Well, well, well...
It looks like this pregnancy will be a little more dramatic than Ivey's. I went in for my midwife appointment last week, knowing that the baby was much lower than she had been.. and knowing that I felt a lot more pressure. Well, sure enough. I was 70% effaced, my cervix was very very soft, and Olive was at -1 station. If I had been dilated at all they would have sent me to get the steroid shots for her lung development, but I wasn't. I was still posterior and they did a fetal fibronectin test that came back negative. SO, I was sent home.
Yesterday, I went in to be checked out. I honestly don't remember if it was a scheduled appointment or if I called because of how I was feeling... even though it was only yesterday, I really have no idea. Anyway, Toni rechecked my cervix and learned that Olive dropped even further and was now between 0 and +1! Not only that, I was 90% effaced and 1-2cm dilated. I was only 32 weeks and 5 days, according to them. According to me, I was 33 weeks even. I was sent over to L&D for steroid shots and to get put on the contraction monitor. Five hours later, they sent me home with orders to come back the next day for the 2nd dose of steroids. I left with a huge feeling of anxiety... I am NOT ready! There are so many things I need to do... and I have potentially very little time or ability to do them. I went home and made lists and packed bags for the hospital.
So, that brings us to today. I woke up at 5:45 this morning with contractions 4-5 minutes apart. I called the midwife and she told me to eat a little something, have a lot of water to drink and lay back down for an hour to see what happens. Lo and behold, they slowed down and I fell asleep. When I woke up, they were no longer regular. They are different than yesterday's contractions, though. For one, they were regular. They were also more "menstrual crampy" feeling. I had to go in today to get the steroid shot anyway, so they had me come in to get checked out. My cervix hasn't changed, but I was having more contractions than yesterday, so they put me back in a hospital bed to monitor me and then gave me a shot of terbutaline to slow them down. Wow. How on Earth did I stay on this drug for 12 weeks?? I had forgotten how it makes you feel... shaky and jittery and freezing cold. It all came back to me... Yes, this is exactly how I felt back then.
I am laying here in the hospital bed now, steroid shot in, terbutaline seems to be helping, and I will probably go home in the next couple hours (I hope). We need to keep this baby in for one more week. Two would be fabulous, but no one here seems to think that is going to happen. Yes, she will have to go to the NICU, but I know she will be okay. We're looking at some breathing assistance and probably a feeding tube for a little while. Unlike my last NICU experience, this time I will have other kids... kids that cannot go into the NICU with me. I have no idea how I will manage that one, but we'll just let things play out. I know it will all work out, we have tons of fabulous people who love us!
So, Jeff and I have a weekend to ourselves this week. I already miss Ivey terribly, and I hope that I don't go into labor in a day or two and lengthen the time she is away. I will miss all of them! Yes, my three are a lot of work, but although they may make "taking it easy" hard, they make my heart happy and it feels great to know I am good at being their mommy. And, it looks like I'll get to learn how to be a mommy to a whole new little being quite soon!
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