Well, it's been an unexpected couple days.
I'm 32 weeks pregnant now and the last few weeks have been pretty easy and uneventful. At 27 weeks, Olivia (baby A), decided to flip head down and settle into my pelvis. My cervix was still measuring 4cm, with no funneling, but her head was putting pressure on it and my Braxton Hicks were picking up so my doctor put me on modified bed rest and prescribed Procardia to calm down the contractions. I've been back once a week since then to make sure everything was still doing good... and it has been.
At my 31 week appointment last Thursday, we did another ultrasound, which showed my cervix had shortened a bit... down to 3cm. Olivia's head was putting a lot of pressure on it, but there was still no funneling, and everything was still closed up tight. Harrison had also flipped head down, squeezing his face down as close to his sister as he could. They were estimated to weigh 3.5lbs each, my uterus was measuring 37/38 weeks, so my doctor was very happy with how my body was handling the weight/size/etc of a singleton pregnancy at term. I mentioned that I was still getting some contractions even on the Procardia, which he said could be expected at this point, but he recommended starting P17 (progesterone) shots once a week to calm my uterus a little more, and gave me a prescription/orders to go have steroid shots at the hospital "just in case". The steroids are two shots, spaced 24 hours apart to help mature the twins' lungs in the event that they do decide to come early. We didn't have time to go that day and since it wasn't anything urgent we didn't want to take up the nurses' time during their busier nights and weekends. We were planning to go Monday, but a leaking pipe in our bathroom had me spending the day waiting on the plumber.
On Tuesday, Patrick came home at lunch time and we headed to the hospital for the first shot. Despite all my IVF experience with shots, needles, and blood draws, I was a little nervous about the steroid because I had heard somewhere that it's not very pleasant... it was no worse than PIO. The nurse took my blood pressure, gave me the shot, listened to the babies on the Doppler, and then showed us around Labor & Delivery since all the tours have been booked since February.
Wednesday, I woke up at 5am and couldn't go back to sleep. I tossed and turned for an hour and a half until Patrick got up for work, then puttered around the house with him as he got ready, ate breakfast, settled on the couch when he left, then got ready for my 10am checkup at the OB. I left the house thinking it would be a quick checkup, then I'd run over to the hospital for my second shot, and I'd be home within two hours. That didn't happen.
My appointment with the doctor was pretty quick and routine. My doctor did check my cervix since it was time for my Group B Strep test anyways, and my cervix was still high and completely closed and everything seemed perfect. Next up, the hospital.
This time, after the shot, they hooked me up to the monitors "for about 30 minutes" to check on the babies. Well, turns out I was having contractions. Olivia HATES the Doppler or the monitors and always tries to get away, so she was doing her best to try to escape under my ribs, which made the contractions worse. Since I had taken my Procardia two hours before, I should not have been having that many contractions (one every 3-8 minutes) and they were also pretty uncomfortable.
Four hours, three shots of Tributaline (not pleasant), two bags of IV fluids later, I was still contracting every 5-10 minutes, though they were much less intense, so I was admitted. They immediately started me on magnesium and it finally helped.
Patrick left work and came to be with me just before I was officially admitted and I could tell he was totally flustered when he got there. The "overnight" bag he packed contained our toothbrushes, toothpaste, my deodorant, my phone charger, iPad, two pairs of his boxers, one of his t-shirts, and a pair of his jeans. My mom came after work and brought me some pj pants and relieved him for an hour to go get dinner (I wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything besides ice chips that night), check on the dogs, and get some clothes to sleep in. Poor guy was beside himself!
I didn't get much sleep that night. The nurse came in every two hours to check on me and I had to stay on my back to keep the babies on the monitors. The lady in the room next to mine had a little girl just before midnight and it made me smile to hear the baby cry. I got about a four hour stretch of sleep between 1-5 but then I couldn't sleep any more.
Patrick had to go in to work that morning because he was working on a big case with one of his top agents and they were hoping to get it done before the holiday. He went home at six to take care of the dogs and get ready to go in.
The on-call doctor from my OB's office came in to talk to me at about 7. He told me the babies were doing awesome and my contractions were pretty much gone. He said the plan was to take me off the magnesium at noon and put me back on the Procardia at double my original dose. If the contractions stayed away, I'd get to go home the next morning. He also cleared me to eat and drink whatever I wanted. The nurse immediately brought me some jello, applesauce, cereal, and a sandwich. My grandma came to visit around 8 or 9 and stayed until almost noon. I think I drifted off to sleep for about an hour while she was there.
At noon they came and turned off the magnesium and put me back on the oral meds. Patrick left work and came back to the hospital around 1 or 2 that afternoon. He had taken the dogs to my mom's because they were majorly stressed at home.
The nurses had gotten me permission to shower that night because I felt so gross. Shift change is at 7 am and 7pm, so as soon as the night nurse came in she capped off my IV, covered the site with plastic, and freed me from the monitors for a greatly appreciated shower. The soap in the shower is the all-in-one, body wash/face wash/shampoo industrial stuff, but it was what I had and I scrubbed every inch of my body that I could reach! What is it about being in a hospital that makes you feel so dirty?
Last night I slept even worse. My back and neck hurt and nothing I did helped me get comfortable. My longest stretch of sleep was about two hours. There were two more babies born last night, too. I was just counting the hours until morning and my potential release!
My OB was on call today and he came to talk to me when he got there around 8 am. He said I was having random contractions on the Procardia but they were mild and some contractions are totally normal and expected, he just didn't want me having 6 or more an hour, and not as intense as they had been on Wednesday. My bed rest has been upgraded from "modified" to "strict", but he said I could go home. Good news is, the twins still seem happy staying put... my cervix hasn't changed or dilated from the contractions, but even if something changes, I've gotten the steroids to help their lungs and we are at a "good" place in the pregnancy if they HAD to come early. My next follow up is Thursday and I'll have another ultrasound so we'll have a better idea of exactly how much things have changed.
This was a pretty big wake up call for us! I had gotten pretty content with how smoothly everything has been going and wasn't really worried about not making it to my c-section date of May 6. Now I'm focusing my goals two weeks at a time... First get to 34 weeks... Then to 36... Then concentrate on the 1.5 weeks until the original eviction day.
I'm also packing mine and Patrick's hospital bags this week and we are making plans of exactly what to do with the dogs while we're at the hospital. We need to be ready. Anything could happen at this point.
The nurses at the hospital were so nice! I'm very happy with the hospital in general. They sent me home with a bag of goodies for the babies even though they're not here yet. Diapers, some receiving blankets, some bulb syringes, etc.
I'm just so happy to be home and that the babies are still where they need to be! Now they just need to stay there for a few more weeks! I'm excited to meet them, but we're not ready yet, and neither are they. I want them to be able to come home with us. That's the most important thing... keeping them out of the NICU. Just a few weeks left!!
... Sorry if this post is jumbled, or all over the place, I'm still exhausted, even after a nap this afternoon.
Thank You, God, for keeping my babies safe and growing inside me for a little while longer. Please keep my contractions away and let the twins stay in until May.
