Showing posts with label preterm labor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label preterm labor. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Hospital Bed Rest - Day 2

I kept myself occupied today. I worked on my Shutterfly photo book, answered some work emails, read some pages in a fun book (Tim always makes fun of me and says no books are fun), watched some tv and am now working on the blog.

I got my second round of steroid shots to help the baby's lungs develop. I also got my flu shot. (I thought I got it yesterday but that was just the tdap). They started me on iron because my iron was a little low and they started me on vaginal progesterone suppositories. Dr Rao, my regular OB, stopped in to see how I was doing. He said he doesn't know if the vaginal suppositories are going to help but they aren't going to hurt anything so why not. I am willing to try anything to keep this baby in as long as possible.

I didn't get to sleep until 3:30 am this morning. At home, I sometimes take a unisom to help me sleep because I have trouble trying to sleep when I am pregnant and unisom is safe to take when pregnant. I just could not fall asleep. So I tried to take a nap today and people were coming in the room every 15-20 minutes. At 7am its the change of shifts so both nurses will come in..then a little later the nursing assistant comes in to take vitals..then the doctors do their rounds, then Room Service delivered my food, then the lactation consultant came in (yes, even though I technically still have 13 weeks to go), then housekeeping came in and then the holistic support lady came in. She is going to come to my room and give me a reiki treatment tomorrow. Reiki is a form of "energy healing" where a guide places their hands over you and guides energy to help you relax, relieve pain, and help heal your body. Its supposed to be good for pregnant women so what the heck, what do I have to lose. Click HERE for a little more about Reiki.

I did get some fun visitors today though. Some volunteers came around with a pastry tray from Executive Caterers and cups of tea. Then there was a delivery of a prayer shawl someone made from St Cosmas and Damien Parish. But the best visitors of the day were Tim and Avery! I was excited to see them. I have only been gone a day but I missed them a lot. It was good to see them, even though Avery ate some of every snack i had. She had parts of a brownie, vanilla pudding, a granola bar, a banana and some goldfish! I think she was only here a little over an hour!

Hoping I will get some rest tonight. Here are some pics from today.


Yum!

My lunch from today..of course I didnt eat the chicken.

My dinner from today. I got the brownie and pudding for Avery :)

Here is the prayer and prayer shawl they dropped off.

Hanging out with Mommy in bed


Some cute little girl decided to eat my pudding!

I forgot to tell you that Tim called yesterday super excited. One of our Easter Egger chickens finally laid their first egg..its greenish blue! (Tim says it looks a lot bluer in real life). Yes its a little oblong but sometimes when chickens first start laying, they have weird shaped eggs. I wonder what colors the other two easter eggers will lay.






Monday, September 12, 2016

Hospital Bed Rest - Day 1

So today I was admitted to the hospital for bedrest. I was originally doing great after the cerclage but I went in for an ultrasound a little over a week ago and my cervix had shorterned to 1.1 cm and the baby was pushing on the cerclage. At the time, the Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM) doctor put me on bed rest at home. I had an appointment a few days later with my regular OB and we discussed the advantages of hospital bed rest and he said he would talk it over with my MFM doctor. My doctor, Tim and I decided hospital bed rest for a few weeks was for the best. The plan is to keep me here around 3 weeks, until I get to 30 weeks, and then reevaluate me and come up with a new plan.

They hooked me up to some monitors when I got here and was having a few minor contractions. The doctor then did a cervix check. That wasn't so fun. She basically sticks her finger(s) up you to check on the status of your cervix. She said she felt my cerclage stitches and could feel that the cervix was closed but about 60% effaced. Effaced is when the cervix is thinning out. They weren't concerned with it because you can be effaced for weeks before giving birth.  The did an ultrasound and the baby is currently breached. They aren't concerned with that either because she has plenty of time to flip around. The nurse tried to put a positive spin on it and said well since she is breached, her head isn't constantly putting pressure on my cervix/cerclage so thats a good thing.

I ended up getting the first steroid shot to help the baby's lungs develop and will get the second one 24 hours later. Let me tell you, it hurts more than the progesterone shots and those aren't fun either. I also got a flu shot and a tdap (tetanus/pertussis). I got those all on the left side of my body (steroid shot is right above the butt like a progesterone shot) and I also have an IV started (just in case) on my left hand/arm.  Needless to say, I will not be sleeping on that side tonight.

The room isn't too bad. Luckily, all of the antepartem rooms are private so its nice to not have an annoying roommate. If I wanted to share a room with someone that snored, I could sleep at home..j/k Tim. There is also a couch/pull out bed, a little desk area, a bathroom/shower and a mini fridge. I do not have any food restrictions so I can eat whatever I want.

My first few days here I am going to be working on making a few photo books from Shutterfly. I have coupon codes for two free books so that will occupy me for awhile. I always complain to Tim that I never have time to do them or get my pictures organized so this is the perfect time.

I will try to post an update once a day to tell you how fun it is to be on bed rest. So far, it hasn't been that bad but it also hasnt been relaxing. People are in and out of the room all the time..Nurses, Medical Assistants, Housekeeping, Room Service, etc. I also have only been here for like 6 hours so in two weeks, I will probably have a different outlook on things. Until then, let's keep this baby cooking.


This is what my room looks like


Bathroom

Shower

My view for the next 3 weeks