Well...this post is long over due, so it's bound to be extra long...right?
With your brothers and sister, I did a pretty good job of having pregnancy updates, but this time around I've slacked a bit. Not that I haven't thought about it, but I just didn't do it (procrastination...ha!).
So now is the time for catch up...while you're still cooking! I'm still amazed that I've only put ONE post up on your blog so far!
Let's see...so we found out you were a girl (yay!) in August, not long after we got back from Las Vegas (your dad's 40th birthday!). This is by FAR the earliest, at just about 12 weeks along! This was confirmed later on with your "regular" mid-pregnancy ultrasound...but I guess sometimes you can trust genetics over visuals. In any case, we were thrilled that you are a girl, as you even the score with a total of 3 boys and 3 girls in the house (including me and your dad, of course!).
So we got through the early phases just fine. Morning sickness...check. Little bit of bleeding/maybe sub-chorionic hemorrhage (had that with Kaitlyn)...check. Next came the suggestion from the doctor's office to try and get me on progesterone injections. THAT was a whole mess. To spare the details, everything seemed to be approved to start injections at 16 weeks, but just as everything was about to be ready to go, the insurance company denied everything...no injections. More than one doctor mentioned that they could go to regret that decision, as even though the medication is a bit pricey, hospital stays could be pricier.
That prophecy sort of came true, in that the contractions started coming earlier than they had with your siblings (perhaps...I know I was having what I thought were Braxton-Hicks contractions with Jared sort of early on...they were never very frequent though). The triage nurse suggested taking ibuprofen on October 17th and to let the office know that Monday if I had to take it through the weekend. As soon as the iburpofen would wear off, contractions came back, and on Monday the 19th they suggested I come into the doctor. You were 23 weeks and 1 day along. Ultrasound showed a little bit of a shortening cervix (about 2.2cm) and 1-2cm dilated. The doctor sent us to the hospital for quick monitoring (or so he thought!) and hopefully a perinatology consult that would result in maybe getting vaginal progesterone and nifedipine. I ended up staying the night (guess I wasn't going home so quickly after all!) and getting magnesium sulfate and the two additional aforementioned prescriptions. You were still too "young" to get steroid injections, and it was a bit scary to think that the outcome wouldn't be good if you were to be born right then and there.
Moving right along, our 24 week appointment was the next week, which also involved the 1-hour glucose test. Some sort of weirdo non-communication at the doctors office and hospital showed NO RECORD of me having been admitted (I had to call and chase things down) and no other followup on anything. Ended up going to OB triage AGAIN that Wednesday (the 28th), but VERY luckily I only needed a shot of terbutaline, another ultrasound and then I was sent home. Oh...and I also found out the next day that I failed the 1 hour glucose test, so ended up doing the 3 hour the day before Halloween. As soon as the doctor's office realized that my cervix should probably be monitored, I had another ultrasound scheduled the week after. That one was fine, in that there was no change in length from the hospital (still sitting at around 2-2.2cm).
Everything seemed (sort of) good until Veteran's Day. You were 26 weeks, 3 days along. Your dad was off with the boys, and I had to work. And of course the contractions kept coming. I had asked the doctor's office if I could take nifedipine and ibuprofen at the same time, to which the nurse told me that I shouldn't, since it could cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure (I later learned that this was crap information). I was REALLY hoping that I could just go over to triage and get another shot of terbutaline on my lunch hour. That ended up being another hospital stay. Fetal fibronectin came back POSITIVE, so we were loaded up with a round of steroids and 2 more nights in the hospital. After that...I haven't been into work (working from home).
Now for a brief period of "good"...I had doctor's appointments lined up each week, and each week seemed to be pretty tame. We counted the weeks...and weeks without incedent...27...28...29...30...31...32. Good milestones for development and for not having too many problems if born this early. Managed to squeeze the "fun" 3D/4D ultrasound in there as well. But I also had to stop taking ibuprofen then. Two days later, back to the hospital. On December 23rd, I got admitted AGAIN, 3-4cm dilated and earning a little more magnesium and another set of steroid shots (that was a new one...two rounds!). We got to go home on Christmas Eve night...32 weeks and 4 days along!
Week 33 was decent (week of New Years), still 3-4cm at the doctor's office with a little bleeding. Start of week 34 came, and everyone was back to school. With it came a few more contractions. Jared was home sick on Tuesday and Wednesday, Kaitlyn threw up at school on Wednesday and had to stay home Thursday (yesterday). Just before putting everyone to bed, contractions started up again...every 5 minutes. Your dad made the call to haul everyone to the hospital, where I was more than thrilled that they were able to stop contractions with terbutaline and IV fluids and I could go home again! Long night, but here's to not having to stay!
In summary...we've had some similarities and some differences between your belly-dwelling time and Kaitlyn's. Pre-term labor started earlier, they put me on progesterone, and they gave me nifedipine earlier. So far, 5 trips to the hospital (3 that resulted in being admitted), so a grand total of 7 days of hospital admission. 2 rounds of magnesium sulfate (a total of around 48 hours), 2 rounds of steroids. Three shots of terbutaline. ZERO stays in a delivery room.
On to week 35 here coming up!
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