27 weeks from University Hospital

As many have already heard, I have been admitted to University Hospital. Here is the story:

Friday morning I woke up feeling pretty good, better than earlier in the week actually. I went to work and then that afternoon I had a regular OB appointment. I took the van from downtown, headed to the doctor and afterward I was meeting up with Brian at his work where they were throwing us a baby shower. At the OB she measured my belly, 38 weeks for a single pregnancy, which is right on track and then she did a regular, internal exam. The first thing she said when the exam was over, "Well, you're done at work." Then she explained I was 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. I got dressed and called Brian. It was almost 2:30 at this point, and the work baby shower was supposed to start at 3. His co-worker drove him straight to the hospital to meet up with me. Meanwhile my OB sent me straight to a high risk ultrasound where they saw I was having contractions every 3-5 minutes (I felt nothing; had no clue) and funneling, and Brian got caught up with what was going on. From there I was wheeled (this would be the last time my feet would hit the floor in 48 hours) to Labor & Delivery triage. Everything kind of sped by after that.

At Christ they don't deliver babies earlier than 32 weeks because they don't have a NICU set-up, so I was prepared for transfer to University Hospital. Prior to my transfer I had an IV started with Magnesium Sulfate, to start the process of stopping my contractions. Brian has appropriately named Magnesium Sulfate, "Hot Juice". This stuff makes the body extremely HOT! I also got a steroid shot of Celerum (not sure on the spelling) to help speed up the growth of the babies lungs. Then I had a fun ride in the ambulance to University.

When I got to University I was put into a room in Labor & Delivery and admitted. Not long after I saw the high risk doctor and he measured my cervix at 2 cm. I was hooked up to a machine to monitor my contractions and each of the babies. At this point I was now having contractions every 2-3 minutes (still not feeling them) and they had started a steady dose of 2mg "Hot Juice" every hour. Brian's parents came later that night and we saw the doctor again. He explained what the "Hot Juice" was for and that he would be increasing me to 3mg because I wasn't "green" enough and I was still having regular contractions. From there things got a little hazy for me. The difference between 2 and 3mg of "Hot Juice" was dramatic and I felt the effects immediately. It makes you very hot, stiff, achy, and wiped out. Apparently it can also cause nausea, but I was lucky enough to miss that symptom, which is good because I wasn't going to be allowed any food or liquid until after I was off the 'Hot Juice". A couple of hours later the doctor came back and saw that my contractions were still regular and he measured my cervix at 4 cm. I started to panic at this point. He went over the "Hot Juice", second steroid shot and decided to have us meet with a specialist from the NICU to prepare us for what may come.

Meeting the NICU specialist was extremely scary, but fortunately also very good in getting the information ahead of time. He went over the different array of treatments we could expect as well as the first few hours and days typical in NICU.

That night was hard. I was strapped to a monitor with three constant feeds, one for each baby and one for the contractions and if a baby came off the monitor the nurse would have to come back in and get them back on. I couldn't really get comfortable and the "Hot Juice" was causing me to feel terrible. Some time that night I faded out and don't remember much. The 3mg of "Hot Juice" was causing me to have oxygen level trouble and I wasn't reacting well, so the doctor decided to put me back onto 2mg.

Saturday morning and afternoon I was in and out of it. It was just a long day. Brian and his parents switched off sitting with me and I tried to just stay calm and focus on getting to the next day. Late that afternoon, 24 hours from the first steroid shot I was given the second shot. From there all I had to do was focus on getting to Sunday. Then I could be taken off the "Hot Juice" as long as the contractions were stabilizing. Saturday night my nurse was fantastic. The babies were both so active and kept floating off the monitor. Eventually I was able to just pass out and slept the whole night.

I awoke Sunday morning with an oxygen mask on and in complete confusion. I'd slept through my levels dropping off, the babies needing to be monitored and re-monitored over and over and an oxygen mask being put on. I felt like I woke up somewhere else. Fortunately I was doing much better and told I was going to get to come off the "Hot Juice" later that morning, and that I would get to eat! The last meal I'd had was Friday around noon. I'd purposely eaten light because I knew I was going to Brian's work baby shower and I wanted to indulge in cake. I wasn't necessarily hungry throughout all this time, but I was starving Sunday morning. When the food tray came, it was the best french toast, cheerios and juice I'd ever eaten! :)

Sunday afternoon after eating I had my catheter removed and I was able to walk again. And then I was moved to my new room in the "anti-partum" wing and I was able to shower! Even better than getting to eat, was getting to wash my face and hair! It was such a relief and made me feel tons better.

Not much has changed since Sunday. My new room is slowly becoming my new home. The doctor's plan is for me to be here until the babies are born. Right now the goal is 30 weeks, and today I am 27 weeks 2 days. Every day the babies stay with me, is 3 less days in the NICU. Getting those steroid shots to them was huge because it increased their lung development and they are getting big and strong every day. Each morning I am strapped to the monitors for an hour to watch the babies and contractions. Today was a long monitoring as neither baby wanted to sit still for the hour. The nurses had to chase them all around and eventually I ended up in a weird position, holding one of the monitors for the entire hour! I also had an ultrasound today and got to see each of the babies practicing their breathing. As for contractions, I'm still having regular ones, but I'm not showing any cervix change and I haven't been having any strong, regular contractions. As long as my cervix doesn't change...we are all good!

My mom flew in Sunday night and will be staying with me for at least the next few weeks. My mom and Brian's parents are splitting day shifts to stay with me, and then Brian heads over after work and stays over night. He doesn't have to commute for the time being. :) I'm day by day settling into the permanence of my surroundings, and staying positive that the longer that I am here...the better the babies will be.

So...that is where I am today. Brian and I appreciate all the well wishes from everyone. We are truly blessed to have our parents help as they have been awesome, and although we can't wait to introduce Maggie and Jack to everyone...everyone will have to wait for now!

I'll try to keep this updated as the time goes by...it'll give me something to do. :) For now I'm going to enjoy some time with Brian, get strapped up to monitor the babies and contractions and then settle in for the rest of the night.