Most of you know by now that I’ve been put on hospital bed rest until our little man makes his arrival. I thought I’d try to go back and fill in the blanks so I can keep posting new information as we get it. Thursday afternoon around 4:30 (30 weeks pregnant) I noticed that something weird was going on. I was hoping that maybe the baby had kicked my bladder while I was busy chopping potatoes to make soup, but when it didn’t stop I figured it was time to call the doctor. The doctor on call told me to come to the hospital so they could check and see what was going on. Doug was at work and I was home alone with Macy (who of coarse noticed my anxiety and became very needy in my moment of need). I called Doug and told him to come home and then called his mom to ask if she could come back over to stay with Macy. I didn’t get anything together or packed figuring that we would be back later after walking the “yep, your baby just made you wet your pants” walk of shame back to the car. Doug was fighting traffic to get home and I think Ruth just pretty much defied every traffic law known because they got to the house at about the same time even though Ruth had a longer drive. 🙂
Doug and I went up to labor and delivery. We went to the desk to check in and felt like we were in Seinfeld episode. The lady behind the desk was taking her sweet time (while we were freaking out). Once we got our information registered they took me to a room and hooked me up to monitors and an IV (I had forgotten how much I hate IVs). They tested the fluid to see if it was ambiotic. The test results were inconclusive (of coarse), so they wanted to keep my overnight and test it again in the morning. Once I was settled, Doug went home (he’s had a cold and we figured that we would keep each other up all night) and I started trying to sleep. It’s not easy to sleep when you have an IV, heart monitor, and 2 baby monitors strapped to you. Everytime the baby would move off the monitor or if I would roll over, my sweet nurse would have to come in and readjust it…it was a very long night.
The next morning they decided that they didn’t need to test the fluid again because it was still leaking (sorry for the details guys) and that amniotic fluid is the only thing it could be. They told me that I was in for a long stay in the hospital until our little man arrived…hopefully around 34 weeks. It was tough to hear, but I knew whatever was best for the baby was best for me.
I had to stay in labor and delivery for 48 hours until baby and I proved to be stable enough to move to the high risk hall. His heartrate did something a little weird in the middle of the night on Friday, so he got an ultrasound to check his BPP (at least I think that’s it…and don’t ask what that stands for). Basically he gets points for different things like moving, fluid levels, breathing for 30 seconds, and 2 other things and the score is out of 10. He got a 6/10 on that ultrasound. He lost points for low fluid level and not practicing breathing for 30 seconds (which the doctor told me most babies don’t start practicing breathing until at least 32 weeks, so that wasn’t something to be overly concerned about) so they were going to do the test again in 24 hours.
Saturday morning I was able to move to a room on the high risk hall with a DVD player, mini fridge, and MUCH more comfortable bed…I felt like I had upgraded to the plaza! I was also approved for 5 minute showers (that’s 5 minutes from the time I get out of bed to the time I get back in…very tricky), but at least I could feel like a person again.
Very early Sunday morning, we had our follow up ultrasound. Baby scored 8/10 because he got points back for his fluid levels! Unless something unusual happens, our next ultrasound will be on Thursday. His score will depend on when the next one will be…we’re praying that he keeps his numbers up so he can stay put as long as possible.
Since I’ve been in my new room, it’s been pretty dull (which is the best way to be on this hall). I am hooked up to a monitor to check his heartbeat and contractions 3 times a day for an hour each time. I’m completely off the IV (thankfully!) and tomorrow is my last day for oral antibiodics. I’ve had lots of entertainment from visitors, texts, phone calls, emails, and facebook (I should send a personal thank you card to the creator of facebook!). I have other random things to post about the past 5 days, but I’ll do those soon. Please keep praying that my body and the baby will cooperate as long as possible to give him as much time as possible to grow. I’ll keep you posted! 🙂