This past Friday (November 18), was supposed to be pretty much like my other Fridays, which included going to Memorial to have my NST and BPP (Biophysical Profile). Since Christi Academy (school where I worked) was having the annual Thanksgiving Feast, I wanted to at least stop by and say hello to staff, kids and any parents that were there. So we dropped Christie off at school, then stopped by Christi. It was really nice to see everyone, and it seemed as if everyone was happy to see me too. We stayed for about an hour, then had to get going, otherwise we knew we would spend the whole day in L&D triage. I should have sat for my visit to the school, but there were so many people that I wanted to see that I ended up standing for the whole visit. That was dumb, I guess, since I'm supposed to be on bedrest.
Anyway, we went to the hospital, had the tests done (took almost 4 hours to get done, the place was swamped. I think it was the weather, either high or low pressure), then had some lunch. After that, we went to a salon in Deerfield Beach to get a manicure and pedicure, since I had a gift certificate from my birthday that I hadn't used yet.
As soon as I sat down in the pedi chair, I felt a contraction. Hadn't even turned on the massager yet, and it hit me. I froze, thinking that this couldn't be happening again. So I waited it out, it stopped. Lucy ( the girl doing my pedi) got started, and I got out my cross-stitch to work on. Maryann was in the chair next to me, and we were relaxing. It was nice. About 10 minutes later, another contraction hit me. What worried me was that I was feeling it in my lower back, so I knew it wasn't Braxton-Hicks. I rode that one out too, then stopped my stitching. I said something to Maryann about it too. She was a little worried, but I told her I was going to take my procardia early and drink more water, which I did.
Finishing my pedicure, I went to get my nails done. I figured that if I was having contractions and if the baby was coming now, I wanted to get my feet and fingers done, at the least. Stupid, but since I don't get out much, it was the least I wanted. I was having contractions all through the pedicure, and continued to have them through the manicure, too. While waiting for everything to dry, I asked Maryann to get me another water, then we went home. Of course, we were hitting traffic, and I had to pee. Not comfortable.
Got home, and had to lay down, and was waiting for Joe to get home from picking up Christie from school. The contractions were getting closer together, and I knew we were going to the hospital again that night. Joe got home, packed up what we needed in record time and off we went.
We got to the hospital, and it took a while to get checked in, since I hadn't been formally checked out from that afternoon. Finally we got to go back to L&D triage, where I saw the same nurses as earlier in the day. They got me hooked up to the monitors, but the one that measured the contractions kept moving, or the nurse wasn't placing them right, because they weren't showing, although I was definitely having them. Poor Joe and his hand.
After much re-adjusting, contractions were showing and Jamie's heart rate was elevating. I was put on an IV for fluids, and was later given a shot of terbutaline to stop the contractions. This eventually worked, but i was admitted to stay overnight, which was a bummer. I had dilated to 4 cm, and the nurse that checked me said that she could feel digits brushing past her fingers.
By the way, can I just say that having them check you for how much dilation is REALLY uncomfortable? For those of you who have been there, you know what I'm talking about.
We stayed overnight, Joe got to stay with me in the room. It was a rough night, and neither one of us got much sleep, since we got the room at about 1:30 am and got to go to sleep by about 2 am. The nurse woke me at 3:30 to take my procardia, and I had a hard time falling back asleep after that. I think I did around 4:30, but was awake again for good by 6.
I got to have some breakfast later, and we just hung out, waiting for Dr. Siudmak to show up for rounds. Poor Joe waited until 10, then left to get himself something to eat. Turned out that doc didn't make rounds until 3 that afternoon. By that time, Katie, the new nurse had taken me off the monitors, which was nice. Those straps get itchy. My contractions had stopped that morning, and Jamie was looking good. Dr. Siudmak came, checked me out again, and I was allowed to go home. Strict bed rest with bathroom privileges only. So home we came, and it was nice to get back to my couch. Doc did tell me that at my next appointment we were going to schedule my c-section. I have to double-check when I see Dr. Edwards (perinatologist) again, and make sure Jamie will be big enough by whatever date we set.
In the meantime, I believe Joe re-scheduled Christie's tour of the NICU for this week. Have to check with him. It will be good for her to know where her sister is going to be after she's born, and why. I really appreciate the fact that Becky (NICU nurse) is doing this special tour for her.
Thanksgiving is this Thursday, and I'm looking forward to it. We are keeping it pretty low-key this year. I love to cook, and usually try to have lots of people over for the holiday. Since I'm not allowed up, I have to give up control, and let others do the job for me.
I have so much to be thankful for. My husband is the best, such a gift from God. I don't know where I'd be without him. And the rest of my family has been wonderful. My friends, for checking up on me, and our neighbors for helping out too.
No comments:
Post a Comment