I spent the morning fluffing up the new cushion covers we'd purchased for our sofa and making up lampshades to be hung up in the rooms - we've had bare bulbs since we moved in back in December so this was a pretty big deal! We spruced the apartment up, munched on hot cross buns and sipped cups of tea. All very pleasant. I noticed a small amount of blood when I went to the loo, I gave the pregnancy assessment department a quick call and they advised popping over in about an hours time. My Mum drove me down and offered to wait with me, it was only a going to be a quick check and more just for reassurance. I was hooked up to the CTG machine and within 15 minutes I'd met the movement criteria and could be taken off the machine. There weren't any doctors available in triage as they were all in theatre, because I'd had a small bleed I was advised not to leave until I'd been checked over. This was standard procedure so they could rule out where the blood had come from.

We must have waited for close to three hours, I was feeling really uncomfortable however I sat on the bed and I was getting impatient because I just wanted to get back home to prep the food my sister had bought for my baby shower the next day. The doctor was eventually free, she had a quick feel of my tummy. Again, all normal and of no concern however she would need to do a quick internal check to locate the blood loss, however small it was. The rest all becomes a blur. The doctor used a speculum and found a lot more blood than she originally anticipated, this wasn't the pink blood I had described but fresh red blood. I could see the face of the midwife who had been backwards and forwards to me throughout the day change. I just remember her saying "Oh, there's quite a lot there." The CTG monitor was strapped onto my stomach,  I was pushed down flat and turned onto my left side. The alarm kept going off on the CTG machine as baby's heart was experiencing late decelerations. A nurse I didn't recognise was leaning over me telling me to stay as still as possible, not to move from my left side. I was wheeled through triage on the bed over to the labour ward. I could see all these people around me and hear alarms going off but I had no clue what was happening. All I could think of was trying not to move off my left side but my body had started to shake uncontrollably and I needed to call Liam.
I was moved onto a bed in a private room in the delivery suite, one doctor was putting a cannula in my arm and another was performing an internal exam as I had continued to bleed. I was 3cm dilated and my cervix was 100% effaced. The registrar arrived, he informed me that 1) I was in labour and 2) there is nothing they could give me to stop it progressing, my waters hadn't broken yet but if it's going to happen it's going to happen. He held his hand over my abdomen and explained how he could feel uterine contractions and discussed the possibility of a c-section. I remember him saying how impressed he was with the fact I was so calm and called the midwife over to give me my first steroid injection. 
I never really felt any pain, I was hooked up to an IV and had a total of 3 litres of fluid pumped into me over 10 hours. I don't really remember much of what was happening around me, I just spent most of the time asleep.





The next day came and I'd slept on and off the entire night, only waking to be sick into the cardboard trays scattered around the bed. Liam was by my side curled up in the chair and my Mum had left in the early hours of the morning after baby's heart rate had returned to normal. The registrar came to do his ward round and was happy that I could be moved out of delivery and across to the antenatal ward to be monitored.  I'm home now but I spent the next 2 nights in hospital. I've had uncontrollable nausea and vomiting, high temperature, raised blood pressure, raised heart rate (at one point they had to take me off the CTG because my heart rate kept setting the alarm off and there was only one midwife to 5 patients). I was given a course of antibiotics to take at home as they initially thought I was suffering with a water infection but the doctor informed me it was highly unlikely as there was no sign to indicate infection in my blood or urine samples. My iron levels have dropped in 2 days from 116 to 94, I'm due my next appointment for bloods and checks on the 7th.

The human body is so confusing. I'm doing everything I can to make sure my little girl gets as many days as she can inside before she enters the big wide world. Lots of bedrest for me. I just want to let her know how excited I am to finally meet her but I'd really prefer it if she waited until April to make an appearance!