Stomach Flu Begone

Well, wouldn't you know it, I caught another stomach bug. Whenever there is some kind of stomach thing within 50 miles, I catch it. I don't even know anyone who's had this bug recently, but whatever. I'm starting to feel a little better now, but starting at 3am, I've been having severe stomach pains with, of course, the diarhea and vomitting. The worst part, honestly was the abdominal pain. I knew it wasn't labor, as labor pains are not sharp, shooting pains. And yet it's been coming in waves like contractions. It's finally starting to slow down a bit, and I've been able to drink a glass of ginger ale, so we've made progress! Cathy is coming over to check me just so we can know whether this has pushed me closer to labor.

The thing with stomach bugs when you're pregnant is that you can become dehydrated, which can kick-start labor, or the irritation itself of the intestines starts irritating the uterus, having the same effect. Though I'm at a point where I could go into labor, it's never a great idea to go into labor when you're exhausted and coming off of 12 or more hours without real food or drink.

One good thing has come out of this fo me, which is that it's served as a sort of practice for labor. During the night when I was trying to sleep and waking every five or ten minutes with pains, I kept reminding myself not to tense up but to relax. I slowed my breathing and conciously tried to unclench all my muscles, which had tensed at the start of pain. The pain really did subside and was a lot easier to bear this way, and it reassured me that I can do this in labor too.

I've also been reminded of how different labor pain is from other pains. Yes, it's painful. Yes, it brought me to my knees last time. But, I knew with almost complete certainty that I wasn't in labor last night because the pains were sharp and shooting. I can't really say that I remember labor pains enough to describe them well, but the kind of pain that you have if you cut or burn yourself or even stub your toe is sending a differnet kind of signal, if that makes sense. The signals I've been getting today are that something is wrong, not that something is working as it should. That's actually one of the benefits of natural childbirth: if something does go wrong, you will feel a different sensation, a different kind of pain. The sensations you feel and experience can be a great indicator for your caregivers of what is going on with your body and especially if there is an indication of something going awry.

Overall, I'm just glad to feel like I'm coming through the other side of this thing and, it seems so far, without being shoved into labor. Yet. I'll give an update after Cathy checks me, and we'll see how things go. And while I've felt like poo, it's in some ways prepared me for labor, like a dry run. Still maybe not something I'm looking forward to, but I feel just a little bit more ready to take it on.