Friday night we toured the Mercy Level III (highest level) NICU and birthing area with our friends Charlie and Krista, they set up the tour for us with their nurse friend who works in the NICU. It was so helpful. I feel a lot more prepared, and it was so calm and not as intimidating as I thought it would be. But it drove home to us how important it was for these babies to be at good weights and at least 34 weeks, if not the 36 we are hoping for. So many babies there are smaller than ours are supposedly now, and were born earlier than ours will be, so that was reassuring (though sad for those kiddos).
Saturday morning I had NOT slept well, up every hour or so, and my abdomen felt so tight that I wondered if I was having contractions. So Saturday at 7:30am I gave up on my misery and got in the tub, the only way I thought I could make myself comfortable. I wasn't experiencing pain, but just very, very uncomfortable. While I was in the tub for an hour and a half I was able to track the contractions, some were every 20 minutes, but others would come every 5-6 minutes! I got out to watch Game Day and some football, and continued to track them, still irregular but some still 5-6 minutes apart. And I started to cramp with them and have intermittent to persistent lower back pain. Great, I had heard stories of not realizing contractions were significant until it was too late, so around noon I called the doctor. My doctor wasn't on call, but his partner had me go to the hospital (we knew he would, why we were still a little reluctant to call).
We got to the hospital, ran into a friend (small world), and they got us set up in a room. He wanted my cervix checked (nurse said it was closed, yay, though they didn't ultrasound it), wanted me to get betamethasone injections for the babies' lungs just in case they did come before 34 weeks, and then a nonstress test to track the contractions and monitor the babies' heart rates. The babies and my blood pressure still looked great, thank goodness. But I was definitely having contractions every 6 minutes, much more regular than even I thought they were. And for the most part I could definitely feel them, still not painful, but definitely a presence that was uncomfortable, and definitely still involving cramping. So they gave me an injection of Terbutaline to stop them, which it did really well. I only had one or two more in the hour after it kicked in, and those were much less significant and more comfortable. The injection did give me a little headache and make me a little shaky. The doctor also ordered a fetal fibronectin test, which detects a protein in the cervical secretions that is typically present within a week or so of labor, and that was negative.
So I got to go home! Yay! Since we still don't have a bag packed... it's on my to-do list :) I was really afraid Saturday morning that the babies would be coming, or I would be heading to the hospital for a longer stay, and I was so relieved that everything checked out. I got sent home with oral Terbutaline, which I took Saturday night, and thank goodness I'm only supposed to take it as needed because it severely messed me up. It made my heart race, made my whole body tremble, and a few other side effects, which persisted much longer than with the injection, at least 8 hours. It did stop the more infrequent contractions and also helped the cramping, but I haven't taken another dose! Sunday I had to go back for another betamethasone injection, and they repeated the nonstress test, which again looked good. Hopefully I won't be back for a while...
So I'm officially taking it easy now. I called work, I'm stopping a week earlier than I hoped. And poor Sean is really having to pull most of the weight around the house. I feel good now, still periodic contractions, but nothing like before, and no repeated cramping. My back hurts, I don't sleep well (or at all really, last night I was up for good at 2:30 and finally gave up on bed and got up at 4:45), and I tire really easily. I feel really good that we'll make it to 34 :) and I'm still hopeful for 36 weeks, barring anymore scares!
wow!!!! praying your you and your little ones!
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