a-job\/\">Prematurity Awareness Month<\/a> by taking a closer look at the signs and symptoms that may lead to tiny babies.\u00a0<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>You see the angel-faced, pigtailed, rosy-lipped, chubby-cheeked, cherub giggling in the restaurant booth next to you. You turn to your significant other, \u201cLet\u2019s get one!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>You ditch the birth control. You get down to business (and other things &lt;wink wink&gt;). And by magic, medicine or the miracle of science you suddenly find out you are with child.<\/p>\n<p>Pregnant. Before you start barfing your brains out or making a mad dash to the mall for new pants, before you start guessing genders and arguing about names (and the potentially horrible nicknames), you bask in the ignorant glow of impending parenthood.<\/p>\n<p>You rub your tummy. You smile. You envision the next nine months as you prepare for your life to change forever.<\/p>\n<p>And then your doctor tells you, \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.streamdoubletrouble.com\/2010\/04\/22\/normal-is-a-state-of-mind\/\">I need to you go straight up to Labor and Delivery. There may be a problem.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Your world turns upside down. You realize you won\u2019t have 40 weeks traditional gestation to bask in a motherly glow. You\u2019ll be stuck in a bed, wondering if every twitch, twinge or twang is reason to rush to the emergency room.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.marchofdimes.com\/pregnancy\/pretermlabor_signs.html\">Do you know the signs and symptoms of premature labor?<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>More than five contractions or cramps in an hour. (You get a bonus contraction if you\u2019re having multiples.)<\/li>\n<li>Bleeding that looks suspiciously like getting your period. (Heavy gushing is obviously bad. But I made several emergency room visits for light spotting as well.)<\/li>\n<li>Pain during urination. This could indicate the potential presence of a urinary tract, bladder or kidney infection. (Internal infection is enemy No. 1 in pregnancy.)<\/li>\n<li>Sudden gush of clear, watery fluid from your vagina. (Your water just broke. GET THEE TO A HOSPITAL!)<\/li>\n<li>Low, dull backache. (Not to be confused with the typical lumbar pain or stretched ligaments. Hey, let\u2019s not make this easy now.)<\/li>\n<li>Intense pelvic pressure. (Yes, this differs from the intense stretching tummy in front of you.)<\/li>\n<li>A general gut feeling of ickyness that something is wrong. Trust me, trust yourself.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>When you call the advice nurse, she\u2019ll tell you to drink a lot of water. When you\u2019re on hospital lockdown, they\u2019ll tell you to drink lots of water \u2013 oh but don\u2019t get up to go to the bathroom too much. Remain bedridden, on your left side, with your legs and hips elevated above your head. (P.S. Bed rest will tend to cause your muscles to lose tone and make some of your joints ache. This is not the same as the aforementioned pre-term labor symptoms.)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.streamdoubletrouble.com\/2011\/03\/18\/imagine\/\">Premature birth isn\u2019t always preventable.<\/a> But paying attention to the signs and symptoms give your baby the best possible chance if he or she is a wee bit too eager to start life.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1868\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.streamdoubletrouble.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/photo.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1868\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1868\" title=\"photo\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.streamdoubletrouble.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/photo-300x200.jpg?resize=300%2C200\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/photo.jpg?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/photo.jpg?resize=1024%2C685&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/photo.jpg?w=1147&amp;ssl=1 1147w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1868\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Premature and perfect.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>I\u2019m not going to lie. My pregnancy sucked. (What little there was of it.) Instead of having one baby after nine months, I had two after six. I\u2019m efficient like that. Granted, my story of prematurity makes for some great blogable material!<\/p>\n<p>So what\u2019s my point?<\/p>\n<p>Pay attention. Be paranoid. Trust yourself. And remember that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.marchofdimes.com\/mission\/prematurity.html\">November is Prematurity Awareness Month<\/a> \u2013 supporting the quest for a day when no baby will be born too soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today&#8217;s Motherhood Uncovered post celebrates November as Prematurity Awareness Month by taking a closer look at the signs and symptoms that may lead to tiny babies.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[7,21,270],"tags":[532,533,194,269,198,199],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Sbzi-u7","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1912,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/world-prematurity-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":1867,"position":0},"title":"World Prematurity Day","date":"November 17, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"This is prematurity. I am prematurity. I am the chart that reads 0\/3 - three pregnancies with no children. I am the tears on a Labor and Delivery hospital room bed. I am the spikes on a contraction monitor. I am the sadness in the doctor's eyes at 22 weeks.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;A Nervous Tic Motion&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2905,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/the-global-toll-of-prematurity\/","url_meta":{"origin":1867,"position":1},"title":"The Global Toll of Prematurity","date":"November 13, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"November 17 is World Prematurity Day to help drive awareness about the global problem of premature birth. To start, I share with you the March of Dimes\u00a0infographic that shows the global toll of preterm birth. \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Prematurity&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.streamdoubletrouble.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/wpd.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4391,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/prematurely-down-the-rabbit-hole\/","url_meta":{"origin":1867,"position":2},"title":"Prematurely Down the Rabbit Hole","date":"November 17, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The rabbit-hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way, and then dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself falling down what seemed to be a very deep well. November is Prematurity Awareness Month. Because premature\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Prematurity&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Preemie","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Preemie1-1024x684.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3647,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/prematurity-awareness-month-one-day-more\/","url_meta":{"origin":1867,"position":3},"title":"Prematurity Awareness Month: One Day More","date":"November 18, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Les Miserable \u2013 a musical based on a rather morose Victor Hugo novel about a group of young idealists making one last stand at the tail end of a failed French revolution. And I\u2019m told it apparently makes a decent movie too. (It\u2019s on my list to see.) I have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Current Events&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Prematurity-Awareness.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2920,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/world-prematurity-day-beating-the-odds\/","url_meta":{"origin":1867,"position":4},"title":"World Prematurity Day: Beating the Odds","date":"November 17, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Today is World Prematurity Day. Worldwide, 15 million babies are born too soon each year. In the United States, 1 in 8 babies is born prematurely. I had two. About 13 percent of babies born in the U.S. A premature baby is one who is born too early, before 37\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Current Events&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.streamdoubletrouble.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/World-Prematurity-Day.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4127,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/world-prematurity-day-2014\/","url_meta":{"origin":1867,"position":5},"title":"World Prematurity Day 2014","date":"November 17, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Destroy came tearing around the living room corner, slip-n-sliding face first into the kitchen island \u2013 a less coordinated Risky Business move across the hardwood floors in Batman socks and Avengers Underoos. There was a pause, as my little superhero decided whether to resume his reign of destruction or scream\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Prematurity&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Prematurity-copy-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1867"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1867\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}