Not leaving the hospital until the baby is born

Well I woke up Sunday morning (2:00 a.m.) with a fairly significant bleed. The most bleeding I had seen so far. I went to labor and delivery and sat back in the genral triage area getting monitored until about 8:00 a.m. Unlike the other bleed episodes I did not have any contractions. 8:00 came and the Dr came in the room and "bottom lined" it for me : I am not to leave the hospital until the baby is born. Its just not safe for me to be 20 minutes away from the house and risk having an even more serious bleed. They stuck me in a birthing room for the rest of the day and was put on the most strict of bed rest and wasn't allowed to eat just in case the bleeding came back and they needed to do an emergeny c-section. They put an IV catheder in my arm (after 3 failed attempts to get it in my hand.. OUCH!) so they can hook me up to and IV in a moments notice if necessary. I was finally permitted to eat a meal at around 4:00 p.m. and was moved into a permanent room in the High-Risk OB area of the hospital around 7:00. 11:00 p.m. was rolling around and I still couldn't fall asleep. I just couldn't get comfortable in the hospital bed. The nurse came in and offered me an Ambien which I gladly accepted. Next thing I know they are waking me up at 4:00 a.m. because I was contracting regularly in my sleep (thats one good sleeping pill!) So I got a terbutaline injection to stop the contractions and passed back out despite the drugs notorius side effect of jitters and restlessness. Then around 7:00 a.m. the contractions came back so I received a second injection. So that starts us into today...

Today was a trying day. I think besides just being stressed and mentally drained, the hospital life took its toll on me. I was taken over into maternal fetal care and they did an u/s on the baby. I am 34 weeks but he was measuring closer to 33 weeks so I have a little guy in there (I know the gestational age is accurate with doing an in-vitro). Then they did the dreaded amniocentisis to test the fluid and determine if the babys lungs were mature. If they were mature I'd be scheduled for a c-section tomorrow. I really thought I'd be okay during the amnio but I was the biggest wimp! The needle hurt significantly and then my uterus began contracting and the baby started kicking and punching and that just made it all hurt that much worse. The dr told me it would be over in 20 seconds.. but it was more like 3 minutes of struggling with getting the fluid out. I pretty much broke down and cried at that point.. I just had been put through too much and mentally I was broken.

I have been taken off of continuous monitoring which is a nice break on my belly. When the took off the monitors my skin was peeling because of the irritation from the gel and the pressure of the monitors. I am using leg pressure cuffs every now and then to keep my legs blood ciruclating to prevent clots. The nurse suggested the longer I go without bleeding the more freedom I may get. Hopefully I can be allowed a shower at some point. I can sponge bath.. but I would like to wash my hair at some point. I don't want my baby to be born and say "ewww.. is THAT my mom???"

The nurse came back and told me that the amnio showed the lungs were not mature yet so I will not be doing a cesarian tomorrow. I'm not sure what the dr's plans are at this point. I REALLY hope they don't decide to do another amnio. I haven't heard from the dr since this morning so I don't know what the long term plan is. I just know the short term includes me staying in bed here at the hospital.

Thanks to all the family and friends for their thoughts and prayers. Also big thanks to the nursing staff here who are taking excellent care of me. I have a newfound admiration for nurses. They have done everything possible to take an uncomfortable situation for me and make it a little more tolerable.

I'm lucky enough to have wireless access from within the hospital so I will continue blogging my updates as I know what my future holds. Of course at any time my bleeding can come back and they will emergency C-section me. For now I am just thankful for each day that the baby gets stronger and healthier.