Check out my new home away from home! It's no Four Seasons (which I do know something about) : ) ...but it is pretty good. Yes, I'm back in the hospital...trying to help Baby Bennett stay put a little while longer.
Here's the Reader's Digest version...then I'll post more details below for those who are interested...I ended up going to the hospital on Thursday evening with more contractions. Looks like I'll be here for about a week at least. I'm glad to be under the doctors and nurses care and have easy access to monitoring equipment and medicine available to stop the contractions. It is somewhat reassuring to be here rather than to be at home wondering what is going on and if I should go to the hospital or not. It has been nice to have quite a few visitors the last few days. There are a couple of other girls from Countryside here now, so it has been nice to have people from church stopping by. Andrew and the family have been great at bringing me anything I need to make my stay more comfortable. At this point, we're just waiting to see how this story is going to end. The good news is that if the baby comes even now, although she will need a NICU stay, she will probably not have too many complications. We should know more tomorrow when Dr. Vaughn checks back in. The on-call doctor this weekend has been fine, he just will not make too many decisions without checking with Dr. Vaughn. They have arranged for a NICU nurse to come and tell me what we can expect should we need to have a NICU stay. We should be able to get a tour as well. Anyway, I am doing well...just waiting!
And now for those who need DETAILS!
At the risk of being a bit boring, I think I'll just do some bullet points about what's been going on the last few days.
Thursday:
- Started having regular contractions starting at 2:30pm
- Called the doctor at 4:00...who had me go to Labor and Delivery to get things checked out
- Ran into a friend from Countryside while I was waiting for Andrew to park the car...that was nice!
- 5:00 was having contractions every 3 min. Hooked up to IV and antibiotics. Lab and blood tests were taken. Given terbutaline shot to stop contractions...it worked very well. Have to stay on the procardia medicine every 6 hours for the contractions as well for my entire stay (this is the same medicine I've been on to keep the contractions under control).
- Found out that my Fetal Fibronectin test had come back positive. (This test predicts if the baby will be born in the next 2 weeks). The doctors and nurses start treating the case much more seriously after getting these results. You can tell that they don't want to worry you, but they start acting quite differently.
- Had a visit with the Bennett bunch...we were supposed to be celebrating Emily's birthday, so they came over after dinner for a little visit . Not sure it was much of a birthday celebration though...sorry Em!
Friday:
- Busy morning with morning starting with a visit to the perinatologiest (doctor for high-risk pregnancies) to get a sonogram and evaluation. The sonogram showed high fluid levels and that my cervix has thinned to 2.5.
- With the results from the Fetal Fibronectin test and the thinned cervix, Dr. Vaughn decided to start me on a 2 part steroid shot to help the baby's lungs develop quickly.
- Received 2 or 3 more terbutaline shots throughout the day due to contractions. The shots work very well, but they make me feel very shaky.
- Stayed the day in Labor and Delivery because there were no antepartum rooms available.
- Doctor said that I would be staying "for a while". I asked what that meant exactly, and he said likely at least a week.
- Had a lot of continuous pain from the IV
- Carol brought me a nice shirt that I could wear with the IV...GOT TO GET OUT OF THE HOSPITAL GOWN!!!
- Had a nice visit with some friends from church and the Bennett's.
- Got some very pretty flowers that brighten up the room SO much!
- Was glad for the Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics starting. It was nice to be able to watch with Andrew in the evening.
Saturday:
- After a rough night, the IV was removed in the morning, making me feel MUCH better.
- Had more nice visits with friends and family
- Got to move to an antipartum room at 6:30pm and was glad to get settled in.
- Carol brought me her laptop computer to borrow, so now I have Internet access...yea!
- Got a menu, so that I can have some meal preferences.
- While the baby was being monitored, a dip in the heartbeat was detected at one point, but after additional monitoring, the nurses think that the baby was just playing with the cord for a moment (typical especially when there is extra fluid). It's not something that they worry about unless it is continual.
- Finally got to take a shower...it was GREAT!
- Was hoping to make it the whole day without a terbutaline shot, but had to get one at 11:00pm.
- Am very thankful for my high-tech bed which is much more comfortable than the labor and delivery room bed. (Those beds aren't really designed to be in for too long!) This bed automatically adjusts to the ultimate comfort setting whenever you move!
- Finally got a good nights sleep! (well 6 hours, but that's pretty good...especially for being pregnant AND in the hospital!)
Sunday:
- Started out the morning nice and early. Listened to a Countryside sermon and pretended like I was going to church.
- Saw the weekend doctor briefly. He pretty much just said that he'd let Dr. Vaughn tell me what is going to be next tomorrow.
Guess that's pretty much it! Just hanging out now!
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