The Wright Balance: 10/18/14 Preterm Labor at 33 weeks

I am 33 weeks pregnant and a day today. I worked 2 twelve hour shifts in a row the last two days. Thursday was a rather busy day. I was resource for 8 hours and had a busy patient group the last 4 hours. Friday I was resource for 6 hours, the day shift charge nurse went home sick at 1:30 and I took over. I did some walking and a few boosts up in bed, but nothing like what a 12 hour day of full patient care would be like. I had contractions and the ends of both shifts. Real ones not just braxton hicks. They were very strong, probably 10 an hour, and painful and causing shooting pain down my legs and period like cramping by the end of yesterday's shift. I called the maternity floor for advice. They called my midwife, who was there, and she said since this is the 3rd time this has happened to me and since I was already there I should come get checked out.
They put me on the baby heart beat monitor and the contraction monitor for about an hour. I had 6 contractions up there, just laying down resting. The baby's heart beat is 145 isn beats a minute and more when he moves and more when I have a contractions. He is moving and kicking a lot. They say because he is fighting off being squeezed. He is head down and rotating very low into my pelvis. My midwife, Patty, came an talked to me and did an exam. She said that my cervix isn't dilated (hurray!), and that is is spongy (like feeling my cheek, not like feeling my nose like I learned with fertility stuff). When I asked if that was normal, she was inconclusive in her response. I think it's normal for it to start softening, but maybe not that soft. Also she said she could feel the baby's head though it, and that seemed to be another part of the not normal. She confirmed that it is my bladder that is causing the perineal pressure I feel. She said this is real preterm labor and that we need to stop it for at least 3 more weeks and hopefully 4 more. We talked about a plan and she said we could try just working one day at a time so as not to decrease my hours yet. If it works, good, if not then she will recommend just 8 hours shifts instead of 12 hours. Things she mentioned are usually problems with twelve hour shifts are not drinking enough water and a long time up walking. Since I didn't have those problems the last two days she figured we could try just one at a time and see if that helps me. She wants to have me come to the clinic for an appointment on Friday next week to see how one day at a time is going. She also said if I have the real contractions consistently again and if I lay down and can't get them to go away I need to get checked out again. She suggested not lifting Josiah and resting though out the day as much as possible.
After talking about how my labor went with Josiah and what the week leading up to it was like, she seems convinced that my body is going to do it's best do deliver this baby even earlier than Josiah came. She suggested that I do nothing that would encourage cervical dilation (i.e. no sex) until it is safe for the baby to be born. He is still too little.
So here I am on the couch resting looking at my room, that isn't set up for the baby yet, thinking about packing a hospital bag, looking at my garden that needs prepped for winter and potatoes that need dug, and just sitting on the couch resting. I will probably try to do a few things but Bryan is probably going to have to do most of the work for a while. Poor guy, he already does so much! I guess the bright side is my days of discomfort with pregnancy are numbered. Although it might be a lot more uncomfortable than last time, it probably won't be a 42 week pregnancy. We'll see. I leave it all in God's hands and I'll keep telling myself that the import thing for me to do is to keep this little one safe and inside growing until he is big enough to not need a NICU.