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Monday, April 6, 2009

Pre-Term Labor

I took the Thursday off from work after Lizzie and Greg got home so I could spend the day with Lizzie and help her re assimilate back in to life at home. She was tired in the morning but I managed to get her to a normal nap time and she slept for about 2.5 hours. After her nap the plan was to go grocery shopping however I felt more swollen then usual so I decided to stop off at CVS to use their blood pressure machine.

My blood pressure was definitely higher than usual so once I got to Stop & Shop (they are right next to each other) and got Lizzie a balloon I called the midwives. They called me right back and asked me to go to Labor & Delivery to be monitored, especially since I had fallen the day before. So that cut my shopping short! My mom wanted to drive me there so we went home to grab the portable DVD player and other toddler accoutrements.

When I arrived at L&D they hooked me up to the baby monitors and the contraction monitor. For some reason this really upset Lizzie. She didn't like seeing me on the bed hooked up the machine. Thankfully toddlers are easily distracted and soon she was watching Monsters, Inc. They checked my blood pressure and it was fine. The babies were nice and active however, I was having regular contractions! I didn't even know it! So they made me drink lots of water and juice but that wasn't working. Eventually they hooked me up to an IV to pump me full of fluid thinking it might be dehydration causing the contractions. My only clue that I was having contractions would the feeling that suddenly I REALY had to pee. I would look over at the monitor and lo and behold, I was having a contraction.

My mom eventually brought Lizzie home so Greg could give her dinner and put her to bed. They checked my fetal fibronectin and it came back negative which meant I did not have an increased chance of preterm delivery. They also did some blood work and checked my urine. They discovered that I had the beginning of a UTI which they think might have been causing the contractions. In the end they had to give me a dose of Terbutaline to stop the contractions. One of the side effects is making you jittery and that it definitely did. I was shaking like crazy!

They let me go home around 9 pm and told me I had to "take it easy". They recommended working from home so I could pay more attention to the signals my body was giving me. I'm not on bedrest but try telling my family that! I think my trip to L&D really freaked them out so now they aren't letting me do much of anything, at least for the next three weeks. Apparently once I've hit 35 weeks then they don't care if I go in to labor (I'm 32 weeks today). The only problem is now I'm totally paranoid that I'm having contractions again. I wish I could hook up a monitor at home! I see the midwives tomorrow and the perinatologist on Thursday and I expect they will start my non-stress tests (NSTs) either this week or next so that will make me feel better.

So, if you are looking for me in the next three weeks, I'll be on the couch!

5 comments:

Elana Kahn said...

Yikes! What an adventure! I went into L&D so many times for monitoring; I eventually lost count. I'm so glad they could stop the contrax, although having the shakes STINKS! Let's keep those babies growing for another few weeks! Even with my crazy cervix, I still made it to 35...I just hope your twins have a MUCH LESS exciting entrance into the world than mine did. :-)

Jamie said...

At least you actually called and had the drugs to stop the contractions. I think that will be one of my issues -- I tend to just think "oh, I don't want to bother them" but in cases like this, it can really be a life or death situation.

I am glad that they were able to stop the contractions and hopefully taking it easy for the next few weeks will help. It will be difficult, but try to do a few things that are nice for yourself - read a good book, rent a movie just for you, etc.

Hang in there.

The Olsons said...

I hope being on the couch doesn't drive you too crazy. Perhaps you could think of it as the calm before the twin storm!!! I'm so glad they were able to get your contractions under control. Seriously, let me know if you need anything... let me now. We want those babies to hang out right where they are for just a while longer!

Molly said...

You have a toddler who can be distracted? How do you do it? My kid is so focused and zeroes in on whatever he wants, and pretty much won't take no for an answer. He still gets it as an answer but distraction is nearly impossible.

nonlineargirl said...

Glad to hear you are back on the couch with the twins still inside. I am starting to get a little panicky about all that is left to do and the lack of time left, so just reading your post made me a little jittery.

The thing I can most relate to is that before you called the midwives you stopped for a balloon, and before going to the hospital you stopped for toddler distractions. Nothing is a straight line, which definitely rings true for me.

Keeping my fingers crossed that you go past 35 weeks.