At some point that day the anesthesiologist came in to introduce himself and ask me a few questions about allergies and such. They also wouldn't let me eat anything. I had breakfast around 6:30 AM and hadn't had anything since. After eating every 2 hours or so for the last 4.5 months, going hours and hours and hours without food was challenging! They finally let me eat around 7 PM and at that point, I was pretty hangry (hungry + angry haha). I didn't think anything of the anesthesiologist and lack of food since there were so many different people coming in and out of my room and I really had no idea what was going on, but later on I thought about that and realized these were measures put in place
just in case I went into labor that day. I shudder at the thought.
That night it was very hard to sleep. I had the IV machine beeping every so often, a blood pressure cuff beeping and taking my blood pressure once an hour, nurses coming in to check on me, plus add to that my nerves and worried nature and I could not sleep. It felt like that first night lasted forever.
By the next day, it seemed the mag was working and my contractions must have calmed down to some degree. The doctor made some comment about being glad that "we didn't deliver babies yesterday" and I was blown away. Even with all the precautions that were being taken, I just didn't think we were that close to having the boys. It took a while for this to actually sink in with me. The doctor also told me that at 22 weeks and 2 days, the babies would have had 0% viability and that the NICU doesn't take babies less than 23 weeks gestation. I had NO IDEA. I totally realized that the babies would be small since they were so young, but really thought that they would be fine and just needed some time in the NICU to grow. I was clueless about how underdeveloped they would have been at that point. Reality check!!!! Like I said in the previous post, I was convinced that I would carry the boys at least 32 weeks and had not done any research at all about preterm delivery at 22 weeks. My new short term goal was to get to 23 weeks that Sunday to at least give the boys a fighting chance of survival. My long term goal was to get to 32 weeks (or more!!), which I was told is when the boys would be in fairly good shape developmentally and although they would still have to go to the NICU, the level of concern for their health and survival would be much less.
That same day they moved me to the women's specialty/high risk suite of the floor and out of labor and delivery, which is considered an "upgrade". Even though the rooms are much smaller at high risk, we were at least out of the woods for an urgent/immediate delivery so we were glad! I did end up moving rooms within the high risk area one time to get a more "long term" room that had a mini fridge, but basically I realized that I should get settled in. Within a few days I got my IV removed, I was off the mag and catheter and was allowed to get out of my bed to use the restroom. I was able to get up to use the restroom and shower and that was it! My doctors would tell me on their rounds that I would most likely be in the hospital until I delivered. At just 22.5 weeks I would think about trying to make it to 32 weeks and spending 10 weeks in a hospital bed and just couldn't fathom it. It helped that the doctors and nurses would tell me to take it 1 day at a time and encourage me that each day made a huge difference and each morning that I wake up and still be pregnant was a good day. Each day the babies remained in utero was 2 less days they would have to spend in the NICU. Hearing that message enough helps to let it infiltrate your mind and eventually I was able to think more on a day by day basis, vs. thinking about spending weeks and weeks there.
As awful as it would seem to be stuck in a hospital bed, I was extremely blessed with amazing family and friends and my time day by day would go by fairly fast! I had people coming by and staying with me just to keep me company, tons of people dropped by for quick visits and brought books, magazines, movies, new maternity clothes (in bigger sizes than what I had LOL), gift cards for Barnes & Noble and iTunes to keep me occupied and various other special gifts, people brought food for Thomas and me on a regular basis, people came by and prayed with us and for us, and several people brought and sent flowers to cheer me up. Even the on-call doctors would come by and hang out and just chat with me about college football or whatever when they weren't delivering babies. I especially loved when my primary OB, Dr. Beck, would come by! :) To say that Thomas and I felt loved is an understatement. It was truly humbling to know how many people cared and how much they would go out of their way and how generous they were to help us get through this tough time. THANK YOU to all of you that are reading this and participated in our hospital saga. You have no idea how much it meant to both of us and how appreciative we are and glad and blessed to have you all in our lives!!! I have a special shout out to my mother-in-law and sister-in-law that came and stayed several days and took great care of me (including spending the night at the hospital in the small couch/bed contraption).
I can't say enough about my husband, Thomas, during this time. He would spend pretty much every waking moment with me at the hospital if he wasn't at work or at home taking care of our dogs. He spent countless nights staying at the hospital with me, even though his feet hung off the couch/bed thingy a good foot! He would pack an overnight bag and his laptop and even worked from my hospital room as much as he could. Thank you to his co-workers that picked up any slack when he needed to be at the hospital instead of the office. He and I are both so grateful to you!!!! Thomas was absolutely my rock and he even managed to divert a lot of calls and texts from caring people in our lives from my phone to his to make me less stressed. He really took care of me and when he wasn't there at the hospital, I would literally count down the minutes until the time he came back. I love that man and this experience did nothing if not bring us even closer together.
In addition to our wonderful family and friends, my hospital stay was also brightened by the incredible staff of the women's specialty section of the hospital. As my stay progressed, I got to know quite a few of the nurses and got some "primary" nurses that took care of me on a regular basis. I was a bit paranoid in regards to just about everything (haha...this is in my nature!!), and these ladies listened to all my concerns and fears and talked me back to sanity. They helped me brush my teeth, would pick out clothes for me from my bag, refill countless pitchers of water, administer all my meds with care and explain what everything was for, they would come in when the doctors would "round" and stick around to translate anything that I wasn't clear on or had questions about, etc. They did it all! Not only that, but they would come in to chat with me and keep me laughing. I felt so comfortable with my nurses and I really looked forward to seeing them each day. These ladies became my friends! I really liked and appreciated all the nurses that I had during my stay, but I felt very close to Lauren and Brooks and want them to know what great nurses they are and how much I love them!
So anyway, the days went by one by one and each Sunday was a mini celebration that I had made it another week. I kept myself busy with reading novels, daily devotionals, enjoying visitors, chatting with my nurses and doctors and of course watching TV/DVDs. I got to week 23 (Viability!!!! VERY important!!!), week 24 (mini milestone with higher survival rates), week 25 and 26 (even better survival rates and development milestones) and my goal at the time was to get to 28 weeks. It had been explained to me that by 28 weeks, preemies have an 80-90% survival rate and can really thrive in the NICU. Past that, getting to 30 weeks and then to 32 weeks would be even better! I had my mind set on 28 weeks and would tackle the higher milestones after getting to 28...think small, attainable goals, people! At 23 weeks, I got my first round of steroid shots (ouch) to help with the babies' lung development and was told we could repeat the steroids on a second round after 4 weeks, which would be at 27 weeks gestation.
A few notes about my 5 week bed rest time frame: I had weekly ultrasounds on Mondays and we looked forward to them to see pictures of the babies and check in on them to see how they were doing. Several of the ultrasounds unfortunately showed cervical shortening. Around 24 weeks I had a surgical cerclage revision, which was very risky but proved to be the best choice for us and granted us several extra weeks of pregnancy we may not have had otherwise. We had a couple of growth ultrasounds on the babies and I am very proud to report that they consistently measured very well and even ahead of their gestational age! This goes to show that the strict diet of eating much and often really worked! I also had physical therapy and got daily blood thinner shots to prevent blood clots from forming in my seldom used legs. We monitored the babies's heart rates once per day and it usually took two nurses to hold all the monitors in place on my belly. We got really good at this and were usually able to find each heartbeat within a matter of seconds and could track them all at the same time and get the readings done after about 5-10 minutes (I was told this sometimes took much longer with other people). I had to have my contractions monitored for 1 hour 2 times a day and my meds were adjusted based on my contractions. I never stopped contracting from the day I was admitted, but that was due to my overextended and confused uterus and were not a major concern unless they got more intense and/or painful. I could tell I was having them but they weren't painful. It just felt like my stomach was tightening. I was getting BIG and my body was starting to feel like it couldn't take much more. It was really uncomfortable to stand up and walk to the bathroom and I had constant paranoia that anything and everything I did could further shorten my cervix and begin labor. I was literally scared to stand up.
25 weeks - wearing contractions monitor
25 weeks
On Sunday, August 25, 2013 I hit 27 weeks gestation. I had some company that weekend and some visitors early that afternoon and was doing my usual thing. My contractions were calmer than a typical day and there was no reason to think that this day would be different from any other day on bed rest. My nurse Brooks came by and gave me the first shot of my 2nd round of steroids and I got her to hand me some snacks my aunt made so I could have a delicious (and protein filled!!) snack. Around 5 pm, I was enjoying my snack and watching an episode of Downton Abbey, season 2 :), when my water broke. I was always wondering what it would be like and kept asking my nurses if my water broke at some point and I didn't realize it. They kept telling me that I would just KNOW when it broke and I definitely did! I immediately started freaking out and my heart was racing. I was at 27 weeks, not 28 weeks, which was my current goal. That was not OK! I do not like to fail and not meet my goals. I knew from my knowledgeable nurses that just because your water breaks that does not mean you are going into labor. Apparently after your water breaks, you can stay on bed rest for several more weeks, and although the risk of infection is greater, you can continue to carry the babies and allow them to keep growing and developing before you actually have to deliver. That thought came into my mind and I was hoping this would be the case for me. I called my nurse and she didn't answer her phone. YIKES. I called my husband and he didn't answer the phone. Double YIKES. I was really starting to lose it and texted Thomas and told him that my water broke and I was freaking out. At the same time, my nurse was calling me back and simultaneously walking into my room. To put it in perspective, this happened in the course of 1 minute or less but I am crazy and was already a wreck. My nurse Brooks helped me to calm down and a few seconds later I got a text back from Thomas that he was on his way....thank goodness! He made it to the hospital in about 15 minutes and it is kind of a miracle that he didn't get a speeding ticket on the way. Brooks got a few other nurses to come and they got me changed into a hospital gown, hooked up to an IV and more mag, got the babies on heart monitors and me on a contractions monitor, prayed with me and tried to calm me down in general. They wheeled me back to labor and delivery, which I was hoping was just until I got stabilized enough to return to high risk. They stayed with me as long as they could but eventually had to go back to high risk and I had the L&D nurses taking care of me.
We didn't take many pictures during my time on bed rest, but here are a few...
Burping
More eating :)
