by Jessica on December 23, 2009
We just got back from our follow-up appointment, and I am very happy to say that everything is looking good! The doctor checked my cervix right away and pronounced “You’re the same!” Woo hoo! Knox’s heartbeat still sounds excellent in the 150s and his movement has certainly stayed very strong. The doctor wants me to take the Terbutaline every six hours, so four times a day, because it does seem to be working to control the contractions. I will be on bed rest until 36 or 37 weeks, and then they’ll let me off of it and the medicine. She did tell me that since Knox has had both doses of steroids in the hospital, if he were to be born now, he would behave more like 35 weeks than 33. She also said that if I were to go back into preterm labor, they wouldn’t do as much to stop it because we have had the steroids. Scary, I don’t want that to happen! Even if he would be okay, I want to be able to take my baby home with me when he’s born and not go to the NICU, so he needs to stay put until full term!
They hooked me up to the NST to check for contractions, and I didn’t have any when I was there, although my uterus is “irritable.” It shows little spikes and bounces on the monitor, even though they aren’t actual contractions. She reiterated that it is okay for me to do small errands because I told her I was scared to do anything other than get up to pee and shower. She said I may contract when I’m up walking around, but as long as I’m not up for too long and go right back to laying down afterwards, it will be just fine. That made me feel better. So, here I lay, making my list for our outing to Target this evening. I haven’t done my Christmas shopping, so Trevor and I are going to try to make a quick trip tonight. Who knows, I may end up rocking the motorized scooter, I promise to take pictures if I do.
I have lost a few pounds as of today, I am assuming from being in the hospital. I was so pumped full of fluids and forcing down a ridiculous amount of water, so my appetite wasn’t the best. I am making sure to eat enough while on bed rest, and Trevor fed me a huge hamburger for lunch today, so I am sure that helped, too!
I leave you with some pictures from this week:
In the hospital. You can tell how thrilled I am with Trevor for taking my picture.
After we found out we got to go home the next morning. Note my red cheeks from the magnesium sulfate. Sexy.
Trevor preparing his first bed rest dinner. I had to get off the couch to document this one!
He’s very angry at the pepper grinder. LOL. I love this guy!
For the record, Trevor made tacos, and they were very good. 
by Jessica on December 18, 2009
The doctor just came in a while ago to check me and said that I have NOT (Thank you, God!) dilated anymore, and that I am still at a tight 1 cm and have not further effaced. They went ahead and took me off of the magnesium sulfate which has really worked getting rid of contractions (even though it has made me feel like I’m going to burst into flames at any moment and made Knox completely still), so I am very thankful for that. They are watching me until the morning to make sure the contractions don’t pick back up. If they don’t, I will be sent home on Brethine/ Terbutaline as needed by mouth and be put on modified bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy (I am assuming until Knox reaches full term).
I cannot begin to say how relieved I am at this moment that our little guy is still inside where he should be. I thank each and everyone of you for your thoughts and prayers over the past few days, I am sure they have made all the difference. We have had so many phone calls, emails and visitors to our hospital room, and we appreciate it more than I can say.
Right now, I am awaiting Knox’s movements picking back up, it is bizarre to go from feeling him every few minutes to not at all, and it’s pretty freaky. The mag sulfate is a muscle relaxer and it makes you very hot and very lethargic, which can carry over to the baby. His heart rate did stay up pretty close to normal the whole time, it dropped to about 120-130 bpm this morning, but is now right back at 150.
I am still on IV fluids, but free from the antibiotics and magnesium. I am so looking forward to going home and going to bed. I was up a straight 42 hours before getting about four hours of sleep this morning, so I am a totally exhausted mess. Though the sleeplessness is a small price to pay for keeping our guy in for longer! I am sure bed rest will be rough, but it is FAR preferable to having to stay in the hospital. I am so, so thankful. I’ll update tomorrow to let you guys know how it’s all going.
by Jessica on December 17, 2009
Because I am dilating and effacing and writing this post from the hospital. I ended up calling the doctor’s office and setting up an appointment for an NST this afternoon. The contractions were still coming at around 6 or 7 an hour and were lasting for several minutes each time. I went in at four and got hooked up to the monitor. The nurse came back after 20 minutes and said “Well, you’re definitely contracting.” I had about seven contractions in the 20 minutes I was on the monitor. Guess they believed me at that point.
She told me the doctor would check my cervix to determine whether these were BH contractions or real ones. They did an fFN test first thing (still haven’t heard those results) and then she checked me. She asked “So you’ve never been dilated?” I told her no. “Not dilated at all?” I guessed at this point what was going on. I was dilated 1 cm and was 50% effaced. She said she was admitting me to the hospital overnight, trying to stop the contractions, and if they can, I can go home tomorrow.
Obviously, the second she left the room, I cried. I called Trevor immediately and he left work right then. They had me get an ultrasound of my cervical length, I think it was around 2.5 cm. Then, they sent me across the parking lot to the hospital. When I got to the hospital, they started an IV on me (not bad at all) and got me on fluids and an antibiotic. Then, they gave me a shot of steroids for Knox’s lungs into my thigh (again, not bad, I barely felt it) and started me on Procardia for the contractions. It’s in pill form and I have to say… not impressed. I am still having a lot of contractions at this point. I know they were starting off with something mild and will increase the med strength if needed.
I am here for tonight, and the doctor is supposed to come by and check me in the morning. Please say a prayer that Knox stays put for at least a few more weeks! I want to meet him, but not quite yet. This is definitely a very scary situation, but I am trying my best not to freak out and remain positive. I am hoping that my cervix has not changed at all tomorrow and they can figure out how to stop these contractions, which are obviously not BH. I am so, so glad that I was pushy and kept calling back. I knew something didn’t feel right, and I will always trust my instincts from this point forward. Stay put, Knox!!
