Is today Tuesday?

My days are all running together. I can't believe I've been here a week. Today was another quiet day. I was happy to have to have my cousin Kristen visit with her kids and they brought me some stuff to keep me busy. I taught myself to crochet today... It's not too pretty but it actually makes the hours pass pretty quickly. I watch a lot of Food Network, which is torture because I am SO sick of hospital food. Baby is craving scrambled eggs ths week and I've eaten them every day since Saturday. I haven't left the room in a couple days, but hopefully Korey can take me on a wheel chair ride when he comes up here on Thursday. I slept well last night.... I needed another shot of Nubain/Phenergen (I've officially had 6 injections, 3 blood draws, and an IV started in the last week. Ouch.) I tend to get more crampy at night and contract a lot so Dr. Wagner suggested today that we increase my Procardia dose to 20mg before bedtime. Hopefully no more Nubain. I stopped taking my oral antibiotic today (a day early) because I developed a severe sensitivity to it. I've been taking it for 6 days but the last couple doses have given me horrible heartburn, chest pain, and burning in my ears. Weird... One less pill I have to be woken up for at night though! Those are my updates for the day, hopefully headed to bed soon. Pray for a quiet night!

Day #7

Day #7 .... They have increased my Procardia to every 5 hours instead of every 6 because I start to contract after about 4.5-5 hours of taking the medication. Last night around 2am they woke me up because I was sleeping through a bunch of contractions/ irritability (every 2-3 minutes). They called the doctor and she wanted to give me a shot of a combination of medications called Nubain and Phenergen. It knocked the contractions (and me) completely out for the rest of the night. Hopefully we won't need to do that again. The doctor thinks that once the Procardia gets into my system more, my contractions will slow down. I am counting the days until my ultrasound on Friday. I am anxious to hear if all these contractions are making my cervix even shorter or if the bedrest is helping. I am allowed to shower once a day and I'm allowed to leave the room for a wheelchair ride for 30 minutes every day. I've only left the room twice since Tuesday, and I start to contract every time I do, so I am trying to stay put. They listen to her heartbeat three times a day and she always sounds great. She moves around CONSTANTLY and gets the hiccups all the time. I got to see my family and Calvin yesterday which was the highlight of my week. Thanks to my amazing coworkers, I never get lonely, but it was so nice to spend a couple hours with family. Calvin did pretty well and even laid with me in bed for awhile. He kept asking why I'm in the hospital and why I have to stay, but when he left he just waved and said "see you later!" He told at least 3 random strangers that he is going to have a Mickey Mouse birthday. I've been promising him a Mickey Mouse party and his birthday is in a couple weeks so one way or another he is getting a Mickey party. May just have to cram everyone into my hospital room if I'm still here. Hopefully I will be at home by then....

Day #5

Today has been a quiet day, which I am thankful for. I haven't needed to take any Procardia since last night, and I haven't been contracting. I spent the day watching movies and playing on the iPad and I'm looking forward to Korey visiting tonight. I found a great website with information about preterm labor and short cervix that I thought I would share with everyone...

http://www.keepemcookin.com/prevention.aspx/

25 weeks

Day #4 in the hospital... Was hoping to go home tomorrow but it looks like we will be hanging out here for at least another week. Ultrasound today showed that my cervix measured 1.5cm, which is obviously a change from Tuesday. Dr. Wagner decided to keep me admitted, but turned the Magnesium off. He does not feel that delivery is imminent at this time and the steroid shots have had 48 hours to help develop her lungs, so at this point Magnesium is unnecessary and just making me miserable (oh so miserable). I did end up starting Procardia after a lot if cramping and irritability this afternoon, and so far it is helping. I was finally able to shower today (first time since Monday!) and I felt like a new person afterwards.

The doctors are very optimistic that baby will not be making an appearance any time soon, but they also want to keep me off my feet and do everything they can to ensure that she keeps cooking for as long as possible. She looked healthy today on the ultrasound and they estimated her weight to be 1 pound 12 ounces (57% percentile). Hopefully we will get some good news next week after reevaluating my cervical length and maybe I will get to go home. Until then I'll be keeping busy with tv, reading, and some craft projects to help pass the time.... 

I talked to Calvin today and he seemed to be enjoying a "vacation" with Grandma and Grandpa. Having so much love and support has made this whole process a lot more bearable. Korey has of course been amazing and has been taking such good care of me. I know this is just as hard on him as it is on me and he has been a rock through it all. I'm thankful and blessed!

24 weeks

It has been an eventful week for momma and baby girl, who seems to be a little too excited to meet us. I went to the doctor last Monday for some spotting and they did an ultrasound which showed that my cervical length was 3.1cm (down from 4.2 a couple weeks prior). Since anything over 2.5 is considered stable, and my cervix was not dilated, I was told to go home and just take it easy.

Monday night I headed to work and started noticing some tightening in my belly so I snuck away and hooked myself up to a monitor. I was contracting every 5-10 minutes but they weren't painful so I stuck it out through the night (I had a very easy assignment and was off my feet most of the night). I kept feeling them intermittently through my shift so after giving report in the morning I stopped into my OB office (which is right down the hallway) and talked to the OB nurse about what was going on. They got me in for another cervical ultrasound and I got some not so great news. My cervix had shortened to 2.2cm (anything under 2.5 increases risk if preterm labor by 20%). Baby girl looked great though, and her heartbeat was strong. I was hooked up to a monitor where they confirmed that I was contracting every 3-5 minutes. I saw the doctor who decided to admit me to L&D for the night. 

Once I was admitted, I was given terbutaline to stop my contractions and a steroid shot to help speed up development of baby's lungs. The terb helped stop the contractions and I was finally able to get some rest after lunchtime. I started contracting again when the terb wore off, and ended up getting another dose around 10pm. That was unsuccessful so they gave me some Procardia (another contraction-stopping drug). When I started contracting again around 4am, they decided to start me on Magnesium Sulfate, an IV medication that relaxes the uterus and central nervous system. It's a drug with a lot of nasty side effects for momma, but it's a last resort and usually effective in stopping preterm labor. It's been working, though I've had a few contractions here and there. I am experiencing the not so fun side effects. I am burning up and thirsty, I have a  headache, and my muscles are so tired I don't even want to get out of bed. But the bright side is that the medicine is working and she is safe and happy in there, so I will take happily deal with the side effects.

The plan is to keep me on the Mag for 48 hours, then switch me to the Procardia, which I could take at home. I will have an ultrasound with a specialist Friday and if my cervix is unchanged (and the Procardia is keeping me from contracting), I will go home Saturday on bedrest. 

I will keep everyone updated. I have been in EXCELLENT hands and can't speak more highly of my coworkers who have been taking such good care of me. I am so proud to say that I work on the unit I'm currently a patient on, though it is very strange to be on the other end of things. Korey has been spoiling me rotten and our families have been so helpful with Cal while we are both stuck here. Thank you to everyone for the thoughts and prayers! 

Family Pictures

I wanted to share some family pictures taken by Kerri Kinker, a girl I went to high school with who is studying photography at Franklin. She is incredibly talented and we loved the way they turned out.

20 week update

We had our 20 week ultrasound/appointment on Friday and everything looked great. Baby was modest and kept her legs crossed through most of the ultrasound, and after hearing that everything else looked healthy and normal, we were eager to confirm that it was indeed a girl in there. After a transvaginal ultrasound to check my cervix (3.4cm - good), she was finally able to get a peek and confirm that we are having a girl. My placenta is anterior like it was with Calvin, which is why I haven't been feeling her kick and move around as much and as strongly as I'd like to at this point. But I get reassuring bumps every once in awhile and I know I'll feel more as she gets bigger and stronger. I have gained 8 pounds so far, but it feels like a lot more than that. This little girl has been a lot less friendly to my body than Calvin was. I feel like I've gained weight everywhere besides my belly, which does not yet look obviously "pregnant." I also discovered some lovely varicose veins in my legs this week. Woo hoo. I'm ready to start showing more so people stop telling me that I don't even look pregnant... Not what you want to hear when you feel huge and none of your clothes fit you anymore! Overall, I am loving being pregnant and I am so happy that we are having a healthy baby in November.