The Unexpected Symptom

As I was typing my blog post last night,I was experiencing that new symptom I mentioned--menstrual cramps and dull back pain. I tried to lay in the recliner for a couple hours, but the pain was not subsiding. DH thought we should go to ER to put my mind at ease. Little did he know (or myself), I was experiencing preterm labor. My uterus was consistently contracting and nothing seemed to stop them. I did try to call the on-call doctor, but no one answered. That's when we decided to go to ER. When we got there, they took me to the Birthing Center to hook up all the monitors, and they started an IV of fluids. Sure enough, I was having regular contractions and the on-call doctor (who happened to be my normal OB--YAY!) was concerned. Dr. C said this was way to early for contractions, for she wants these twins to make it to at least 35 or 36 weeks. Good news, the babies looked great on the monitors and my blood pressure was under control. As they checked my monitors, they noticed my first IV insertion area was getting red and swollen and had to be taken out (and that was painful and bloody!) It almost made me want to pass out (I'm such a wimp, I know!) They put another IV in and mental note to self, make sure they use the 20 gauge needle on me. It went in much better. After the IV fluids, it was decided to keep me overnight, for contractions were not stopping. They gave me a steroid injection to help the babies' lung maturity, which I will need a second one tonight. And since the contractions were not stopping, they gave me some pills to help stop the contractions; I can't remember the name of medicine, but fortunately, they ran out of it in injection form. (Can you tell that I dislike needles!?!) By the time all this was done, I was told that there were ketones in my urine.

More good news...Besides, the babies looking great, my cervix was still long and they ran a test which predicted early delivery. Based on the test results, there is a very good chance that these babies will NOT be delivered within the next 2 weeks, which is a very good thing. Also, my contractions did stop in the early morning. Thank goodness! The worst part of the whole overnight stay was the lack of sleep I got. They wanted to keep the fetal monitors on both babies all night and the only way they cooperated was if I was lying on my back inclined. This position was so uncomfortable (esp. in birthing beds) that I couldn't sleep because of the pressure on my back. No matter how many pillows the nurses used, I just couldn't get comfortable. BTW, I had incredible nurses and I'm so thankful for their patience and compassion. Luckily, they did put some nubain in my IV and that helped with back pain, so I could sleep an hour or two. It was a long night. By morning, they decided the fetal monitors were not a necessity, so I could rest/sleep in whatever position I wanted. By 1:00pm today, the ketones were not in my urine anymore and everything looked good. I was ready to be discharged! Home sweet home, how nice it is!

Of course, I can't go back to my normal routine or the contractions can easily start up again. I'm on bedrest at home now, which can be somewhat challenging with a 5 year old. She is in school most of the day, but the DH has to step up and take on some "mommy" responsibilities. My Mom is coming over tomorrow to help with some house cleaning and finish wrapping Christmas gifts for me. Thankfully, DH has an understanding boss (who's wife was also on bedrest with her 2nd child) who will let DH work from home when need be. With the holidays coming up, DH also has vacation time to use up. We were hoping to save the time for the twins' birth. Hopefully, he can use that time towards the end of the month and not any time soon.

What a scare last night was, but I'm glad our babies are still doing good. As Dr. C said, there's about 8lbs of baby in my uterus and my uterus is ready . We are just asking my uterus to be superhero.

**excuse any grammar errors -- I'm extremely tired right now.**