Monday, March 16, 2009

35 1/2 wks: Belly Update

You are all seeing clearly 35 1/2 wks...this is not a woman's size basketball!!! No wonder this little guy wants to get out so bad, he's running out of room!



These last 2 pics are kind of inside joke pics! Jake is obviously not a fan of the posed pics with the dad being serious with the mom's belly....hence the goofy faces!!

Unexpected Outing

So, I will try to be brief and keep it to a minimum, but no promises. On Friday March 6th I was sent to the hospital to see if I was leaking amniotic fluid. While the were doing all the testing, they had me hooked up to two monitors, one to check on Peyton and one to check my contractions. Peyton's heart sounded great! My contractions on the other hand were three minutes apart and were lasting about 45 seconds. So, the nurses decided they should check my dilation....which I ended up being at a 2! So, in our heads we thought, "Yay! We're going to have a baby!" Man, were we wrong. The on call dr. consulted with mine and they decided the best thing to do would be to try and stop my labor and contractions. Even though Peyton was measuring at 35 wks at the time they wanted to go off the original due date (making him 34 wks) to make sure his insides were ready. Which is by far the most important thing. So, after trying a shot of meds after 1/2hr my contractions were still going strong. The doctors decided on an oral med that you take every 4 hrs, which meant I needed to get comfortable because they were going to keep me for observation for 24hrs. Well, 24hrs came and went and the meds were not working as well as they had hopped. Our little guy was sure trying hard to get out! Next step was an IV med called Magnesium Sulfate...man is it nasty stuff!! So, from Sat night the 7th to Tues the 10th, I was hooked up to an IV, not to mention the two different monitors from the beginning. I was not allowed to leave my bed except to pee. On Monday night, after talking to the nursing staff, we had come to the conclusion that I wouldn't be going home until Peyton was with us. Emotionally I was gearing myself up for at least another week in the hospital. Surprise to us when my dr came in on Tuesday and said that I would be able to go home on oral meds and strict bed rest! We were so surprised and I was so excited to get home and sleep in my own bed next to Jake! I cannot imagine and feel so sad for those women that have to be on that IV med for weeks/months, the medication makes you feel like you have the flu. I feel very lucky to have only been on it for about 4 days. For those of you who know me, I have a hard time just sitting/laying around, especially when I am starting to nest!!!! But, being at home was still better than the hospital. I ended up going in to see my dr again on the 13th...he decided since my dilation had stopped and we had officially passed the 35 wk mark by a couple days that I could go off strict bed rest and the oral meds!!! My only restriction for right now is that I have to take off one more wk of work due to how much I stand. I am so grateful that I live so close to family and friends. Jake and I really appreciate all the love and support that has been expressed on our behalf. We love you all very much! We are so happy that our little one has had some more time to "cook", but I have to say that the anxiety level I am feeling now to meet him is 100 times worse!! Thanks again to all!!! We love you!!
Just a couple pictures of our stay at the hospital, that was one of the only smiles I had during my stay. I'll admit, I emotionally had a very hard time with the whole experience. I don't know what I would've done without all the love and support. This was my first room after the triage room when we arrived on Friday. Jake's little bed in the corner was definitely not as comfortable as he was pretending it was. After this room I had two other rooms in Antepartum, when I was officially admitted after 24 hr observation.