I'm still here and the baby is still inside - yeah! Yesterday I reached the 31 week mark and today is my 33rd day in the hospital.
Earlier this week I was told that I now have wheel chair privileges -- 20 minutes two times a week. For a variety of reasons I had not taken advantage of this yet, but since its pretty nice out I decided that today was the day. So about 40 minutes ago for the first time since February 23rd I left my room. And, for the first time since February 18th I actually went outside. I've never appreciated a little bit of fresh air so much!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Day 27
I've learned a few things since becoming a patient here at the hospital.
#1. TV sucks! At home we've been without cable or satellite service for over 2 years. In addition, because our TV is in the basement we don't even get any kind of basic signal, so we've been relying on Netflix for all of our viewing pleasure. I'll say first that I've watched ALOT of tv while in the hospital -- it is my nearly constant companion. And I'm no highbrow--I enjoy what I know to be some pretty mediocre shows--but I've realized how just awful TV is nowadays. I know reality TV isn't new since we got rid of our satellite service, but now it just seems to be everywhere. Frankly, there's very little of that genre that I can stomach, so for the most part I watch the Food Network, HGTV and the channels that show reruns. Regarding my TV viewing, I'll confess I'm most grateful for reruns of "That 70s Show" and "Gilmore Girls".
#2. Those red emergency pull cords in bathroom are VERY sensitive
Today as I was drying off after my shower I must have bumped the pull cord with my elbow. Before I knew it, 2 nurses rushed in to see if I was OK. There I was totally naked and dripping wet and wondering what the heck was going on. So apparently you don't actually need to "pull" on the cord to get help.
#3. Eating in bed while horizontal is really a pain.
#4. Milk of Magnesia comes in handy when you spend the vast majority of your day lying down. I'd never taken it before, and I hate to be too reliant on it, but let's just say the 2 colace per day isn't quite enough.
#5. Ambien comes in really handy when you have insomnia. Despite being exhausted after too many sleepless nights, I was still finding myself wide awake at 3am every night. Ambien is another medication I'd never used before and I don't want to get too reliant on it either, but right now without it I just can't sleep at night.
#1. TV sucks! At home we've been without cable or satellite service for over 2 years. In addition, because our TV is in the basement we don't even get any kind of basic signal, so we've been relying on Netflix for all of our viewing pleasure. I'll say first that I've watched ALOT of tv while in the hospital -- it is my nearly constant companion. And I'm no highbrow--I enjoy what I know to be some pretty mediocre shows--but I've realized how just awful TV is nowadays. I know reality TV isn't new since we got rid of our satellite service, but now it just seems to be everywhere. Frankly, there's very little of that genre that I can stomach, so for the most part I watch the Food Network, HGTV and the channels that show reruns. Regarding my TV viewing, I'll confess I'm most grateful for reruns of "That 70s Show" and "Gilmore Girls".
#2. Those red emergency pull cords in bathroom are VERY sensitive
Today as I was drying off after my shower I must have bumped the pull cord with my elbow. Before I knew it, 2 nurses rushed in to see if I was OK. There I was totally naked and dripping wet and wondering what the heck was going on. So apparently you don't actually need to "pull" on the cord to get help.
#3. Eating in bed while horizontal is really a pain.
#4. Milk of Magnesia comes in handy when you spend the vast majority of your day lying down. I'd never taken it before, and I hate to be too reliant on it, but let's just say the 2 colace per day isn't quite enough.
#5. Ambien comes in really handy when you have insomnia. Despite being exhausted after too many sleepless nights, I was still finding myself wide awake at 3am every night. Ambien is another medication I'd never used before and I don't want to get too reliant on it either, but right now without it I just can't sleep at night.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
30 Weeks!
also known as day 25 in the hospital.
Apparently even with all kinds of free time I still suck at keeping up with this here blog. It certainly isn't for any lack of thinking about what I've wanted to say here, its just that I'm kind of lazy about actually getting the words down on paper--or the computer in this case.
But now that I'm here I'll do my best to provide an update on the last 2 weeks.
First the numbers. Based on the sonogram I had in the office in 2/18, they estimated the baby's weight at 2 lbs, 2 oz. 2 weeks later, on 3/4, I had a sonogram here at the hospital and the weight estimate was 2 lbs, 13 oz. The great news from that sonogram was that my cervix had actually lengthened from 1.7 to about 2.5. I have a couple of NSTs a week and so far they've all looked good. My blood pressure is fine too. The only not so good news was on 2/26 I failed the 3-hour glucose test and so was put on a restricted diet. However good news followed, after 1 week of monitoring my blood sugar levels 4 times a day they were looking good so they let me go off the gestational diabetes diet; my only restriction was no sweets or fruit juice. After another week of 4x a day monitoring my blood sugar levels were still looking good, so I still can't have sweets or juice, but they only stick my finger twice a day now.
Medically speaking things are pretty unexciting, which is just how I like it. Every morning at 6am I get 2 Heparin shots and then I fall right back to sleep. Anywhere between an hour to an hour and a half later a resident comes in and asks me if I've had any bleeding, any leakage of fluid, any contractions, any swelling in my legs, any pain, any questions, and have I been feeling good fetal movement. My answers are always the same, no bleeding, no fluid, no contractions, no pain or questions, and lots of fetal movement. A little later in the morning one of the doctors stops by and asks the same set of questions, and I provide the same set of answers. Three times a day my nurse of the day takes my blood pressure, my temperature, and checks the Bumblebee's heart rate. So far so good! Other than that, the nurses check in about once an hour to see if I need anything and to bring me my various cocktails of vitamins, oh and at 6pm I get my second 2 shots of heparin. Thanks to the heparin, my thighs look like some sort of grotesque dot-to-dot! After 6 IVF cycles the needles don't bother me, but the Heparin really stings!
As far as coping with the bed rest, things have actually gone pretty well. The first two weeks I was pretty paranoid about every twinge and it only got worse when after the first week I asked one of my doctors what he thought my chances were for staying here for awhile. I was not at all surprised by his answer, but disappointed nonetheless. He said that there is no way of knowing, and that I could be here for months or I could have the baby tomorrow. The good results of the sonogram a week later helped relieve my nerves quite a bit. So, I keep myself occupied with a combination of the TV, the Internet, reading, phone calls and visits, and a couple of hours of work each day. It really hasn't been anywhere near as difficult or boring as I thought it would be.
My in-laws, who live just a couple of hours away, have been staying with my husband and daughter for the better part of each week. This has been really helpful to my husband and it's meant that I get to see my daughter more often. Since they pick her up after school earlier than my husband could, they are able to bring her to see me earlier and stay longer before heading home for dinner, homework and bed. Unfortunately, the Ladybug is sick again--the 2nd time in the last 3 weeks--and since my in-laws had to go home for a few days, I haven't seen the Ladybug or my husband in a few days. She seems to be on the mend, so they are coming over in about an hour - yeah!
I have to confess that I'm getting greedy. When I landed her at 26 1/2 weeks I was so scared of delivering the Bumblebee so early, that I just hoped that I could make it to 30 weeks. Now that I'm here, I want lots more time! I kept saying that if I made it to 30 weeks then I'd be looking toward 32 as the next milestone. Of course I'd rather deliver at 32 weeks than 30, but even 32 isn't good enough anymore. I'm really hoping I can make it to at least 35. My daughter was born at 32 weeks and she has had no long term problems due to her prematurity. Nevertheless, she spent 4 weeks in the NICU, 6 months on a monitor, had to have RSV shots, lots of extra appointments with ophthalmologists, developmental specialists, etc, and, of course, we had a healthy dose of paranoia about her overall health. I would REALLY like to avoid all that this time around! So, I'm feeling greedy and I don't want to meet this baby for AT LEAST 5 more weeks. Which brings me to the conversation I had with one of my doctors this morning. But first a little background.
When I got here I was told that my job was to stay horizontal, which I've done. Even after the good sonogram results, that prescription hasn't changed and not a single medical professional has said anything to me about going home. However, since almost everyone I talk to (friends and family) asks if there's a point at which they might let me go home, yesterday I finally asked the resident who's here most mornings whether that could happen. He said he didn't really know, but he doubted it. Then, the doctor who came by this morning asked me if anyone had said anything to me about going home. I told her no, and she said she planned to talk to one of the other doctors about that since my sonogram was so promising. Now I have to say that I'm actually terrified of being sent home now. First, I like the fact that if something happens, like going into labor or abrupting again, I'm already in the hospital. Also, it will be much harder to stay horizontal for as many hours of the day at home. I certainly won't have anyone there that can bring me all my meals and snacks! (In case your wondering, my in-laws are leaving the country in a week, so that's not an option.) I won't have daily monitoring for contractions (important to me, because while I haven't had so many that they worry about it, I have had more than a few that I couldn't feel!). No one will be checking the Bumblebee's heartbeat 3 times a day. And of course it will put a lot of added stress on my husband. With my in-laws about to head out of town, he's really going to be single parenting, and while that's never easy, doing it for (hopefully) many weeks with a full-time job and over 2 hours of commuting a day is pretty stressful. If I'm there, but on bed rest, not only will I be unable to help him, but he'll also have to be doing stuff for me in addition to everything else. Oh, and then there's the small issue of the 2 to 3 appointments the doctor said I'd have every week -- um, how exactly am I supposed to get there?
Obviously, I miss my husband and my daughter and the idea of getting to spend a lot more time with them is appealing, but honestly the thought of being sent home at this point terrifies me.
Until next time, here's some photos of my home away from home.
Apparently even with all kinds of free time I still suck at keeping up with this here blog. It certainly isn't for any lack of thinking about what I've wanted to say here, its just that I'm kind of lazy about actually getting the words down on paper--or the computer in this case.
But now that I'm here I'll do my best to provide an update on the last 2 weeks.
First the numbers. Based on the sonogram I had in the office in 2/18, they estimated the baby's weight at 2 lbs, 2 oz. 2 weeks later, on 3/4, I had a sonogram here at the hospital and the weight estimate was 2 lbs, 13 oz. The great news from that sonogram was that my cervix had actually lengthened from 1.7 to about 2.5. I have a couple of NSTs a week and so far they've all looked good. My blood pressure is fine too. The only not so good news was on 2/26 I failed the 3-hour glucose test and so was put on a restricted diet. However good news followed, after 1 week of monitoring my blood sugar levels 4 times a day they were looking good so they let me go off the gestational diabetes diet; my only restriction was no sweets or fruit juice. After another week of 4x a day monitoring my blood sugar levels were still looking good, so I still can't have sweets or juice, but they only stick my finger twice a day now.
Medically speaking things are pretty unexciting, which is just how I like it. Every morning at 6am I get 2 Heparin shots and then I fall right back to sleep. Anywhere between an hour to an hour and a half later a resident comes in and asks me if I've had any bleeding, any leakage of fluid, any contractions, any swelling in my legs, any pain, any questions, and have I been feeling good fetal movement. My answers are always the same, no bleeding, no fluid, no contractions, no pain or questions, and lots of fetal movement. A little later in the morning one of the doctors stops by and asks the same set of questions, and I provide the same set of answers. Three times a day my nurse of the day takes my blood pressure, my temperature, and checks the Bumblebee's heart rate. So far so good! Other than that, the nurses check in about once an hour to see if I need anything and to bring me my various cocktails of vitamins, oh and at 6pm I get my second 2 shots of heparin. Thanks to the heparin, my thighs look like some sort of grotesque dot-to-dot! After 6 IVF cycles the needles don't bother me, but the Heparin really stings!
As far as coping with the bed rest, things have actually gone pretty well. The first two weeks I was pretty paranoid about every twinge and it only got worse when after the first week I asked one of my doctors what he thought my chances were for staying here for awhile. I was not at all surprised by his answer, but disappointed nonetheless. He said that there is no way of knowing, and that I could be here for months or I could have the baby tomorrow. The good results of the sonogram a week later helped relieve my nerves quite a bit. So, I keep myself occupied with a combination of the TV, the Internet, reading, phone calls and visits, and a couple of hours of work each day. It really hasn't been anywhere near as difficult or boring as I thought it would be.
My in-laws, who live just a couple of hours away, have been staying with my husband and daughter for the better part of each week. This has been really helpful to my husband and it's meant that I get to see my daughter more often. Since they pick her up after school earlier than my husband could, they are able to bring her to see me earlier and stay longer before heading home for dinner, homework and bed. Unfortunately, the Ladybug is sick again--the 2nd time in the last 3 weeks--and since my in-laws had to go home for a few days, I haven't seen the Ladybug or my husband in a few days. She seems to be on the mend, so they are coming over in about an hour - yeah!
I have to confess that I'm getting greedy. When I landed her at 26 1/2 weeks I was so scared of delivering the Bumblebee so early, that I just hoped that I could make it to 30 weeks. Now that I'm here, I want lots more time! I kept saying that if I made it to 30 weeks then I'd be looking toward 32 as the next milestone. Of course I'd rather deliver at 32 weeks than 30, but even 32 isn't good enough anymore. I'm really hoping I can make it to at least 35. My daughter was born at 32 weeks and she has had no long term problems due to her prematurity. Nevertheless, she spent 4 weeks in the NICU, 6 months on a monitor, had to have RSV shots, lots of extra appointments with ophthalmologists, developmental specialists, etc, and, of course, we had a healthy dose of paranoia about her overall health. I would REALLY like to avoid all that this time around! So, I'm feeling greedy and I don't want to meet this baby for AT LEAST 5 more weeks. Which brings me to the conversation I had with one of my doctors this morning. But first a little background.
When I got here I was told that my job was to stay horizontal, which I've done. Even after the good sonogram results, that prescription hasn't changed and not a single medical professional has said anything to me about going home. However, since almost everyone I talk to (friends and family) asks if there's a point at which they might let me go home, yesterday I finally asked the resident who's here most mornings whether that could happen. He said he didn't really know, but he doubted it. Then, the doctor who came by this morning asked me if anyone had said anything to me about going home. I told her no, and she said she planned to talk to one of the other doctors about that since my sonogram was so promising. Now I have to say that I'm actually terrified of being sent home now. First, I like the fact that if something happens, like going into labor or abrupting again, I'm already in the hospital. Also, it will be much harder to stay horizontal for as many hours of the day at home. I certainly won't have anyone there that can bring me all my meals and snacks! (In case your wondering, my in-laws are leaving the country in a week, so that's not an option.) I won't have daily monitoring for contractions (important to me, because while I haven't had so many that they worry about it, I have had more than a few that I couldn't feel!). No one will be checking the Bumblebee's heartbeat 3 times a day. And of course it will put a lot of added stress on my husband. With my in-laws about to head out of town, he's really going to be single parenting, and while that's never easy, doing it for (hopefully) many weeks with a full-time job and over 2 hours of commuting a day is pretty stressful. If I'm there, but on bed rest, not only will I be unable to help him, but he'll also have to be doing stuff for me in addition to everything else. Oh, and then there's the small issue of the 2 to 3 appointments the doctor said I'd have every week -- um, how exactly am I supposed to get there?
Obviously, I miss my husband and my daughter and the idea of getting to spend a lot more time with them is appealing, but honestly the thought of being sent home at this point terrifies me.
Until next time, here's some photos of my home away from home.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Hospital Day 11 and 28 Weeks
Today I hit the first milestone I hoped for the day I landed here. Today I'm 28 weeks. I know that every extra day is important. I also hope that I'll be lucky enough to be here for many more weeks, but I'm nervous and trying to be realistic. So right now, the next milestone I'm looking toward and hoping for is to make it to 30 weeks. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
Friday, February 27, 2009
Sibling Rivalry
Apparently it can start even before the new sibling has arrived. My daughter has been very excited about having a baby brother and she's been worried about him since I landed in the hospital. Nenertheless, I guess there's some part of her that's beginning to realize that having another child in the family will affect the existing family dynamic, specifically my relationship with her.
My little Ladybug can be super stubborn and disobedient, but she is nothing if not affectionate. Kisses, hugs, and "I love yous" are dispensed pretty liberally in our house. Sometime in the past couple of years the Ladybug has gotten into the habit of saying to me "I love you more than anyone else" and I respond in kind. So... the other night she called me to say goodnight and when I said "I love you" she asked "do you love me more than the Bumblebee?"
My little Ladybug can be super stubborn and disobedient, but she is nothing if not affectionate. Kisses, hugs, and "I love yous" are dispensed pretty liberally in our house. Sometime in the past couple of years the Ladybug has gotten into the habit of saying to me "I love you more than anyone else" and I respond in kind. So... the other night she called me to say goodnight and when I said "I love you" she asked "do you love me more than the Bumblebee?"
Blood and Panic
For the second time in the last few days I gave myself a heart attack while drying off after my daily 10 minute shower. Both times the story was the same -- I put the rough white hospital towel down on the bathroom counter and then noticed a streak of pink across it. My heart jumped into my throat. After what was probably only a few seconds, but felt like an eternity, I looked down at my thigh where they've been giving me my Heparin shot and noticed one spot was bleeding a little bit. And then a huge sigh of relief.
Speaking of the heparin shots... My thighs look like some sort of grotesque dot-to-dot.
So far bedrest is going ok. I'm not going too crazy. I have had plenty to say, but not the energy to type it all out. But I will soon, I promise.
Speaking of the heparin shots... My thighs look like some sort of grotesque dot-to-dot.
So far bedrest is going ok. I'm not going too crazy. I have had plenty to say, but not the energy to type it all out. But I will soon, I promise.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Drama Queen
Anyone recall how about two weeks ago I said I didn't want any more drama with this pregnancy? Well, apparently I'm a drama queen because I am currently (and hopefully for a long time) lying in a hospital bed. Went in at 8:30 this morning for my glucose test and fetal weight estimation and during the ultrasound the sonographer couldn't get a good measure of the baby's head because he was so low. So she checks my cervix and it's only measuring about 1.7. The doctor then checked (manually - ouch!) and declared that the darn thing was also really soft. In a nutshell - I was told to call my husband, go home to pack a bag, and go get myself admitted to the hospital. I must have been admitted by about 11. The baby is fine, it's just my body that's defective. So basically I'm to stay as horizontal as possible for as long as possible --we're hoping for many many weeks! Fortunately, I do have bathroom privileges and I can be up for about 10 minutes a day to shower. My nurse today is Mary and she's awesome, as is every other person I've come into contact with. One things for sure, though it's only been about 6 hours so far, it definitely beats the experience I had at the other hospital where I delivered my daughter. For one, this hospital has a separate high risk perinatal unit and it almost feels like checking into a hotel. They gave us a welcome packet with all kinds of information and, as I said before, so far the staff is great.
Of course I've cried an awful lot today. I can't help the "why me?" thoughts from coming. I mean this isn't even the same situation that put me in the hospital with my daughter. So just great, a totally new problem! And of course in addition to being terrified that about being in this position at only 26 weeks, I'm also a little stressed about how we're going to deal with this financially. Fortunately, with the laptop and wireless Internet access I can try to work from here. But it's not going to be easy to do much from a horizontal position. Heck I'm typing one-handed and it's not easy. I'm also a little worried about how my husband is going to handle not only the stress of worrying about me and the baby, but also working, commuting, and single parenting our daughter. And of course I'm worried about what impact this will have on her. (Crap,now I'm crying again.) She's so attached to me and I know not having me at home is going to be really really hard for her, and thus she will be really really hard on my husband. And of course I'll miss her like crazy. I cry every time I think about not being able to snuggle with her and kiss her goodnight at bedtime every night.
So, since I'm confined to bed, you'll probably be hearing from me a lot. Hopefully I'll have lots of time on my hands for many, many weeks to come.
Of course I've cried an awful lot today. I can't help the "why me?" thoughts from coming. I mean this isn't even the same situation that put me in the hospital with my daughter. So just great, a totally new problem! And of course in addition to being terrified that about being in this position at only 26 weeks, I'm also a little stressed about how we're going to deal with this financially. Fortunately, with the laptop and wireless Internet access I can try to work from here. But it's not going to be easy to do much from a horizontal position. Heck I'm typing one-handed and it's not easy. I'm also a little worried about how my husband is going to handle not only the stress of worrying about me and the baby, but also working, commuting, and single parenting our daughter. And of course I'm worried about what impact this will have on her. (Crap,now I'm crying again.) She's so attached to me and I know not having me at home is going to be really really hard for her, and thus she will be really really hard on my husband. And of course I'll miss her like crazy. I cry every time I think about not being able to snuggle with her and kiss her goodnight at bedtime every night.
So, since I'm confined to bed, you'll probably be hearing from me a lot. Hopefully I'll have lots of time on my hands for many, many weeks to come.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)