The Last 5 Days- Part 1

Those of you that I know in "real life" already know about this.  Those of you that follow my blog (thank you!) but don't know me are finding out about this for the first time. 

I am in the hospital. I have been here since Monday.  I want to blog about this so that I don't forget the details as time goes on.  This will be a loooooong post with no pictures (i.e. potentially boring) but it's as much for my own memories as anything.

Saturday Dec. 3rd

I woke up and felt like I had a touch of a cold- sore throat, congestion.  Nothing too bad.  I had a doctor's appointment Saturday morning.  Everything was normal.  We went over the signs of preterm labor.  I had had none of them.  I made my next appointment for Dec. 16th.

Saturday night Michael, Spencer and I went to a parade and tree lighting event.  It was very cold and rainy.  Spencer and I sat on the curb while we watched the parade.  We took lots of pictures and I was going to do a blog post about the whole thing, but alas, the whole hospital thing happened.  Later that night I got out of bed because I didn't feel good.  I sat on the couch and watched some TV.  I thought I felt bad because of sitting on the curb.  Then I realized I had had a real contraction.  I downloaded a contraction tracker app on my phone and kept track.  I had 3 contractions- all 3 lasted about a minute and they were 25 minutes apart.  They were tight but not painful.  I drank 2 glasses of water, laid on my left side and the contractions went away. I went to bed and had no more contractions.

Sunday Dec. 4th

We stayed home all day.  I felt normal all day.  Megan and Scott came over and took our family Christmas picture.  I ordered our Christmas cards.  We made a big deal about NOT having had a baby in 2011.

Monday Dec. 5th

Spencer had a nightmare during the night so he ended up in our bed.  Michael went to work and Spencer and I slept in.  We got up around 9, ate breakfast, played and then went to CVS and Sprouts.  We didn't have time to go home for lunch so we stopped at a deli for sandwiches.  While there I had about a 10 second back spasm.  It was about a 2 on the pain scale.  Then I felt some pressure.  That was it.

I took Spencer to school.  My plan was to go Christmas and grocery shopping.  Instead, out of an abundance of caution, I went to the hospital.  My doctor had told me on Saturday that I could go and be hooked to the monitors whenever I needed to if I was worried.  I went through triage and told them my symptoms- 3 contractions on Saturday, a 10 second back spasm and some pressure.  I got some looks like I was crazy, but they put me in a gown, took a urine sample and took me into an exam area.  Then they checked me.  I was dilated to 5 and 80% effaced.  Then things really started moving.

Anesthesiology came and got an IV started (I am very hard to start an IV on), they gave me a shot of terbutaline, started a catheter and moved me to a recovery room.  I had already texted Michael to tell him to go get Spencer at school.  During this time I called him sobbing.  I was crying so hard I couldn't even talk.  That put Michael on high alert.  They showed up right as I was moved to the recovery room.  Then I was checked again.  And I was dilated to 6 cm.  Then things really moved fast.

I was started on a huge bolus of magnesium (at a rate of 6) and then they rushed me into a labor and delivery room.  I was told I would probably deliver within hours.  They gave me a shot of steroids to get Elliott's lungs functioning.  I knew it was serious when I had about 6 people in the room and none of them left.  They just stood there.  Waiting.  Presumably to catch a baby.

The bolus of magnesium took about 45 minutes to go in.  Then the drip was reduced to a 3.  Magnesium is highly toxic and has a large number of side effects. I was immediately hot and flushed and my mind was hazy.  Somehow we worked out that my mom would come immediately to take Spencer.

The next couple of hours are a blur.  My mom showed up and took Spencer.  Then I talked to the neonatologist.  He assured me that babies at 34 weeks do quite well.  The mortality rate is the same as full term babies.  As long as there are no other health problems, the long term prognosis is excellent. 

I stayed on the magnesium at a rate of 3 all night.  I was being constantly monitored- pulse, temp, contractions, IV, breathing.  I slept maybe 30 minutes.  The perinatologist came to check on me around 1:30.  He checked me again and I was dilated 7.  I had a panic attack right then.  In the morning the magnesium was turned down to a 2.5 because I was having some of the toxic side effects- blurry vision, double vision, difficulty thinking, muscle weakness.  It can also cause kidney failure, but my kidneys were rock stars according to the nurses.

All this time- the first 18 hours or so- I was a MESS.  Crying all the time, couldn't think, couldn't talk.  Just a mess.

Part 2, and possibly 3 and more, coming soon.