This weeks blog is a run down of our very interesting week! After the initial shock of Tuesday it is all pretty tame and you will get to see some pretty pictures.
Tuesday, January 7th:
I worked all day. Coincidentally, I told the new nanny that was shadowing me that I felt like I could go into labor any minute when she asked me when I was due. Also, mom sent me an adorable cartoon about an eskimo's water breaking.
I left work at 5pm and by 5:15 I was in a warm bath soaking my tired back. Michael came home around 5:30. I got out of the tub and got in my jammies. I headed to the bathroom because I needed to pee...again. This is when things got scary. There was blood. Lots of blood. Scary, bright red blood and it was steadily trickling out. I used the term "gush" Tuesday night, but now that I am calmer I think "steadily trickling" is more accurate. We hopped in the car and headed to Wake Med North because it is 5 minutes down the road. They asked us where we were supposed to deliver and then sent us straight back to triage. At first I was pretty infuriated that the nurses were so calm, but they managed to calm me down, too. They put me in a room and I had a doctor in to do an exam almost immediately. Emergency rooms must work faster for pregnant people. They checked Biscuit's heart rate and he was doing well. They drew some blood just in case and put an IV port in. Next step, a transfer to the hospital where I would deliver, Rex. I got to ride in the giant Mobile Critical Care ambulance with Mike and Mike, while Mike followed behind in our car. (Silly stuff, but it also calmed me down.) By the time we arrived at Rex I was in an almost Zen mindset. It was quite odd, especially knowing how paranoid I have been most of the pregnancy.
Triage at Rex. Our nurse came in and drew more blood, set me up for IV fluids, and put me on a contraction monitor and put Biscuit on a heart rate monitor. After a few seconds I noticed my arm had swollen. The first IV port had infiltrated so they had to put a new one in. After that I had another exam and was told I was in labor. Two centimeters dilated and lots of contractions. They moved me in to a labor and delivery room and started setting me up to try and stop labor. I was put on a magnesium drip to slow down contractions and kept on the heart rate and contraction monitors. I had a lovely foley catheter put in because I wasn't allowed to get up and pee. I was kept on this all night and most of the next day.
Magnesium makes you feel (and apparently look) really drunk.
Wednesday, January 8th:
I had to have my vitals checked regularly and was hooked up to so many contraptions that I did not sleep too well. They did give me an ambien that knocked me out for about 4 hours, though. We waited around until 11 when they had set up an appointment for me with the high risk specialist downstairs. We got the wonderful news that Biscuit was very healthy and "well-fed" at about 4 pounds (most babies at week 29 are about 3 pounds).
My insides all looked healthy and I was no longer dilated. He was, however, head down, locked and loaded and ready to come out. The bad news is that they could find no explanation for what had happened and could only make some guesses. The placenta may have torn a bit from the uterine wall, my cervix may have been irritated, or I could have had a varicosity, I don't know if I'm spelling that right, but basically a varicose vein in my hooha might have popped. Also not so good news, now that it has happened once I am at at a greater risk for going in to pre term labor again. My high risk doctor was not super concerned about anything happening any time in the next few days though so he advised that they take me off the magnesium that afternoon and send me home the next morning. My regular OBs thought differently.
They did take me off the magnesium and the catheter, but they wanted to keep me until the weekend. So we moved down the hall to the Mother and Baby rooms, which was awkward when new staff (not the nurses, they were informed) rolled through and asked us about our baby. It soon became known what was going on and the staff was super friendly and helpful, urging Biscuit not to try this again until March. I had several visitors that evening and I was finally feeling normal after going off the magnesium, but there were so many contractions. Most likely just Braxton Hicks, and they were super short but they were coming ~5 minutes apart for almost 2 hours. My nurse came in and rearranged my bed and put me on the side and they stopped completely! I slept for about 5.5 hours that night, ambien free!
Thursday, January 9th:
I decided that I felt pretty good that next morning and told Michael he could go to work in the afternoon if he wanted to. I know he was getting bored sitting there. They did my daily NST (neonatal stress test) and declared everything normal and said I wouldn't be bothered much that day.
While Michael was out the nurse came in and removed my IV port and told me I could take a shower! The shower was complicated, but I felt glorious after getting clean and putting on new PJs and they changed my sheets while I was in the shower. The contractions started up again after that so it was back on my left side in bed. Michael came back from work bearing flowers and necessities. The bear is from Mom.
That night I slept for about 6 hours.
Friday, January 10th:
I had decided the night before that Michael could go to work all day today since the rumor was I would be there until at least Saturday. He left for work at around 8am and shortly after they came in to do my NST with the news that I may be going home today! Biscuit was so excited that he kicked so hard he startled the nurse hooking up all the sensors, and twice they had to come in and reposition them because he has knocked them out of the straps. My body decided to be mean and I had several contractions during this test, but the doctor said they were so short and weak that he wasn't concerned. I was to be discharged as soon as Michael got off work! My discharge instructions were basically "don't do anything except shower, eat, and potty." I have to go see my regular doctor weekly now, and I will see either the high risk doctor or the ultrasound tech at my doctor in 3-4 weeks. The nurses brought me extra puppy pads and other things to take home with me in case the bleeding started again and then they basically left me alone for the rest of the day. I took a few seconds after getting up to pee to snap some pictures of my room and my view. So happy that I wasn't going to have to keep looking at that for the rest of the weekend. I do, however, miss the room service. Rex has really good food!
My hummus, veggie, and pita plate
My Bed
Mike's Bed
The view from my bed
And the lovely view from my window
The housekeeping staff insisted that if I was going to stay through the weekend that they would find me a better view.
Michael came home from work and we got to head home. All has been well, although I still get little sets of contractions after getting up to pee or sitting up to eat. I have been well taken care of by family, friends, and the hospital staff during this whole ordeal and I couldn't be more thankful that I am. Many of you have asked what you can do to help. The main thing is to keep little Biscuit in your thoughts and prayers. He has had steroids to help his lungs develop but he is still at risk for being born early. If you feel the need to do more than that I am sure Michael would appreciate help keeping the house clean and both of us fed. My poor husband now has to go to work all day and then come home and take care of me, kitty, and the house. We would also be very grateful for any newborn care, health, and safety items from our registries. We have the big items, but we may be scrambling if this happens again.
Thank you again, everyone, for all your visits, calls, facebook comments, thoughts, and prayers. We feel so very loved and hope you do in return. Here's to hoping next week's post is a lot shorter and less dramatic!
.jpg)
