M, T, W & Th

Monday, December 12th

This is why I should have written all this stuff sooner.  All of the days are running together. 

 

Michael took all of last week off, as we were expecting a baby to come at any minute.  When it became apparent that I might be here for a while he went back to work.  The first week he had been getting up early, coming and helping me to get ready (showering was tricky with the IV) and then going home in time for Spencer to get up.  That makes it sound like he left Spencer alone, but my mom has been there the whole time except for 1 night my friend Monica was there and 2 nights Michael's parents were there.

So, Monday was my first solo getting ready. Since Monday this is my routine:

I am awoken by nutrition services at precisely 7 am when they knock on my door, ask if it is OK to come in as they come in without waiting for an answer and simultaneously turn on all the lights.  They deliver my breakfast, turn off the lights and leave. I try to go back to sleep or do go back to sleep for an hour.

 

I get up at 8 and take a shower.  Then I sit down and eat breakfast.  Then I do my hair.  Then I rest in the chair. Then I do my make-up.  Then I rest in the chair.  I try to minimize how much time I spend standing, so I take breaks while I get ready.  Since I am dialated to 8 cm I try not to stand for too long, ever (side note: it's been over a week since I was last checked. I could be 9 or 10). 

The rest of the day is spent taking and making phone calls, watching TV, visiting with the nurses (we are all becoming friends and some of my nurses visit even when I am not their patient that day), chatting with the doctor for a few minutes, having visitors, watching movies, interneting and reading.  I was taking a nap every day, but I am finally getting enough sleep at night that I don't have to any more.  I also have to be monitored (for contractions and Elliott's heart rate) and have vitals taken every 8 hours.

On Monday, Dr. I was on-call.  We chatted and I mentioned that Dr. M had not been happy about my refusing the IV.  Dr. I rolled her eyes and said that Dr. M is never happy about anything and I shouldn't worry about her.  It was so unprofessional and gossipy and I just loved her for doing/saying that.  It really made my day.  I gossiped about it with my nurses and it made me feel almost human again.

Dr. I also wrote orders saying that I be allowed wheel chair rides but I needed to be checked for dilation before I was allowed to have one.  I decided I did not want to risk anything until the results of the Group B strep test came back.

Tuesday, December 13th

Karen came to visit and brought me starbucks and home-baked treats.  We had a lovely chat.  The charge nurse came in to check on supplies and said she had been here the day I was admitted and that nobody could believe I was still here- undelivered.  She called me a medical marvel. My preliminary results came back for the Group B strep test.  They were negative. Nothing else was incredibly noteworthy.

Wednesday, December 14th

 

My final results came back.  No Group B strep.  I was so, so, so glad that they don't have to put an IV in my ankle or my scalp to start a new IV. Dr. E was on today.  He came in with my chart, sat down and spent a long time with me.  I mentioned that I had been looking for research on women in preterm labor that were in advanced dilation and then didn't deliver for days and days.  I told him I had checked several medical journals.  He told me that I could stop looking because there were no other cases.  He said he had been practicing for 25 years and had never seen or heard of a case like mine.  Then he said I was a medical phenomena.  Then he sat in my room and read my People Magazine article about the Bachelorette.  It was slightly awkward.  Then he amended my wheel chair ride orders to say I didn't need to be checked, but I did need to have a nurse go with me.

The best part of the day was that an anonymous friend (he or she didn't want credit) coordinated with my first wheel chair ride so that we could take maternity pictures in the hospital "garden".  I never had any tummy shots with Spencer and I'm glad that I got some this time. I hope I can share them soon.

It was literally my first time out of the room in 11 days and also my first breath of outside air in 11 days.   On the way back from the garden Michael and I took a tour of the NICU. It was very sad and overwhelming and every day I have more hope that Elliott will not end up there.

 

Thursday, December 15th

Dr. M was back on today.  She was friendlier than she had been on Sunday.  I also mentioned to her that I had been trying to read anything I could on my situtation to just get more information about what to expect.  She said there is no information because there is nobody else.  I know everybody keeps saying this, but I have a hard time accepting that this has never happened to anybody else.  I told her I would love to know what it wrong with my uterus and cervix that I can't seem to go full term when the rest of pregnancy is so easy for me.  She said it might be helpful for me to think in terms of a slight irritation might have triggered labor, but my body is so incredible that it stepped in and managed to stop a labor that no other body could have stopped.  She also wrote orders for me to have a consult with Dr. B, the perinatologist.  I haven't seen him since the first night I was here.  I just want to ask him some questions and get his opinion of some things.  Once I see him I can elaborate.  

 

Right now, 6 pm, I am waiting for Michael and Spencer.  They have been visiting Santa at Bass Pro Shop.  The best news is that they are bringing Ginger and I am using my wheel chair ride today to visit with her in the garden.  I haven't seen her in 11 days and it is killing me.