24w5d: Day 1 - The hospital life for me

Do you want the good news or the bad news first?

Good news is that I am no longer on bedrest at home. Bad news is that I am now on bedrest in the hospital.

I had an ultrasound this morning to check how my cervix is looking. Unfortunately, It had gotten shorter since Tuesday (today it was 1.3 cm with funneling, down from 2.1 cm with funneling on Tues).

Well, with a cervix length of 1.3 cm at 24 weeks 5 days, the recommendation is that I be hospitalized for the duration. The baby is doing fine, but they want me in the hospital so that baby and I can be monitored daily and so nothing is missed if I start contracting or my cervix shortens further. I have been re-admitted to the hospital and will be here likely until baby comes (hopefully later rather than sooner).

Currently, I am in a semi-private room meaning I share with one person, but I will eventually make my way to a private room as one becomes available and I move my way up the waiting list.  I have Internet access via my iPhone and Ryan will be bringing my laptop by tonight, so email is very accessible.

The hardest part is that I will not be able to see Keira very often, maybe only once per week in worst case and possibly once every 5 days in best case. That will hopefully improve once I get a private room. My doctor asked if there is anything she can get me and I said nothing except visits with my daughter as often as possible. She said we will work on getting me a private room first then on that.

Visitors are most definitely welcome and encouraged. Visiting hours are 11 am-1 pm and 6 pm-8 pm daily and I can have up to 2 visitors at a time. Let me know if you'd like to stop by and I will send you my hospital and room information.

Keep me in your thoughts that we can make it another 11 weeks and 2 days to get to 36 weeks (Feb 17th). This little guy has a lot of growing to do until then.

Sent from my iPhone

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am thankful...

...that I was released from the hospital last night so I can spend today with my family.

...that this little guy is staying put and is healthy even though my cervix doesn't seem to want to hold him in.

...to be home as Keira woke up with a fever of 101.9 this morning and it would be torture If I wasn't home to comfort her.

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Don't you wish you could eat YOUR turkey dinner in bed?  I know you are jealous!

 (note the baby belly at bottom)

24-Weeks: Hospital Visit, Funneling, and Bedrest, OH MY!

I'm 24 weeks along today. Last week I shared with you the news that I would be going on bedrest starting at 28 weeks if not sooner.  Well, unfortunately, it looks like sooner has arrived!  Here is a recap of the past two days. 

Tuesday aftenoon and evening

Things just weren't feeling right yesterday afternoon - tight abdomen, lower back pain, nausea, some diarrhea in the morning - so I called my OB and she had me go straight to the hospital. Ryan dropped me off at about 3 pm (he had to take care of Keira). All was okay with baby and I was not contracting. I got an IV delivering fluids and antibiotics in case of dehydration or infection.

Next stop was an ultrasound to check out my cervix length and the baby.  My cervix had shortened down to 2.1 cm from 3.8 cm on the 13th and is now funneling inside but not externally. My cervix can now be described as "dynamic" as the funneling was changing during the U/S.

My OB and the perinatologist agreed that I should be given betamethasone shots to help with maturity of the baby's lungs, just in case something happens in the next couple weeks (I got these shots when I was in preterm labor with Keira as well).  The two shots are given 24 hours apart so I was admitted to the hospital.  The first shot was administered at 6 pm that evening.  My OB stressed that I needed to be horizontal and that strict bedrest was starting now.  She said that I would possibly be released on Thursday, but we would see.

At about 9 pm, I was transferred from Triage up to a room in the High Risk Perinatal unit (Room 635-1) where I experienced a "restful" night sleep:

11:30 pm - Fell asleep
12:00 pm - Medication time: antibiotic and 2.5 mg terbutaline
1:00 am - Bathroom break
5:00 am - Bathroom break
5:20 am - Bloodwork
5:45 am - Medication time
7:30 am - Visit from resident

I think I probably slept about 5-1/2 hours total.  And I do have to say that going to and from the bathroom with an IV cart is a real pain! 

Wednesday

My OB rounded on me this morning at about 9:30.  I told her I was no longer feeling any uterine tightening and the back pain was gone.  I could feel some pelvic pressure that was new and likely due to the shorter cervix.  She said we would see how the test results came back today and she would be back this evening to make a decision.

At least the food is good in the hospital, so I had a good breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  And the nursing staff on HRP are wonderful! I spent the day in bed watching television and reading a magazine I had thought to throw into my purse before heading to the hospital yesterday, and talking on the phone to friends and family. I got my weekly 17P shot (I obviously couldn't make the appointment to get it at my OB's office this morning). Before my noon medication was due, test results came back that I did not have an infection so my OB took me off the IV and antibiotic drip.  Yay: I was free from the IV cart!

Ryan's parents were on their way down here from New Jersey to spend Thanksgiving weekend with us and they arrived at our house around 3:30 so Ryan was able to leave Keira with them and came to visit me for the evening.  While he was there, my OB stopped by to see how I was doing.  She said that I was now on strict bedrest and wanted me horizontal pretty much 24/7.  She wanted to know if I would be able to do that at home and, luckily, we were able to tell her that Ryan's mom was at our house that minute and would be there for the duration in order to take care of Keira.  Given that, she said I could be released that night after my 2nd betamethasone shot as long as I left the hospital after traffic had died down as she did not want me sitting in the car for hours trying to get home.  So it was decided I could leave sometime between 8 and 9 pm if we got confirmation that I-66 was clear.  Yippee!

I ate dinner, discussed my discharge instructions with the nurse, got my 2nd betamethasone shot, and my friend Ellen stopped by at 6 pm for a visit.  At about 8 pm, a nurse who got off her shift at 7:30 called in to HRP to let us know that I-66 was traffic-free.  I was wheeled down to the front lobby at about 8:30 pm and Ryan drove me home to bed. 

Going forward

I am home now on strict bedrest until further notice. I have bathroom privileges, can shower every other day, sit up to eat in bed, but no stairs. I'm on 2.5 mg terbutaline evey 6 hours to keep my uterus from contracting, and a stool softener so there is no strain near my cervix.

My OB said I should still go to my cervical length check at 11 am on Mon. 11/30, but she doesn't want me coming to the appointment at her office as she doesn't want me up that long. I am hoping that my cervix will be at or longer than 2.1 cm with the funneling not worse. Just in case, I told Ryan that from now on, I will be taking a small bag with me each time we leave the house for a doctor's appointment in case there is a hospital admission immediately thereafter!  I forgot to throw my iPhone charger in my purse before heading out on Wednesday, so my phone was dead by 10 am this morning and that was after being very conservative on my use of the phone and Internet.

Right now, I am just happy to be home as I am not ready to be away from Keira for this long. Due to swine flu, the hospital has really strict restrictions on visitors especially those under 18yo.  I spoke with the Charge Nurse and she said that for hospital visits under 5 days, they are not allowing visitors under 18yo, but if I was to be admitted for longer, I would probably only get to see Keira about once every 5 days or so.

I headed up stairs tonight and will not be returning downstairs (or leaving my bedroom for that matter) until Monday when Ryan takes me to my U/S. 

Hospital Statistics

Length of Stay: 30 hours
Room: 635 bed 1
Hours of sleep: 5
Needle pricks:  5 - IV, bloodwork, 17P shot, and 2 betamethasone shots (one in each buttock)

Stay tuned for the continuing adventures!

23-Week Appointments

Bedrest is officially in my future...

I'm 23 weeks 1 day along today. I had an appointment at my OB's office this morning.  Baby's heartrate was 130-140s bpm. I got my 17P shot. So fun!

Doctor said my cervix length from last Fri. is great at 3.8-4.1 cm. I told her I'm not feeling any pressure or pulling in the cervix or uterine area; I'm just feeling some muscle aches down low there.  I did tell her that I'm having 3-6 contractions per day, but no more than 1 per hour and I'm staying hydrated and immediately drink water after the contraction.

Doctor says I need to decrease my activities even further (and I didn't totally tell her all my activities) - playdates only 2-3 days/wk and need to break them up with a day of rest in between.  Also I should rest at 11 am and 2 pm; no grocery shopping, cooking, or housework (already not doing any three of these things).  She wants to wait until at least 24 weeks before putting me on Terbutaline.  At 26-27 weeks, I will start non-stress tests to check if I am having contractions that we don't know about since we obviously missed them my 1st pregnancy (we had no idea my cervix had shortened until I went into pre-term labor at 33 weeks and my cervix was 0.9 cm by that point).

And the worst news I heard all day is that at 28 weeks (which falls on Dec. 23rd) she said she will put me on bedrest at home.  Her goal is to keep me out of the hospital.  I already was warned of this at my first appointment at 8 weeks, but it still didn't make it any easier to hear it.  I cried in the car ride home and to my friends who were watching Keira.  I'm having a hard time today watching my life slip more and more out of my control.

My doctor wants me to schedule my OB visits to follow my bi-weekly ultrasounds at the hospital so that I don't have to get out of the house as often (but that also means that I have to have someone watch Keira for 4 hours or so every two weeks!).  I also got the doctor's orders for my 26-week 1-hour glucose test and some other bloodwork.  Finally, I have to do something that is standard in pregnancy!  Hopefully I will pass the glucose test like I did when pregnant with Keira.

We informed Grandma Janet tonight that we will indeed be needing her to come stay with us starting the beginning of January and probably stay until the baby is born.

I'm trying to stay positive and be happy that I still have five weeks of "freedom," however limited it may be.  I know my situation could be way worse. The baby is doing well and my cervix is still way long, which are both things for which I am thankful, but it will take me a little time to adjust to the idea that such big changes are coming very soon. As I told my friends, I'm just having a bit of a pity party for myself today. I'll get it out of my system now and try to get my chin back up tomorrow.

Upcoming Appointments:
Wed, 11/25: 17P shot
Mon, 11/30: Cervical length check (possibly OB visit too)
Tues, 12/1: OB visit if not on 11/30

These boots were made for walking!

Keira got some boots on Friday from Kohl's. At the store, she did not want to even try them on, but once Ryan got them on her she wanted to keep them on and in fact wore them out of the store and home. Once we got home, she needed a diaper change and so Ryan went to take the boots off of her. She cried and cried so as soon as her diaper was changed, Ryan put the boots back on her. The catch was that she wouldn't let him put her pants back on so she was walking around in her shirt, diaper, and brand new boots! Here's a more demure picture of her fully dressed and ready to go to playgroup today.

Sent from my iPhone

22-Week Appointments

I am 22 weeks 2 days along today. This afternoon, I had a cervical length check along with some follow up views of baby's spine that we were unable to get 2 weeks ago. Baby's spine looks fine and my cervix measured about 3.8 cm which is great. It is down a little bit since 2 weeks ago (4.4 cm), but I am not surprised as that measurement was taken after 2 weeks of pretty strict bedrest and this measurement was after 2 weeks of moderate to low activity (taking care of Keira on my own) when possible.  The perinatologist that reviews my ultrasound results with me indicated that I will continue to come in every two weeks for cervical length checks until week 34.  So I have at least six more visits.

Yesterday, I had my 17P shot at the OB's office. It didn't hurt much at all. Keira and I were there all of five minutes.  That was by far my shortest visit ever to the OB's office!

Next Thursday: OB visit and 17p shot.
Two and a half weeks:  Cervical length check on 11/30 after the Thanksgiving weekend

Two Weeks Post-Op!

So it has been a little over two weeks since my surgery and I'm feeling fairly normal now (well, as normal as 21 weeks pregnant can feel!).

I'm 21 weeks 4 days along today.  I'm definitely feeling pregnant and waddling around now. The 2-1/2 weeks of bedrest and rest (which ended on Monday, Nov. 2nd) have certainly worn me down. Tuesday was my first day out and about on my own fully watching DD alone since Oct 14th.  I was exhausted and in some pain by 2 pm that afternoon. I know I overdid it and was more careful the rest of the week. I am feeling good after the cerclage placement on 10/23, just the muscles are weary.

I had an OB visit this past Thursday.  The baby's heartrate was 148 bpm. I got my 5th weekly 17P shot and it didn't hurt much at all. My OB was out this week so I saw the other OB in her office. She said everything is looking good: my weight, blood pressure, urine sample, etc. From review of our 20-week u/s report, she said my cervix length of 4.4 cm is nice and long, and that baby is big and doing well (baby est to weigh 15 oz.at 20w2d). Since I got my cerclage just two weeks ago, I asked what activities are limited or no-no's going forward. She said I can walk with DD and do normal activities, but no aerobic type exercise or walking around the mall for hours; pelvic rest; I can do some housework but don't overdo it; and make sure I am getting some rest during the day.


No walking for long periods of time at the mall....hmmm....can I just get my handicap parking sticker and wheelchair now?  Before Oct. 14th, Keira and I were at the mall once or twice each week, what with my stroller fitness class for an hour on Thursdays, plus another day just hanging out at the mall play area and window shopping.  Now what am I supposed to do on those days when we don't have a playgroup scheduled?!?


Upcoming Appointments;

- Next Thurs., 11/12: Weekly 17P shot.
- Next Fri., 11/13: Cervical length check.
- Two Thurs., 11/19: OB visit and weekly 17P shot.
Fun!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Keira!

Happy birthday, my darling daughter!  You are the light of my life and I have enjoyed every moment of the past two years.  Your Mommy loves you so much!

Pics of her on her actual birthday are coming soon (too much time on the computer makes contractions start with the laptop pressing on my belly)!