Where there is a will....there is a way to update a blog

I've been wanting to update this page for several days now, but havent' been able to, until now. For those that don't know, I am in the hospital :o( I have been since Thursday afternoon. While I can get on the internet with laptop in here, they have very strict filtering software so i could VIEW my site but I couldn't post to it. Good thing for cell phones with internet access. I found how to post via email to my site. So anyway....here is a little catchup from Thursday to the present for those that had no clue, or who have not gotten all the information as to what is going on.

 

Thursday morning I woke up with a bad backache. One that, had I not been pregant, I would have thought my "monthly visitor" was about to rear her ugly head. But that was all that was wrong and I have felt that before and so just went on about my day. An hour or so after lunch, I went to the bathroom like I do about 30 times a day now and found blood and clots. Back to office to call my doctor (yes, I was working).  They have me come to the office where they too note the bleeding and do a quick ultrasound to check on the baby (he was fine) and then sent me back over here to the hospital to the 3rd floor which is labor and delivery to be monitored.

 

It seems every pregnant lady in the 5 county region was ALSO being sent here (although most to deliver) cause it took and hour and half to get a triage room and the waiting area was FULL of women in various stages of pregnancy/labor. It was like watching a circus!  I finally got put in a room and on a fetal monitor and while he was responding great, I was showing contractions. The gave me fluid via an IV and drew some bloodwork and we did a wait and see game for about 3 hours to see if that would halt the contractions. Nope. So I got to be moved to a regular antepartum room (ahem....a SHARED antepartum room make that) and spend the night. Close monitoring through the night but baby remains ok. I sent Jay home so he could get Travis and get him off to school the next morning like normal (trying to maintain SOME normalcy for him, poor guy). Friday morning, once Travis was gone, Jay comes back and a busy day begins just as he is arriving. My doctor comes in, the perinatologist (high risk pregnancy specialist) comes in and we learn that 1) as long as i keep having bleeding, I'll be here. And once no bleeding is seen, I will be here for 2 days beyond that to just make sure it has stopped. 2) I would be starting an oral medication called Procardia to try and tame those contractions. 3) i'd be having and ultrasound to see if they could see where the bleeding was coming from.

 

The ultrasound was just a few minutes later and the baby looked great (even saw hair on his head), but the source of the bleeding could not be determined.  They are calling it a marginal placental abruption and were hoping it would show up on the scan but it didn't and apparently it's about a 50/50 shot of actually seeing it. Baby measured 4lbs 5oz (all guesstimates of course) and that is around 42% so they were pleased with his size/growth. And yes, defintily still a boy. He once again had no problem baring that for the camera.

So after all that, we just began a wait and see type approach. Much of Friday went by uneventfully. I took the first dose of Procardia and the only side effect I seem to be having that is red blotchy skin in places. Doesn't itch or anything though so no biggy. Friday evening, Dr. Wright, the perinatologist said she was going to go ahead and order 2 rounds of betamethasone for me, which is a steroid to help speed maturity of baby's lungs. Nurse comes in about 9pm Friday night to do that. HOLY COW THAT SHOT HURTS! Not the needle itself (although Jay did see and said it was HUGE) but the actual shot stuff.  And I find out at this time I get another Saturday night. I joked with her that she should have kept that a secret and just sprung it on me!  Then I had another RhoGam shot since I am RH- and my insulin shot (yes. officially gestation diabetic now and have to take a long acting insulin at bedtime and prick my fingers 4x a day). OH. still passing blood and clots.

 

So Friday night got a little rough for me :o) But it passed. Then Saturday morning came. I woke up about 5am for a potty trip and after laying back down, began to get VERRY uncomfortable. More achiness in back and contractions in back that would wrap around to the front. After laying for about an hour I got up to go to the bathroom and there was the rush of blood I expected to see feelign the way I felt. I notify nurse (this is about 8am by this time) and she rushes to get fetal monitor. Meanwhile...my breakfast tray comes in and I was STARVING cause I had been awake so long. And being diabetic, I have verrry strict times I am allowed to eat so I culdn't even snack before breakfast.As I manuever to pull my tray closer, nurse comes back with monitor and says "umm honey, we'd like you to hold off on eating because with your increased discomfort and frequency of contractions and bleeding, we don't know what is going on so not to scare you but, just in case....". UGH. let me eat woman! lol but of course her saying that prompted me to get on phone to Jay and say "how about come on out here"! lol So on the monitor I go. Baby is reacting beautifully to contractions and contractions are noted. An hour and a half later, I'm allowed to eat my now cold breakfast.  The whole day kind of went like that. The worst day so far, several monitoring sessions. Dr Wright comes in, and wants to start the procardia in the evening as well since things seem to be increasing and not decreasing, and my blood sugars running too high (no exercise just laying in bed- and the betamethasone shots can raise it as well) so she is ordering what she called "sliding scale insulin" at meals in addition to my shot at night now. AND she requests I get the next available private room. Did I mention she's my new favorite person i think? :o) of course no private rooms available yet but when one opens, its mine.  So Saturday night brings 2nd dose of Procardia and 2nd dose of Betamethsone. ouch.

 

So now it's Sunday morning. This morning is beginning much the same as yesterday, but maybe that is my new norm. I will be getting insulin before every meal starting today (Endocrinologist came by to clarify that and the amounts...in good time too. my blood sugar levels today have been out of sight). There is nothing on TV of course, my hips are getting sore from being in bed all the time.  I'm dying to get a good idea of how long I'll be in here because I have a lot of little projects I could do while in bed but hate to put Jay through the trouble of rounding anything up if not going to be here much longer. I do know this....its bed rest till baby's arrival. Whether here (boo) or at home (better). Hoping I'll be alllowed more than just bathroom priviledges either way. Meaning I can be wheeled around to get some "fresh" air (anywhere other than my room seems fresh right now), or at home, I could sit on front porch and watch Travis walk home from bus stop. Time will tell on that.  I am starting to get puffy from my new sedentary lifestyle. Nothing like a fat, puffy swollen face to make you feel great!

 

So that is what has been going on so far. Every Wednesday I am still pregnant will be a great thing. That is the day my weeks change. So this Wednesday coming...I'll be 33 weeks. That is 2 weeks away from my first "goal". 35 weeks is the first milestone they really hope to get to me to at this point. They would LOVE 38 weeks. Not sure I'm mentally prepared for bedrest for 6 weeks when I'm told if he comes at 35 weeks, he would likely go home with me then as well. Of course I want to do what is best for him also.  But, if anyone is thinking that laying around, having food delivered on trays, and being told you can't get up except to go to the bathroom and quick shower sounds like a dream come true, even with the fatigue of pregancy, TRUST me. It's not. Someone from the NICU here at the hospital should be coming to talk to me sometime and give an idea of what to expect if he's born now, versus next week, versus 35 weeks, and so forth. I'm looking forward to that talk just because I do better KNOWING than not knowing and that will help my resolve of making it like this how ever many weeks i have to.

 

Oh. Here are a couple cell phone pictures Jay has snapped while here. I refuse to ask him to bring real camera cause I'm afraid it will jinx me and baby will come on out!  So apologies for the size and quality. And I have NO idea how the pictures are going to come out posting via email like this. So if no pictures, I'm sorry!

 

Update when I have something to update about!

 

Lindsey