On the 29th, I began to undecorate from Christmas! After all I did decorate the house at the beginning of November! Derik was home to help, so I got a lot done! The only 2 things left were taking down the tree and getting the wreaths off of the windows. I was tired so when Abbie went down for nap, I decided that I needed to lay down. I rested most of what was left of my day, and did nothing but rest on the 30th. Most of the day on the 30th, I didnt feel good, and i had about 6 contractions throughout the day. I convinced myself that I didnt need to call the doctor, but after a while... I knew that it was inevitable.
My good friend, Meredith, sent me a text saying "If you need anything tonight, call me". I had been debating calling her for a while, so I took it as a sign from God, and asked her to come over. Her mother in law was visiting, so she stayed with Meredith's kids, Meredith's husband stayed at our house with a sleeping Abbie, and Meredith took me to the hospital!
Derik was at the hospital by 10, and not long after his arrival I was given a 2nd dose of ProCardia as I continued contracting through the first dose. Meredith left, and stayed at the house with Abbie that night. That took a lot of stress off our shoulders, and made us relax a lot!
About 1130, I was giving a third dose of ProCardia being that my contractions continued, as well as a dose of Morphine and a Steroid shot to help with Brady's lung development. The Morphine made me black out which really scared me, but after a few minutes on oxygen, I was back to normal. I was very happy to learn that Brady was happy and healthy despite my blackout!
I started to feel a little bit better, better enough that I could get a little rest. Around 4:30am the nurse came back in and gave me another dose of ProCardia. This dose would be my last, as it caused a horrible reaction with my body. About 5am, I started having chest pains, and I was struggling to gasp for air. Derik was asleep when it started happening, and I couldnt talk to get his attention. I called the nurse, and the only thing I could get out was "chest pains", and in came the troops! Chest pains are not something they joke about in the hospital, and I am pretty sure that I had the entire Labor & Delivery staff in my room. They took my pulse and my heart rate which was up to 170. They put me on oxygen, ran an EKG and sent me out for a CT scan. They were concerned that I had a PE or a blood clot in my lungs. The tests came back normal, and they determined that the reaction came from the ProCardia.
Things settled back down somewhat until around 9am the following morning, when I thought my water had broken. They did some tests, and determined that it didnt break, but that I definitely wasn't leaving the hospital. I continued having contractions most of the day on the 31st, but I had lots of visitors and I was finally allowed to eat real food!
Derik and I actually got a little bit of sleep after the ball dropped on New Year's Eve! I had to get the 2nd part of the Steroid shot at midnight, and then they gave me some Ambien! We fell sleep and both slept pretty well for being in the hospital!
The next morning, after a night with NO contractions, as soon as I sat up in the bed, I started contracting like crazy. So, of course I didnt get to go home :(. The monitored me all day, and the contractions eventually spaced out more and more... until they really only came once in a while. Another Ambien, and another descent night's sleep. Lots of saline solution meant that Derik was unplugging me a lot to help me to the bathroom throughout the night, however!
The next morning they called in my Perinatal High Risk doctor to do an ultrasound, and we were looking at the baby by noon! Dr. Fuller said the baby looked great! He is weighing in at 5lb 6oz and passed the biophysical profile with 8 out of 8 points. Dr. Fuller was VERY pleased with the ultrasound and determined that I was not in labor and recommended that I be able to go home! I still had to be released by my OB, however, and she was seeing patients all day. So, back to my room, and back on the monitors I went. When Dr. Pringle finally was finished seeing patients, she came downstairs, and after a quick check... released me to go home!
Although she told me I have NO RESTRICTIONS, Derik and I are both pretending as though I am on modified bed rest. The doctors both said that if I can make it to 35 weeks, then Brady most likely will get to go home with us, so our new goal is 35 weeks! Hopefully with modified bed rest... I can make it there or further! While Dr. Pringle doesn't think I will make it to my scheduled c-section, she is hoping that I can make it to 36 weeks!
I want to say a big thank you to everyone who prayed for Brady & myself, who visited me in the hospital, who took care of Abbie, and for all of the love and support! It was a hard few days, but thankfully we have amazing family & friends, and we are so grateful for you all!
- Jessica
Things settled back down somewhat until around 9am the following morning, when I thought my water had broken. They did some tests, and determined that it didnt break, but that I definitely wasn't leaving the hospital. I continued having contractions most of the day on the 31st, but I had lots of visitors and I was finally allowed to eat real food!
Derik and I actually got a little bit of sleep after the ball dropped on New Year's Eve! I had to get the 2nd part of the Steroid shot at midnight, and then they gave me some Ambien! We fell sleep and both slept pretty well for being in the hospital!
The next morning they called in my Perinatal High Risk doctor to do an ultrasound, and we were looking at the baby by noon! Dr. Fuller said the baby looked great! He is weighing in at 5lb 6oz and passed the biophysical profile with 8 out of 8 points. Dr. Fuller was VERY pleased with the ultrasound and determined that I was not in labor and recommended that I be able to go home! I still had to be released by my OB, however, and she was seeing patients all day. So, back to my room, and back on the monitors I went. When Dr. Pringle finally was finished seeing patients, she came downstairs, and after a quick check... released me to go home!
Although she told me I have NO RESTRICTIONS, Derik and I are both pretending as though I am on modified bed rest. The doctors both said that if I can make it to 35 weeks, then Brady most likely will get to go home with us, so our new goal is 35 weeks! Hopefully with modified bed rest... I can make it there or further! While Dr. Pringle doesn't think I will make it to my scheduled c-section, she is hoping that I can make it to 36 weeks!
I want to say a big thank you to everyone who prayed for Brady & myself, who visited me in the hospital, who took care of Abbie, and for all of the love and support! It was a hard few days, but thankfully we have amazing family & friends, and we are so grateful for you all!
- Jessica
