33w6d - Starting my second day at the hospital

Those contractions I mentioned yesterday? Yep, they landed me in the Labor & Delivery unit at my hospital yesterday afternoon. And I'm still here, at least until tomorrow.

I called the doctor around 4pm yesterday after the contractions continued (averaging 5 minutes apart) and he said to go to L & D at the hospital to get checked out. So we arrived at the hospital around 4:30 yesterday and they immediately got me changed into a robe and hooked up to things. First I gave a urine sample as sometimes things like a UTI or other urinary issue can cause contractions. That came back fine. They also started an IV with a really fast drip to get me really hydrated. I wasn't dehydrated (my pee was nearly clear) but often dehydration can cause contractions so that was the first line of business.

The on-call doctor came into meet me as the nurse took the rest of my history. The on-call had talked to Dr D on the phone so we did the IV thing for a couple hours along with wearing a monitor on my stomach to track Maribel's heartbeat and my contractions. Her heartbeat has been awesome, as have her activity levels. My contractions have pretty much stayed at 2-3 minutes apart the whole time I've been here. Every so often they'll space out a little more but only for a brief time then they're back to the regular 2-3 minutes. They're not getting any stronger, they're just remaining consistent.

So anyways, after we saw no improvement with just the additional hydration, they had me start taking Procardia. This is normally a med used for high b/p by relaxing the blood vessels, but can also be used to calm a contracting uterus. I took my first dose at 8pm last night and have taken it every 6 hours since. No change.

So around 10:30 last night, Dr D came in to see me. He reviewed all of the printouts from the monitor and did a manual check of my cervix. He wanted to make sure the cervix hadn't pulled through the TAC. Oh damn, that check hurt like hell!! And Dr D mentioned how the manual check didn't tell much since my cervix is pretty much nonexistent. Once again, thank god that TAC is in there! So he said he wanted to keep me here overnight so we could continue the Procardia & IV and continue the monitoring. At 11:30pm, they also gave me an intramuscular steroid injection in my thigh. This is to help the baby's lungs mature in case we do have to deliver early.

As of this morning, contractions hadn't changed one bit. I was allowed to have some clear liquids which were awfully refreshing...ahhhh. And by lunch I was allowed to eat regular food. Dr D decided I'd be staying another 24 hours to continue the Procardia, IV, and to get my second steroid injection at 11:30 tonight. Contractions still haven't changed at all, but I was able to come off the monitor and take a shower today - both wonderful things! I'll be back on the monitor later tonight, but it's been a nice break to have it off. I sent DH home last night after midnight so he'd get decent sleep (which he didn't) and to get some food (a sad Red Baron pizza from 7-11) but he came back today to visit and is still hanging out with me here in my little room.

So we sit, we watch TV and watch the IV drip, I pee a TON, I try to get comfy in a bed that's not mine, and we wait. We wait to find out what our next step will be tomorrow. As both the on-call & Dr D said - worst case is we deliver and given the fact that we'll be 34 weeks tomorrow, chances are she'd be just fine. But the ultimate goal is to get things to calm down and keep her where she is for a few more weeks. So until we find out the next step tomorrow, we thank our family, friends, and readers for the thoughts & prayers you've sent. We appreciate every one of them and every one of you!

And to Maribel - Mommy & Daddy ask that you hang out in there just a little bit longer. We can't wait to meet you too but once you're here we promise you'll have lots and lots of time with us.