Jessica's Pregnancy Journal, Entry 9: 30 Weeks

Dear Diary,

The 30-week mark has been an interesting one! In the last month we had our second wedding anniversary, Baby James's birthday party, he had his 12-month check-up with the pediatrician and we went on a 10-day summer vacation. Whew! Two babies in two years of marriage is a lot but at least we can say life is interesting.

The birthday was great! His check- up went really well, just 12-month milestones to cover in the next few months; stuff like transitioning to sippy cups only, teeth brushing, learning words, solid foods only, etc.

Traveling in the third trimester with a 12-month-old was interesting but it actually worked out really well for us — lost luggage and all. My goodness we have been busy busy busy!

It has been so hot since we've been back and that has been hard on me. I find myself laying around a lot more. I lay around on the floor and that way Baby James can play on/around me. He started walking last month and now he goes EVERYWHERE!!! That is also more difficult for me. I have to think of creative ways to get us out of the house so he can run around and yet also stay cool and hydrated. Taking a huge cup with water and a ton of ice with me when we leave the house has proven helpful. I usually take one of those large souvenir cups from a theme park and fill it to the very top with ice and then put in the water or other drink and I'm good to go! That lasts me most of the day while we're out.

I met with a Mommy's Group this week for a walk around Lake Miramar but the whole 5 miles would've been way too much for me so I only did two and a half miles. We went early in the morning so it was still kind of cool. Those moms were impressive! They're a lot more active than me in terms of walking so it was kind of a wakeup call.

Apparently, I overdid it I guess because at the end of this week I started having some contractions! It was kind of scary because I'm only 30 weeks this week! I called the nurse hotline after an hour or so and they advised me to drink two big glasses of water and then lay on my left side for another hour to see if the hydration and rest made the contractions stop. They didn't stop so we packed up Baby James and went in to Sharp Mary Birch to get me checked out.

After a while I wasn't feeling the contractions anymore but the nurse said the machine was picking up that I was still having them so they gave me an injection and an hour later we were being discharged. The nurse at Mary Birch advised us that the contractions were probably brought on by dehydration and the extra exercise from walking around the lake this week. She said that even though I try to drink a lot every day that it's hard to keep up with the demands of a pregnancy because it's summer and the heat really takes its toll. They said to take it easy over this weekend and rest and see Dr. Gray next week.

I already have my regular monthly appointment scheduled for next week so it works out perfectly. I'm relieved to have that episode over with and I've been assured that I'm not at any kind of risk for early labor and that no one expects me to have those early contractions again. I'll still take it easy and watch my fluid intake a LOT more closely from here on out.

To read more from Jessica's journey, visit Jessica's Pregnancy Journal.

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