26w3d - Hospital Day 4

Today is 26w3d and day 4 in the hospital. Here is an update of day 3 (yesterday) in the hospital.

I would have updated yesterday but it was too hectic around here and I got too tired. Much has happened in here since I was last able to update. I’ve gotten hardly any sleep but hopefully I’ll get to crash out pretty soon. Since I last left you on Saturday night, I had succumbed to an Ambien haze and NO KIDDING do I love that stuff. I’ve only had 3 nights of it now but that is enough to KNOW. I think I was so out of it that I was dreaming and when the nurse woke me up to give me steroid shots (in the quads – ouch) I remembered feeling very hazy and not realizing what was going on. But I was SURE there were elephants in the room and that someone was stabbing me in the legs with butterknives. Turns out, I went right back to sleep, but not without realizing that I was in pain for a moment when she was administering the shots. I could feel the thick fluid fill my muscles in my thigh and it was pretty uncomfortable. BTW, the steroid was to strengthen the babies’ lungs and to better prepare them for pre-maturity. I got another does last night as well. So anyhow, thank God the for Ambien. I SO understand why that stuff is NOT legal for OTC use. I woke yesterday at 6am and saw the bandaids on my thighs and prayed that I didn’t actually MENTION the elephants to the nurse in my stupor. We’re just going to act like that didn’t happen!
Sunday Morning - I didn’t get much sleep and didn’t nap at all yesterday. I just couldn’t go back to sleep after 6:am and getting up to pee for the 37th time. Lantry came and visited and checked on me around 7:30am and just said that she spoke with DeVore again and that he had flown in midnight Saturday night and would see me Monday. In the meantime we were to continue the 24 hour monitoring fun and the IV drip and she also wanted a stool sample. YAY. Honestly, who DOESN’T want a stool sample? Incidentally, all day yesterday I had NO abdominal pain and NO diarrhea. NONE. Of course when the doctor says she WANTS it, I’ve got nothing. Performance anxiety? Possibly..but realistically this bug was on its way out and yesterday was the first time since Wednesday that my body felt good (intestinal bug wise, not carrying 3 heavy bags of water that kick me from the inside wise – that stuff still hurts, as wonderful as it is). So I’ve got an empty sample cup and popsicle stick thing waiting to fulfill their stool sample destiny, that I think will never be realized. I’m very ok with this.
The day continued and although I was exhausted and uncomfortable (4 itchy belts on jelly covered belly, burning red skin from the alcohol based gel, uncomfortable monitors, irritating IV, etc) I was relieve to see and feel all 3 babies up and at ‘em again. Baby B was no longer hiding from the monitors. Everyone was find-able.
I watched football and tried to stuff my face and basically had a quiet afternoon trying to stay comfortable and peeing every 2 minutes. It was great except for the middle of the day when I had “Yucky Nurse Covering My Nice Nurse’s Lunch Shift”. This woman had me so upset that I cried when she left them room and I was holding back all of my “oh no you didn’t” with all of her passive-aggressive nastiness. If I wasn’t potentially living here for several months and seeing these women every day, I may have said something but I knew I would just start crying and nothing invalidates your feelings to a person who already doesn’t care like tears. I didn’t want to give her my power so I kept quiet until she left and then of course bawled like the hormonal pile of cords that currently I am. Thankfully, I made the best choice because apparently she’s somebody’s boss and will be around a lot for my bedrest and I need to make friends here, not enemies. I just need to figure out how to manage her and I’ll be fine. Just like out in the real world – learning to deal with difficult people. I don’t want anyone spitting in my fruit cocktail, you know.
Anyhow, My regular day nurse came back and everything was just peachy and my parents came by with more food and goodies and unfortunately I was still wiping away tears from my interactions with “mean old nurse” so they got the brunt of that while I was still trying to deal with myself. Luckly football was on to provide some distraction from my meltdown. And they both rubbed my fiery feet with the cold wet washcloths again. What a difference! Brian showed up as they left and he hung out for a while too and rubbed my feet for just a minute too. The evening was winding down and as I prepared to take a shower and Brian was getting ready to leave. The nurse ran in to stop us and said “Dr. DeVore is here!”
You’re kidding right? That was our reaction. At 8:00pm on a Sunday night he came just to see me (and the babies of course). And here I was, thinking that I wouldn’t see him until probably Tuesday. He brought his high-tech portable machines and scanned me and the babies right there in my hospital bed. The babies are measuring BIG and each weigh approximately:
- 2 lbs10 lbs
- 2lbs 5 oz
- 2 lb 13 oz
He said that he had a difficult time measuring one baby exactly because of the position but that this still looks great. This means I am carrying over 7lbs (almost 8lbs) in baby PLUS 3 separate amniotic sacs and 3 separate placentas. No wonder I can’t breathe! And I have 6-8 more weeks to go and many more pounds we are supposed to gain. Apparently they haven’t suffered from my recent 4lb weight loss as they gained good weight. Thank God! Anyway, as far as these numbers are concerned, I don’t know who is who and we didn’t take any of it down – we were so unprepared – we were still so shocked that he came on Sunday night! A real answer to prayer, I tell you! Thank God Brian stayed so much later than he planned so that he could be here to see DeVore too. It worked out. Anyway, DeVore said babies look great. He STILL could not get a sex determination on baby A. At this point, it is more than likely that we just won’t know until they are born since they are so crowded and impossible to push around with the paddle. This is just fine. I am just glad that they look good and are growing to DeVore’s satisfaction. Everything that was measurable looks good. He asked about the steroid shots and I told him I had another dose at bedtime coming which he was satisfied with. My cervix, however, was actually NOT a good thing. My cervix had shortened from 3.7cm to 2.4 cm in 3 weeks with a little bit of funneling. He didn’t seem alarmed in any way and said that is is still in an ok range and is expected at this point for trips but definitely still need bedrest. The good news is that he says I can do this at home since everything else looks great! He says the average is 32 weeks but is not making any calls with me yet as we are taking this week by week. We are so close, I can’t believe it!
He just wants Lantry to clear me of my stomach issue and make sure I am no longer dehydrated and I am good to go home for now! Now, I am just waiting for her and hoping/praying that she is satisfied that I am healed enough. I have had no abdominal problems in over 24 hours. Not dehydrated (I’ve been on this drip since Friday!). The contractions went back down as I felt better. The babies heartbeats all look good (I can hear and see them since I am still on the monitors). My BP is perfectly low enough at 100/68 this morning. My blood tests came back OK. I just hope I’ve gained enough weight to her satisfaction. Otherwise, I see no other reason for her to keep me here. Especially since DeVore is comfortable with me being home for a while longer. Last night I had two more steroid shots, this time in each bum cheek. Luckily I was loopy with Ambien so it was a short-lived pain. I also got a new IV. I am all fixed up, but as soon as he said he was comfortable with me bedresting at home I was so ANXIOUS to get out of here! And I have to wait until this evening to get word from Lantry when she does her rounds. Aaaagh! Oh well, a few hours in here will not hurt me. Brian is with me right now and he is going to get us lunch so I don’t have to eat more chipped beef and jello. Not that there is anything wrong with chipped beef, but COME ON! I want something else for lunch!
So I may be going home and I won’t know until this evening. Keep your fingers crossed!!! I’ll let you know!