Day 2 of being home alone on bed rest. It wasnt too bad actually. I woke up feeling pretty sick to my stomach so I decided to stay in bed for the morning. My friend Cat called from Chile, she is teaching english there for 6 months. We had a nice long chat about all kinds of things. Then my sister brought me lunch and picked up a book for me at Barnes and Noble. Do I really need another book to read? No, but this is highly recommended by moms of preemies so I thought I should pick it up and do a little reading to be prepared. The other books dont seem quite as important right now. My cousin came over and brought a basket of goodies including, lasagna, choc chip cookies, books, magazines, coloring books and puzzle books plus a picture that my godson drew for me! When she left I got on the phone with my friend Shannan and talked about what I need to get done before the baby gets here. She has 2 little girls that are about a year and a half apart so I trust her. Then I turned on the lullaby cd for the baby and started reading my new book. How relaxing!
Besides not feeling well off and on throughout the day it was pretty uneventful. I have had some contractions but nothing consistent. Last night I had about an hour of contractions that were 8 minutes apart but eventually slowed and stopped. I am now comfortable determining what is a contraction and what isnt as long as they are strong enough, and if they arent I probably shouldnt be counting them anyway.
It has been exactly a week since I was sent to L&D (almost to the minute) and I cant believe how much has happened since then. It is amazing how quickly things change.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
32w2d
So who knew when I said that I was in the homestretch in my last post that I actually might have been. A lot has happened over the last week and we continue to wait and see what will happen next.
9/23
I had an OB appointment at 5:40. Brian doesnt usually come but was working from home that day so came with me. I complained of seeing spots for the last few days. That, along with an elevated bp and high weight gain caused Dr. B to send me up to L&D to be monitored and run a PIH (pregnancy induced hypertension) panel. Everything came back fine but surprisingly I was having contractions, I didnt feel them at all. They gave me some water with the hope that it would slow them down. At 8:30 I was checked and was 1cm dilated and 50% effaced. We werent very concerned at the time. The contractions grew stronger (still not feeling them) and around 11 I was checked again and was 3cm and 70% effaced. All of a sudden things became serious. My moms best friend is a nurse there so I asked if she was working, luckily she was and was my nurse for the night. We called our parents to tell them what was going on and were rushed back to get me started on an IV of magnesium sulfate to stop the contractions. At 12 I received the first of 2 steroid shots to help develop the baby's lungs. They attempted to insert a catheter twice without success which was not pleasant, I eventually asked them to give up and used a bedpan for the rest of my stay. My parents had arrived by that time and we kind of watched and waited and then tried to get some sleep.
9/24
Overnight the contractions were getting closer together so they decided to increase the Mag which eventually worked and the contractions slowed down. I had a comfortable rest of the night but only slept about 40 minutes. My new nurse, Donna, came on in the morning. Everything remained relatively the same and stable all day and afternoon. We were able to talk to the NICU and antenatal docs and they told us what to expect. I also had my second steroid shot and our short-term goal was to keep baby in for an additional 24 hours so it had time to fully work. We had an ultrasound and determined that baby is head down, weighed 4lbs 3oz and definitely still a boy. We also found out that he has a big head just like his dad! They were planning on stopping the mag the next day so B went to work to get some stuff done since we didnt know what the next day would bring.
9/25
We were finally able to get some sleep! They stopped the Mag at 8:15am but within a half hour contractions and uterine irritability picked up. At 9:30 I was started on Procardia orally and everything slowed down. There are barely any contractions and just some irritability. I will continue this every 6 hours. Dr. G came in to discuss what's happening and said that since the steroids have taken effect now, it will be ok if he comes early. At 2:30 Dr. B came in to check on me. I asked if he was surprised to see me here and he said he certainly wasnt expecting to see me for this reason. He said now that I had the steroid shots, if I started in hard labor they wouldnt stop it. He also said that the baby would receive the benefits of this shot for the remainder of the pregnancy, until his lungs are mature. He told me it is possible for me to last til my due date or I could go home and deliver the next day, there is no way to know. He planned to come back the next day and we'll decide whether to send me home as long as the procardia keeps working.
9/26
Aunt Marie was my nurse again last night. Nothing exciting happened. B went to work today to get some things done. Of course, Dr. B came in only a few hours later with great news - I'm being discharged! He did an FFN and checked me to make sure that I wasnt dilated anymore. I was finally able to get up and use the bathroom after about 60 hours in bed. Since I am being released on bed rest, my awesome nurse Carrie is having the lactation consultant talk to me because I would otherwise miss my breastfeeding class. Now I'm just waiting for someone to pick me up!
9/29
Since I've been home nothing exciting has happened. I've been trying to stay on the sofa as much as possible but it is hard. Last night I had a lot of back pain/cramping that lasted through this morning. I didnt call the doctor because I wasnt sure if it meant anything. I finally heard back from the OBs office and my FFN was positive which means there is a good chance that I will deliver in the next 2 weeks. The FFN is a more effective test when you get a negative result so we still dont really know what is going to happen. There isnt really anything to change as a result of this so we just wait.
9/23
I had an OB appointment at 5:40. Brian doesnt usually come but was working from home that day so came with me. I complained of seeing spots for the last few days. That, along with an elevated bp and high weight gain caused Dr. B to send me up to L&D to be monitored and run a PIH (pregnancy induced hypertension) panel. Everything came back fine but surprisingly I was having contractions, I didnt feel them at all. They gave me some water with the hope that it would slow them down. At 8:30 I was checked and was 1cm dilated and 50% effaced. We werent very concerned at the time. The contractions grew stronger (still not feeling them) and around 11 I was checked again and was 3cm and 70% effaced. All of a sudden things became serious. My moms best friend is a nurse there so I asked if she was working, luckily she was and was my nurse for the night. We called our parents to tell them what was going on and were rushed back to get me started on an IV of magnesium sulfate to stop the contractions. At 12 I received the first of 2 steroid shots to help develop the baby's lungs. They attempted to insert a catheter twice without success which was not pleasant, I eventually asked them to give up and used a bedpan for the rest of my stay. My parents had arrived by that time and we kind of watched and waited and then tried to get some sleep.
9/24
Overnight the contractions were getting closer together so they decided to increase the Mag which eventually worked and the contractions slowed down. I had a comfortable rest of the night but only slept about 40 minutes. My new nurse, Donna, came on in the morning. Everything remained relatively the same and stable all day and afternoon. We were able to talk to the NICU and antenatal docs and they told us what to expect. I also had my second steroid shot and our short-term goal was to keep baby in for an additional 24 hours so it had time to fully work. We had an ultrasound and determined that baby is head down, weighed 4lbs 3oz and definitely still a boy. We also found out that he has a big head just like his dad! They were planning on stopping the mag the next day so B went to work to get some stuff done since we didnt know what the next day would bring.
9/25
We were finally able to get some sleep! They stopped the Mag at 8:15am but within a half hour contractions and uterine irritability picked up. At 9:30 I was started on Procardia orally and everything slowed down. There are barely any contractions and just some irritability. I will continue this every 6 hours. Dr. G came in to discuss what's happening and said that since the steroids have taken effect now, it will be ok if he comes early. At 2:30 Dr. B came in to check on me. I asked if he was surprised to see me here and he said he certainly wasnt expecting to see me for this reason. He said now that I had the steroid shots, if I started in hard labor they wouldnt stop it. He also said that the baby would receive the benefits of this shot for the remainder of the pregnancy, until his lungs are mature. He told me it is possible for me to last til my due date or I could go home and deliver the next day, there is no way to know. He planned to come back the next day and we'll decide whether to send me home as long as the procardia keeps working.
9/26
Aunt Marie was my nurse again last night. Nothing exciting happened. B went to work today to get some things done. Of course, Dr. B came in only a few hours later with great news - I'm being discharged! He did an FFN and checked me to make sure that I wasnt dilated anymore. I was finally able to get up and use the bathroom after about 60 hours in bed. Since I am being released on bed rest, my awesome nurse Carrie is having the lactation consultant talk to me because I would otherwise miss my breastfeeding class. Now I'm just waiting for someone to pick me up!
9/29
Since I've been home nothing exciting has happened. I've been trying to stay on the sofa as much as possible but it is hard. Last night I had a lot of back pain/cramping that lasted through this morning. I didnt call the doctor because I wasnt sure if it meant anything. I finally heard back from the OBs office and my FFN was positive which means there is a good chance that I will deliver in the next 2 weeks. The FFN is a more effective test when you get a negative result so we still dont really know what is going to happen. There isnt really anything to change as a result of this so we just wait.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
30w5d
Wow, 30 weeks! We are in the home stretch now!
First of all, I passed my glucose tolerance test so no gestational diabetes for me! That means I can keep eating my ice cream. The receptionist messed up my next appointment so it isnt until Tuesday. I should be getting instructions for my non-stress tests. I am curious about whether I schedule them all at once or one week at a time.
Last night was our first childbirth class. I feel kind of silly being there for 2 reasons: 1-I feel like I dont belong, I cant possibly be pregnant enough to warrant these classes, can I? And yet most of the people are due a month after me! 2- Most of the people seem to have no idea what to expect so I am concerned that it's going to be really basic and I'm not going to get anything out of the classes. No big deal, it is a right of passage but I was hoping to learn some stuff. I also felt a little out of place because everyone was so young and unmarried. I am young at only 25 so these people must have been late teens/early 20's. I couldnt help but think that almost all of the pregnancies in that room were unplanned. Mom took a test after missing her period and maybe she cried or maybe she was scared to tell her boyfriend and family. You could tell this when we were going around the room and introducing ourselves. We were supposed to say something good and bad about your pregnancy. The first girl said "bad is back pain, not sleeping..." and went on and on. And the instructor said, "and good?" and her response was "I dont know, nothing really." Stab right to my heart. How could you not think that this pregnancy is amazing? Even after the horrible first few months I am still amazed at how he is growing and moving, it is really a miracle. We'll see how next week goes. I think we are seeing the birth video which was described as not as graphic as what you see on the baby shows. So what is it that we're seeing exactly?
My shower invites went out this week! Yay! And I am a registry stalker so I know that someone bought something this week already! I cant wait!
I am getting swollen in my feet and fingers. I guess this is causing my joints to ache. It is mostly my fingers but also my knees have been achy. I have always had knee issues so I am not surprised. My feet just feel stretched. Of course this week, when the weather is 70 and beautiful, I am stuck in a hot office with a window that doesnt open. I am so thankful that it is fall though. The cool air is so refreshing when I step outside in the morning. I might have to go for a walk tonight.
We are off to the shore this weekend for Irish weekend. We should probably stay home and work on the nursery but this might be the last weekend that we can get away. No bikini - it will be too cold!
First of all, I passed my glucose tolerance test so no gestational diabetes for me! That means I can keep eating my ice cream. The receptionist messed up my next appointment so it isnt until Tuesday. I should be getting instructions for my non-stress tests. I am curious about whether I schedule them all at once or one week at a time.
Last night was our first childbirth class. I feel kind of silly being there for 2 reasons: 1-I feel like I dont belong, I cant possibly be pregnant enough to warrant these classes, can I? And yet most of the people are due a month after me! 2- Most of the people seem to have no idea what to expect so I am concerned that it's going to be really basic and I'm not going to get anything out of the classes. No big deal, it is a right of passage but I was hoping to learn some stuff. I also felt a little out of place because everyone was so young and unmarried. I am young at only 25 so these people must have been late teens/early 20's. I couldnt help but think that almost all of the pregnancies in that room were unplanned. Mom took a test after missing her period and maybe she cried or maybe she was scared to tell her boyfriend and family. You could tell this when we were going around the room and introducing ourselves. We were supposed to say something good and bad about your pregnancy. The first girl said "bad is back pain, not sleeping..." and went on and on. And the instructor said, "and good?" and her response was "I dont know, nothing really." Stab right to my heart. How could you not think that this pregnancy is amazing? Even after the horrible first few months I am still amazed at how he is growing and moving, it is really a miracle. We'll see how next week goes. I think we are seeing the birth video which was described as not as graphic as what you see on the baby shows. So what is it that we're seeing exactly?
My shower invites went out this week! Yay! And I am a registry stalker so I know that someone bought something this week already! I cant wait!
I am getting swollen in my feet and fingers. I guess this is causing my joints to ache. It is mostly my fingers but also my knees have been achy. I have always had knee issues so I am not surprised. My feet just feel stretched. Of course this week, when the weather is 70 and beautiful, I am stuck in a hot office with a window that doesnt open. I am so thankful that it is fall though. The cool air is so refreshing when I step outside in the morning. I might have to go for a walk tonight.
We are off to the shore this weekend for Irish weekend. We should probably stay home and work on the nursery but this might be the last weekend that we can get away. No bikini - it will be too cold!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
28w4d
So I'm glad that I didnt attempt the bikini! At my doctors appointment the following week I found out that I gained 9lbs!! Oops! Nothing else exciting happened at that appointment except that I am now going every 2 weeks so I already had an appointment again yesterday. This one was a little more interesting. I had to do the glucose tolerance test so at my last appt they gave me the drink to take home so I could drink it before I came. I got there with a half hour left before I needed my blood drawn. After waiting about 10 minutes they called me back to do weight (only 2lbs!), bp and urine. By the time she was done I still had 15 minutes so she put me in a room to see the doctor. This made me nervous naturally because what are the chances of the doctor coming in and being done within 15 minutes, right? It just doesnt happen. But I figured I would let them worry about that. So Dr. B comes in and we do the normal routine. I had a couple questions for him (I will discuss one below) and we are just finishing up when the nurse comes rushing in saying that there is a 9 minute window and we are at 9 minutes exactly and we have to take my blood right that second or we will miss it. So Dr. B leaves and she starts to draw blood. I have this done all the time, I did it every other day for months when seeing Dr. F, I just had blood drawn on friday for my thyroid panel, I am so used to it so it was odd when I started seeing stars. Once she stopped it went away and I was fine so who knows what it was. Then she realized that in her haste she forgot a cotton swab to put under the bandaid. "No big deal," I say, "I'm not a bleeder." Famous last words. So we leave the room and I go to the desk to make my next appointment. I happen to look down at my arm and it is covered in blood! Luckily the nurses station is right behind the desk so she was able to clean it up and properly bandage it so there were no more problems. As far as OB appts go, this one was more interesting than the rest!
Saturday night through Monday morning I had a bad pain in my side. It would flare up and be pretty bad but other times not too bad. It was bad enough to wake me up during the night both nights but then Monday morning after sitting on the sofa for a little while it seemed to just go away. Since I wasnt bleeding, vomiting or contracting, I didnt call the doctor. I did mention it to him at my appointment though. He felt around and hit the spot ::ouch! no wonder i was seeing stars:: and then felt the baby ::ouch again! he practically lifted my uterus out of my belly::. He determined that the baby is transverse and the pain is most likely severe round ligament pain due to the babys size and position. If he were a good boy he would be head down and then my uterus would be stretching up and down instead of side to side. At this point, being transverse isn't a huge deal, just something to watch. I am going to try some techniques suggested to me to get him to turn (spinningbabies.com). If he doesnt turn by 32-34 weeks I will probably go to a chiropractor and/or acupuncture to see if either of those can help. If he still doesnt turn I am against an external version so I would be having a c-section. A lot can happen between now and then though. Since he is still small enough to move around in there I will do my best to get him to turn sooner rather than later. Come on banana! Be a good boy for mommy! I also heard that putting a frozen bag of veggies by his head should encourage him to turn but I'm not sure which side his head is on. I will ask at my next appointment if I havent had success yet.
In other baby news, his room is painted! Well the walls are painted, daddy just needs to do the trim and ceiling. We are doing a million little odds and ends projects around the house and since we still have plenty of time before the baby comes, we arent really in a rush to finish his room. I would like it finished and the furniture in by my shower (oct 11) so we have somewhere to put everything. I also repainted the rocking chair that B's mom gave to us. She had used it when he was a baby. I am having a wonderful nestie make new cushions for it. I finally bought fabric and sent everything off to her yesterday. I can't wait to see how fabulous it is when it's done!
A mom on the nest just had her twins yesterday. She was less than a week further ahead than me. It is amazing to see those babies and to think that's what my little man looks like. He is that big! He is becoming more and more real every day and I can't wait until he gets here!
Saturday night through Monday morning I had a bad pain in my side. It would flare up and be pretty bad but other times not too bad. It was bad enough to wake me up during the night both nights but then Monday morning after sitting on the sofa for a little while it seemed to just go away. Since I wasnt bleeding, vomiting or contracting, I didnt call the doctor. I did mention it to him at my appointment though. He felt around and hit the spot ::ouch! no wonder i was seeing stars:: and then felt the baby ::ouch again! he practically lifted my uterus out of my belly::. He determined that the baby is transverse and the pain is most likely severe round ligament pain due to the babys size and position. If he were a good boy he would be head down and then my uterus would be stretching up and down instead of side to side. At this point, being transverse isn't a huge deal, just something to watch. I am going to try some techniques suggested to me to get him to turn (spinningbabies.com). If he doesnt turn by 32-34 weeks I will probably go to a chiropractor and/or acupuncture to see if either of those can help. If he still doesnt turn I am against an external version so I would be having a c-section. A lot can happen between now and then though. Since he is still small enough to move around in there I will do my best to get him to turn sooner rather than later. Come on banana! Be a good boy for mommy! I also heard that putting a frozen bag of veggies by his head should encourage him to turn but I'm not sure which side his head is on. I will ask at my next appointment if I havent had success yet.
In other baby news, his room is painted! Well the walls are painted, daddy just needs to do the trim and ceiling. We are doing a million little odds and ends projects around the house and since we still have plenty of time before the baby comes, we arent really in a rush to finish his room. I would like it finished and the furniture in by my shower (oct 11) so we have somewhere to put everything. I also repainted the rocking chair that B's mom gave to us. She had used it when he was a baby. I am having a wonderful nestie make new cushions for it. I finally bought fabric and sent everything off to her yesterday. I can't wait to see how fabulous it is when it's done!
A mom on the nest just had her twins yesterday. She was less than a week further ahead than me. It is amazing to see those babies and to think that's what my little man looks like. He is that big! He is becoming more and more real every day and I can't wait until he gets here!
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