Adiós Bed Rest Central . . .

Hello Bryn Mawr Hospital!

Yup, you've read it right. I've moved into the hospital. On Thursday, at my ultrasound, my cervical length had decreased from 2.2 cm from 2 weeks prior down to 0.6 cm. This was a big surprise to everyone as I had been checked by my obstetrician on Tuesday and she had said my cervix felt long and closed. I was immediately sent to the labor and delivery floor and hooked up to a monitor to see if I was contracting. Indeed I was contracting (some that I could feel and some that I could not) about every 2-3 minutes. Obviously if left unchecked, I could have ended up in labor and getting a c-section, so I was put on some pretty strong medication to stop the contractions.

The magnesium sulfate that I was on for the next 24 hours was not pleasant, nor was the fact I was not allowed out of bed at all (hello to my first experience with a catheter, UGH!) or the fact that the babies had to monitored nonstop so that every time they or I changed positions, the nurses had to come in to find their heartbeats again - all night long.

The doctor told me that with my cervix so short, I will need to remain in the hospital until the babies arrive or I make it to 34 weeks, which ever comes first. After that point, they do not do anything to stop labor, so they would likely send me home until I went into labor naturally whenever that would be. I have read stories of women in similar situations who go into the labor the next day after going home and others of women who last for another 2-3 weeks at home before labor kicks in.

As you can imagine, this was really tough news for me to take on many levels. First and foremost, I was afraid of going into immediate labor, under the knife for a c-section (baby A is happily breech and does not appear to be moving!) and delivering 30 week preemies on Thursday night. I wasn't prepared for that reality what so ever! Second, the thought of not being able to go home again until after the babies arrived whenever that may be was another reality I wasn't quite ready for. The thought of sleeping in a hospital bed alone and not beside Kevin for the next month (plus not getting to see my beloved cats again for quite some time) was a major bummer I was not ready to face. Making up the list of things Kevin was running home to pack up for me pretty much sent me over the edge. Luckily, my ever more fabulous husband recognized how much I needed him and made plans to camp out at the hospital with me - even when he thought his only sleeping option would be a rather uncomfortable and not reclining chair. (Fortunately the L&D floor has cots for husbands/fathers who are sleeping over so that made it slightly better - despite his also being woken up during my hourly vital checks and baby monitor adjustments).

I've waited until things have stabilized to update my blog or really tell anyone about this, mostly because the magnesium made me feel awful and I wanted to find out if they were going to be able to stop the contractions. I was also given two doses of a steroid shot which they give to mothers who are are risk for preterm delivery to help speed up the babies' lung development. Babies who get the steroids in advance of premature delivery do much better overall in the NICU.

Anyway, things have gotten better. The magnesium did stop the contractions and I graduated to a different oral medication to keep them from acting up again. This morning, I was moved from the active labor and delivery ward to the maternity ward where I will only have to be hooked up to a monitor for an hour 3X a day to check on the babies and for contractions. The IV is gone, as is that horrid catheter, and my very nice nurse immediately got the doctor to return my bathroom and shower privileges. God Bless her!

So Bryn Mawr Hospital room 2006 is my new home for the next few weeks. I think my room phone number is 484-337-8247 (someone should try calling it so that I can save up my cell phone minutes during the weekdays). The goal to stay pregnant as long as I can. The nurses have been fantastic and really helped put me in better spirits. Kevin and I met with one of the doctors from the NICU yesterday who gave us a rundown on the types of complications that can occur with babies born at each of the weeks ahead and estimations of how long the babies could expect to stay at the NICU depending when born. Though I know that the babies would be okay being born today and that despite the long stay in the NICU, they'd likely be fine down the road, I am still hoping that I can last though 34 weeks and get to go home before going into labor. But as has been the story for this entire rather challenging journey toward parenthood, only time will tell.

Thanks again for all your support. I couldn't have made it 8 weeks at home without all of you. I am hoping to adjust to my new reality and get into some sort of routine again that will keep me sane and the babies where they belong. More posts to come will tell you all about how that is going and what life as a full time hospital resident is like. XOXO

BR day 58
3owks1d