Pre-term Labor and Other Updates

Early Saturday morning I woke up around 1:45 with intense back pain. I got up and went to the bathroom hoping it was just that. After I went to the bathroom I had a contraction, which isn't abnormal for me since my BH usually happen after I go pee. Unfortunately this contraction was harder than my BH ones and after it passed I had another 5 minutes later. After lying there through another contraction I woke up Mr. BB and told him something was wrong. We placed a call to the midwife on call and headed out the door.

The midwife on call called us back when we were about to get on the highway and suggested drinking water and lying down to see if they stop. Since we were already on our way, Mr. BB stopped and got me more water since I finished up what we had brought. We waited in the gas station parking lot for a few minutes and I was still contracting every 5 minutes. We knew we needed to get to the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital and I was immediately whisked upstairs to L & D and put on the monitors. Sure enough, my contractions were showing up every 4-5 minutes. The doctor on call came in to check my cervix and it was 1/2 centimeter dilated and 50% effaced. I was SO scared I started crying and shaking uncontrollably. This hospital is the sister of the one we are delivering at and does not have a NICU, because of that I needed to be transferred to another hospital. So I got a lovely ambulance ride to the next hospital.

I was admitted immediately and the doctors came in to let me know their plan. We needed to stop my labor so I had to be given a suppository first and then a round of pills every six hours for 2 days. I also had to receive 2 steroid shots in my butt (ouch) 24 hours apart to help mature the baby's lungs incase he/she did come early.

Luckily the drugs slowed and eventually stopped my contractions and Baby BB stayed put. I had to be at the hospital for 36ish hours total for everything. Now I am on bed rest.

I went to my midwife/OB practice and had a Fetal Fibronectin and my cervix was checked again. My cervix was a teeny bit dilated but was hard and not effaced, woo hoo! The fFN came back negative which means that my chances of delivering Baby BB in the next to weeks are very low. The doctor who saw me scheduled me for an ultrasound to measure my cervical length and I had that appointment today.

The place where I get my ultrasounds is really great. The techs always tell me what they are doing/measuring and if it is normal/abnormal. Baby BB looked amazing and is totally chubby! The tech said he/she measured in the 90% for head and weight (this freaked me out my daughter was born 6 lbs 11 oz). Baby was measuring about 3 lbs 6 oz already! My BBF took me to the appointment since I am not supposed to be driving and came in the for scan with me. We both think we may have seen a boy part while the tech was scrolling through...but we will wait to see for sure when Baby BB arrives.

The good news is my cervix is measuring where it should and is closed. The okay news is that my amniotic fluid levels are on the low end of normal. The doctor at the ultrasound place wants to see me for another ultrasound next week to make sure the levels have remained the same and not decreased. I go back next Thursday for another look at my sweet pea and my fluid levels.

I am on bed rest until my doctor/midwife notifies me otherwise. I am going to call again tomorrow to see if they received my ultrasound results and if I can get off bed rest. I hope I can because bed rest sucks, really bad. Obviously if thats what I have to do to keep Baby BB in there longer then I will but oh is it boring!

As for standard updates, I feel crappy lately. I am very sore in the top of my belly and ribs and my back. I feel baby move a lot and he/she has started having hiccoughs that I can feel, so cute! I am not sure how much I weigh or what I am measuring but I'll find out for my 30 week appointment on Tuesday.

My shower is officially less than a month away and I am SO excited.

Here is to hoping Baby BB stays in until at least 36 weeks (my goal from the doctors)!

Best,

Highs and lows

That's what it's all about lately.

I'm on day 23 in the hospital. On one hand, I can't believe 3 weeks have gone by already. On the other hand, holy cow I've been in the hospital for 3 weeks!

We've had some complications and even a scary weekend last weekend spent in L&D where they thought they might have to deliver.

My OB said I've passed the honeymoon phase where I was lucky to have no physical symptoms but that I can expect to have more bad days now. Today was one of them... I was so sick today with nausea, vomiting and a killer headache. Thankfully, I'm feeling a little better now.

I've had a few ultrasounds recently due to Baby SB starting to show decels on my NST's. My fluid has dropped from 22 to 10. This, combined with the decels, is a sign that my placenta is starting to fail. A wonderful byproduct of the pre-eclampsia. I have another fluid check on Wednesday and then next week another detailed ultrasound with the MFM to check growth.

They finally detailed for me what the main things that will mean delivery are at this point:
1. My urine protein level needs to dramatically jump (my last 24 hour urine test was almost 1,000; my next test starts tomorrow morning, if it is close to or over 2,000, we'll be looking at delivering)

2. Fluid level. It's already decreased dramatically but if it goes 6 or below, we'll have to deliver immediately.

3. Unable to control my blood pressure with meds anymore. We're nearing that point. I'm checked every 4 hours and 50% of the time they stay in the range that we want to see right now... but more and more they are dipping way too low or spiking way too high.

4. Bloodwork. Thankfully, I've remained stable on that front. We had a brief scare where my platelets were dropping but they spiked back up and everything else is in normal range. HELLP is something I very much want to avoid.

They've taken 37 weeks off the table at this point. We aren't likely at all to see that goal. They are starting to talk about being lucky to make it to Friday (32 weeks). We're still holding out hope for 34 weeks though.

Little SB comes home Tuesday. She's been with her grandparents in Canada for the past 2+ weeks. I've missed her something fierce and I can't wait to see her. She gets upset sometimes when we talk on the phone and finds out that I'm still in the hospital. Hopefully, she'll feel better about it when she comes home. I have lots of crafts, puzzles and games planned for her visits to help make her feel better about things. My IL's are planning on staying until June 15th to help out with her and the house so that's a HUGE help.

Here is the last ultrasound picture we got a few weeks ago with the MFM. Cracked us up to see him in this position:
For the most part, the nurses here are AWESOME. There is one that I don't really care for and I dread her shift. But the rest are a lot of fun and keep me entertained and in good spirits. I'm the only antepartum patient right now and they've all commented on how much fun I am and what an easy patient I am. I look forward to Antepartum Treat Sundays where I get goodies like this:
Today's treat was even better... it had tons of candy bars, popcorn, cookies, more Bath & Body Works stuff in it and some flags for Memorial Day.

My friends and family have been so awesome. My room is completely decorated with flowers, plants, balloons, pictures their kids have drawn and pictures of DD. They've even started a "card shower" and I'm getting cards in the mail practically every day and those are up all around my room as well.

So here I stay... chugging along... knowing every day I keep him inside is about 3 days he doesn't have to spend in the NICU!

And I leave you with my belly pic from last week... don't mind the mismatched clothes, I'm going for comfort in here... not style!

~Sunflower Bud~