Those who might have been reading the due in June/July thread might have seen that I hit 30 weeks yesterday, and it was at this point that I thought it was time to look ahead to plan for the impending birth of our child.

I decided it was time to think about what to pack in my bag/baby's bag for hospital, what to do with my DD, make sure baby's room was ready, birth plan, etc etc. Little did I know how important this would be.

This morning 30w+1 I woke with a pinkish discharge. Hmmm, ok. What to do... Pulled out What to Expect when You're Expecting to get a few ideas. In the end I called the midwives at the hospital for their advice. They suggested I put on a pad, and got ready as usual - breakfast, shower, dressed etc then to call them back to let them know how I was going.

I called them back after about an hour to tell them that the discharge was continuing and that my belly felt quite tight. I wasn't constantly tight, but was tight while I was on the phone and also when I was in the shower. They suggested I come in to see them. No problem, dropped DD at school and headed to the hospital, envisaging I'd be there for 30 mins or so and head off to work.

Well that was fine in theory until they put me in a delivery room to put me on a monitor and started taking my obs. Blood pressure fine, temp, fine, pulse fine, baby's heart rate fine, uterine contractions.... approx every 10 mins!!!! What the...???? Stayed on the monitor for over an hour, watching and feeling the contractions increase in severity and decrease in time between, down to approx 4-5 mins. And definitely not Braxton Hicks. Holy Cow!

Fortunately after few more tests, they confirmed that waters hadn't broken, nor had my cervix dialated. However the contractions were still with me. They gave me a brief on worst case scenario - can't stop contractions, cervix dialates/waters break, get transferred via ambulance to Monash, Mercy or the Womens as they have NICU beds (neonatal intensive care unit). Box Hill has a Level 2 special care nursery and I'd be needing a Level 3 if they couldn't stop the contractions and I was going to deliver.

After several more hours and some Panadeine Forte to try and slow the contractions, they seemed to think the drugs were working (and so did I cause I couldn't feel regular contractions.)

More test, more time and less contractions, they finally sent me home around 4.30pm - 7 hours later, with strong recommendations to keep an eye on what was happening, and if there were any more contractions or any more discharge to call IMMEDIATELY.

Since I've been home I've been feeling OK. Not great, uterus is still fairly tender. I don't think I've have any more contractions, but I'm certainly aware that they may happen. Or not. OB & Midwives were happy for me to go to work tomorrow, so I guess I will be.

My suggestion to you all... Pack your bag! You can never be prepared too early. Fortunately I didn't need it, but as soon as I can, I'm heading out to the shops to buy a new nighty/pyjamas and I'm packing my bag. Hopefully I won't need it and this little one stays put for another 10 weeks. If not, I'll be ready.

Gotta say, not your average day at 30 weeks.