Quiet weekend - almost 26 weeks

This Labor Day holiday weekend has been fairly quiet and I am so ever grateful. Tomorrow is officially 26 weeks for us, and one week closer to less issues if our little girl were to decide to come early. I find I'm a bit anxious now that I'm back at home since our last hospital stay. Anxious since I know we may be treading on borrowed time.The procardia has made the contractions tolerable. Even though I do have a lot less contractions on this higher dose of procardia - they are still strong enough that I wake up several times throughout the night. Sometimes they feel pretty strong or uncomfortable - but usually after about 15 minutes to a half hour they will die down enough that I can fall back asleep. Usually I can sneak about 2 hours or so before I'll get woken up again by them. I figure if I can catch a couple hours of sleep here and there - I'm doing okay. I've been told by a few people that the getting woken up every couple of hours is good practice for when Spot gets here - usually I just try to smile and nod....but I don't think they realize that I'm just trying to get through this moment - and have trouble thinking that far ahead some days, LOL!

I also took a cue from my fellow partner in crime Meredith to try to avert some of the head rushing, headache, hot flash, dizziness that the procardia brings. She suggested trying to sleep with a cold wet wash cloth on my head - that definitely helps, so thanks Meredith! Also, trying to take it with food has helped some of the pounding headache that goes with it sometimes. For whatever reason I find I get the worst headache from my earliest morning dose. But enough complaining - I don't want to give anyone reading this a headache as well, LOL! If you do have a moment - go say hi to Meredith and give her good thoughts. She's going into her third week of being in the hospital and has been battling preterm labor like a pro.

My parents stopped by today and brought some food over. Nothing like some home cooked comfort food from mom and dad to make a girl feel good. And my mom also brought over two big bags of things for the baby - clothes, receiving blankets, and other goodies. Maybe if I have a moment I'll take some pictures of my favorite couple of outfits. I just sit and look at them sometimes when I'm having a down moment - just to remind me of what's the prize at the end. Our dresser for the nursery finally arrived as well, and my husband is going to assemble that tomorrow. Most of the weekend I spent trying to watch some light hearted movies to take my mind off of things. I liked What Happens in Vegas with Cameron Diaz, and we also watched 21 about the MIT students and counting cards. Later tonight I might catch The Other Boylen Girl if I can't fall asleep. Of course, I've been faithfully following Big Brother as well.

I've been the world's worst blogger and commenter lately - but the dizziness makes reading some on the computer hard sometimes. Not that I'm making excuses - but know I still am trying to check in when I can to see how everyone is doing. I think of everyone often and truly hope that things are going well for everyone! ( Shhhh - it's not official....but I think we might have a front runner for names for little girl Spot as well. We kind of like Brynn Cecilia. But we're still tossing a few around.)

Is this really possible?

Yup - somehow the higher dose of procardia seems to be working for the time being. My cervix hasn't made any drastic changes from it's normal pesky self, and my cerclage is intact. I actually am getting to camp out at home on the procardia for now, and see how this little trial run goes. My OB said that I may be back within a few days - but we both are willing to give things a whirl since there is no immediate danger. I know it may not be for the long haul, and I know it'a bit of a bandaid fix that may only last a few days. But any day I get to be not at the hospital is the new best day of my life. I literally think I may be the happiest girl alive today. No doubt. And to say thank you for all of your kind words and encouragement doesn't seem quite enough. But for now just know that I appreciate it more than anything I can type into words.

25wk growth scan

Only good thing about being at the hospital is that we caught another glimpse of Spot because they were concerned to make sure that she was still on target with her growth and wanted to make sure that everything still looked fine despite the recent activity.

She always seems to like to put her hand up near her face - at least she's consistent! She is about 1 pound 5 oz currently and measuring 24 weeks (we're 25 wks). So that's pretty good to hear. The higher dose of procardia seems to be holding the contractions. My old goal was 32 weeks. That seems way too far away with the recent turn of events. So I really am just doing one day at a time. Each day is huge. As long as our little girl is doing okay, I am fine for the time being.

Hanging tight for now

Thank you so much for your good thoughts and for the great encouragement. It is appreciated more than you will ever know - and I truly mean that. Things are hanging tight for now, and the great news is that I'm not on Mag Sulfate and we're still pregnant! Everyday right now is so critical, and we're just trying to take it one day at a time. I've heard the thing so many times over the last couple of days that many of you have mentioned before - Each day that Spot stays inside is 3 less days spent in the NICU and a 3% greater chance at viability. Right now because it's still so early I'm more concerned with the 3% increase in viability each day more so than NICU time.

For now I'm hanging out with the contractions slowing down a bit. I seem to be responding to the increased dose of procardia that they have me on and on a more frequent schedule. Spot still remains oblivious to it all, and is looking good as ever. In fact when I first got in and they were doing an exam, the doctor said that she kicked at the speculum that the doctor had just inserted! Spot probably is sick of us bother her and having walls to her house that keep shaking (contracting). Then as the day has gone, she still enjoys kicking the heck out of the contraction belt monitor. My nurse jokes that she's the youngest gestational age one on L & D being monitored - but by far the noisiest.

The procardia isn't too bad so far - better than the terbutaline I think. Plus it seems to work better - which is the most important thing. I just get a little dizzy because it drops my blood pressure and heart rate - especially when they increased my dose. The lower doses didn't seem to do that. Sometimes I've had a wicked headache as well since it vasodilates everything - but once again- the fact that it works make dealing with stuff like that seem a bit trivial. Well, back to the grind. I'll update as I know more - but for now I'm trying to be cautiously optimistic. Not sure quite how I feel about things at the moment.

Back in again

Quick post since I'm back in the hospital. Contractions started to really pick up Sunday night. We went to triage to have things checked out, got some terbutaline that did nothing. Repeat Terbutaline just seemed to make my uterus laugh even more. Started on some additional increased Procardia and further monitoring and was admitted. Baby Spot is doing great on ultrasound thank heavens, and while being monitored. No signs of any distress. Only unsettling thing is that they have me NPO and a bag of Mag Sulfate at my bedside that they're discussing using. Just hanging tight for now, and my cervix seems to want to hang tight as much as possible too. Ahhh, never a dull moment, right?

100th post and 100 things I've learned

Can't believe that this is my 100th post! So to bore you all to death....here are 100 things I've come to learn over the last few months.

1. Sex ed was so wrong. It takes way more than 2 people to make a baby.
2. Noodles and Co makes a great curry noodle dish.
3. Diamonds are not a girl's best friend. Ice cream and foot rubs are.
4. Dogs truly make the best bedrest companions.
5. Just when you thought your lady parts "down below" couldn't get any bigger or more swollen...think again. They can and they will.
6. A little bit of caffeine during pregnancy never killed anyone. (yes I am a bad pregnant women who enjoys her coke every now and then)
7. It is actually possible to miss work.
8. While on bedrest - turning from your right side to your left is one of "activities on your to do list for the day."
9. After three months of bedrest - your couch has a permanent indentation mark from your ever expanding pregnant butt.
10. Your husband can actually learn how to grocery shop if need be.
11. I have a new appreciation for my parents and all that they have done for me.
12. Terbutaline can give you a head rush like no other.
13. After 12 weeks of bedrest so far - you come to truly appreciate your friends who are still with you.
13. The inventor of Netflix deserves an award.
14. It is possible to watch 3 straight seasons of Weeds.
15. When it comes to spinal anesthesia it is far better to be on the giving rather than the receiving end.
16. Buffalo Wild Wings makes a great grilled chicken wrap (don't forget to ask for it with extra sauce)
17. That little spot you notice on your shirt one day is the beginning of your boobs starting to leak.
18. What people say is actually true - your boobs will eventually leak when you're pregnant. I never believed mine would be capable. They are and have begun.
19. Your husband will appreciate it when you send your mother for boob pads instead of him. God only knows what my husband would come back with if I sent him in search of breast pads.
20. I will never tell a women on bedrest to "enjoy all the rest she is getting now, because when the baby comes she won't be getting any."
21. There is this thing called a snoogle pillow - and it makes sleeping soooo much easier!
22. Spot will spend all day not moving at all. Then at 11PM and 3AM she thinks it's time for a Tae-bo class and fetal kickboxing begins.
23. OHSS can make you feel more than 7 months pregnant in about 3 days time.
24. Triage is full of either women in labor, women contracting, or women puking.
25. I used to think only people could be incompetent. I now know body parts like a cervix can be as well.
26. A kind ultrasound tech is one who uses warmed gel for a date with the dildo cam.
27. Never sit cross legged "indian style" when you have a cerclage placed.
28. It is possible to feel like you could have a bowel movement out of your vagina - and have that feeling go on for several days.
29. When you tell your OB or peri that you feel like you could have a bowel movement out of your vagina - you will get a genuine look of sympathy. Especially if your OB or peri is a man. (a joy of having a breech kid and a cerclage)
30. Meredith and I both have a uterus that was connected in a previous life. (they like to mimic one another to a fault)
31. Bedrest and insomnia go hand in hand. Either you can't fall asleep until 3AM. Or at 4AM you awaken for the day.
32. You learn all of your neighbors schedules while sitting on your couch for weeks on end.
33. Doctor appointment days are exciting because you actually get to wear shoes and leave your couch for the day!
34. When leaving your house for the first time in days, you feel a bit out of place with all the others moving about their day. You feel like you somehow shouldn't be outside the four walls of your house. Kind of how you would imagine a prison feels after escaping jail.
35. The cleaning lady not only makes you feel better because your house is finally clean - but she makes a great captive audience that you can talk her ear off while she's stuck in your house for a few hours.
36. Key lime pie ice cream is the best.
37. When someone asks what hobby you've taken up with all the spare time you have now that you're "not working" - feel free to shoot them a dirty look.
38. The Fed Ex and UPS man have risen to hero status because they bring me packages.
39. Online shopping can make you feel estatic.
40. It truly is possible to register for almost everything your baby might need without ever leaving your couch.
41. Sometimes you may have to have a baby shower after the baby actually comes.
42. Having a bowel movement makes you want to contact CNN because certainly it would be the top story of the day.
43. Morning sickness can reappear mid second trimester and make the first trimester seem like a cake walk.
44. Do not be afraid to take the Zofran your OB insists you consume. A little pharmacological help is better than having an undernourished kid.
45. The only bad thing about having twice a week OB appointments is that you now have to shave your legs twice a week.
46. I fear that there will come a day when I won't be able to shave my legs by myself anymore.
47. Your husband will learn not to say "Gee honey, you look so much bigger today or this week." He will learn that this will lead end up with him being hit.
48. Your husband will learn to say "Gee honey, you look a little more pregnant this week. That's great." This will not cause him to be hit as the previous statement did.
49. My dog continues to bring her toys to my abdomen when she feels the baby move.
50. I still can't believe how it is possible that my life today resembles nothing of what it did 3 months ago.
51. When you are not supposed to get off of the couch except to go to the bathroom - the fact that the batteries died on the remote control can send you into panic mode.
52. Pedicures make you feel like a million bucks.
53. When your Comcast cable TV of internet is down for a day - you are ready to declare a national state of emergency.
54. Good friends bring you good food for lunch to your house.
55. Peanut butter and jelly never gets old. You can and should eat it for weeks on end.
56. Bedrest + progesterone shots for the entire pregnancy = constipation.
57. Indocin is not something your patients at the hospital just take for migraines.
58. Glancing in your closet and seeing your row of high heels will remind you of times when you actually went places where you could wear heels.
59. My husband makes an excel spread sheet to grocery shop now that it is his job.
60. The stitch that they use for a cerclage is so thick it actually looks like shoe strings.
61. When you have a cerclage - it will feel like you have a tampon stuck in the wrong way for weeks on end.
62. Usually my day revolves around what I am having for my next meal.
63. My husband learned a few months ago that there skim milk and fat free milk is the same thing. Send a man grocery shopping and he learns a lot.
64. If you befriend the ladies at Nordstroms - they will ship your Clinique and Este Lauder makeup to you so your husband doesn't have to face them.
65. Your engineer husband will quickly learn how to read the fetal monitors and contractions while you're in triage.
66. Having a left unicornuate uterus means that your anatomy is always like you're lying on your left side even when you're on your back. You have your own built in left uterine displacement.
67. I worry I won't remember how to intubate or give anesthesia by the time I go back to work.
68. I miss the bleep bleep bleep of the anesthesia machine.
69. I only want sex now that I can't have it for months. (yes of course that had to be 69th on my list, LOL!)
70. I was so silly and had no idea what was instore for myself when I complained about being on bedrest for 2 days after our embryo transfer.
71. I think I have memorized the entire TV weekly schedule that if I can't work as an anesthetist when this is all over with - at least I could get a job with TV guide.
72. 12 hours after you receive steroids to mature the baby's lungs - our little Spot will be more active than ever and keep me up all night long kicking and punching.
73. I feel disappointed sometimes that I can't prepare for the baby like I always dreamed I would.
74. Sometimes I feel like I failed at this whole pregnancy thing because my body never quite does what it's supposed to.
75. Other times I am so amazed with what my body has done despite being told by numerous doctors that we shouldn't technically still be pregnant.
76. I often feel like Spot is a little miracle, even if she's our miracle.
77. I can't believe that I agreed at my RE's suggestion to cancel our IVF egg retrieval less than 48 hours prior to retrieval due to poor follicle response. Technically we should have cancelled our cycle - I had so few possible eggs.
78. I quickly called the RE back and said what the heck let's do the retrieval anyways - and I learned that he was having the same feeling at that time.
79. I've learned that despite bleeding heavily for 2 weeks straight after retrieval and then another 2 weeks straight after having a positive lab beta and rising HCG - you can still actually be pregnant off of a cycle that should had been cancelled.
80. I've learned that despite saturating a pad an hour on several occasions for hours on end in the middle of yoru first trimester - you may not actually miscarry.
81. I've learned that having an OB that says to "have a little faith" can bring more reassurance than all the ultrasounds in the world.
82. Your husband and you will grow in ways you never imagined when faced with infertility and a rocky pregnancy.
83. I've learned that when your cervix shortens down to 1.9cm at only 12 wks into the pregnancy and they tell you that things may likely not turn out well - don't give up. Prove them wrong.
84. I've learned that sometimes even when things don't look good and there's continued shortening and funneling of your cervix and the third trimester is not even in sight...somehow wks go by and suddenly you can still find yourself at almost 25 weeks and still pregnant.
85. I am so grateful for each day we have with Spot.
86. I wish I could go back 3 months ago and change the way things are.
87. I wouldn't give up the way things have been for the last 3 months if I could.
88. I am grateful for having a chance to learn a bit more about myself and what is important to me.
89. I finally believe that at the end of this all, I'm finally going to be a mom.
90. Eeekkkk! At the end of all of this I'm finally going to be a mom!
91. I will never ask a childless couple at a party "So when are you guys going to have kids?"
92. I'm not sure if we will ever be willing to do this all again to have another child.
93. I want to have more children after our little Spot.
94. I sometimes think our dog believes that I am carrying a puppy inside of me instead of a baby.
95. I love commercials with puppies in them.
96. I now understand what the phrase "high risk pregnancy" is.
97. There is one amazing set of women out there in the blogosphere.
98. I've realized everyone is facing their own battles and I don't envy any of them or what they have to face. They all have an amazing strength and something I can learn from.
99. I can't believe I can type a list with 100 things in it.
100. I am amazed if anyone actually read this entire post.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Triplets oh my!

If you have a second - go congratulate Nicole and her family. The triplets have arrived and everyone is safe and sound!

Some 24 wk photos from the growth scan

Little girl Spot is really squished in the old banana of a unicornuate uterus already - they are telling me. Since she's breech and so far down, they weren't able to get a full profile view. But here's a few of what we got.

The yellow arrow is pointing at the darkened area that is her throat. The anesthetist in me found that amazing!

Poor little Spot's head is in the top curve of the uterus (if you picture a unicornuate uterus like a banana) You can see her nose and nostrils which looks like a little pig nose. But I have always really liked pigs...so that's cool with me.


This one her head looks a little less squished and she's looking at us face on. Still a bit alien like with a little piggy nose - but hey I'll take it :-) Her right hand is also near her face.

The long bone to the left is her bicep. My husband and I feel that since we started her on a steroid regimen so young (24wks) that we should nickname our daughter Helga and arrange for her to play for the eastern european olympic team. We might as well get full bang for our buck, right? Yes we have issues, I know :-)


Check out those long legs all tucked up in the squatting position. She looks like she's a sprinter ready to pounce out of the starting blocks, LOL! Wonder if she'll be tall like her dad (6'3'') and I (5'10'') are.

Well, I'm off to bed to hopefully catch some sleep - I'll try to catch up a bit more tomorrow. Hopefully everyone is having a great week...tomorrow is Friday...YAY!

24 week appointment

Yesterday we had our 24 week appointment and cervix check and growth scan. I was really excited to get another peak at little girl Spot. (We still can't decide on a name.)

I was never so happy to see the dildo cam and was hoping for a good cervix report.

Cervix was still short and mushy - hmm "mushy" new adjective for the old cervix? But it wasn't really any shorter and there is only some minor funneling. Normally funneling would send a pregnant person into tailspin panic - but heck I'll take minor if that's all it's doing at the 24 wk mark! Cerclage stitch is still nice and snug - good job with that sewing technique doc - I'm glad you put a good one in :-)


My husband was really excited for us to be at the 24 week mark as well, and to see the little girl again. Oh yeah..Spot is still a girl after all these weeks! Phew - is it just me, or does all pregnant women worry that the gender is suddenly going to switch mid second trimester on you to become a boy? I'm crazy I know, hehe! Spot is doing well on the growth scan, still a little small, but pretty good. I'm not too worried, I know those things can be off a bit. As long as she's steadily gaining weight I'm happy. So after seeing ultrasound, and having my appointment with the OB we got to do the other cool thing for the day. We stopped by the hospital and now we officially have the first round of steroids on board!


Having that first round of steroids on board made us smile even more!

Today I'll return in the afternoon to receive the second round, and then we should be good to go with the steroid shots. My bum is used to being shot up I think after all of our infertility cycles and IVF, and then the twice a week progesterone I've been on most of the pregnancy. So honestly the steroid shot is a big one volume wise - but was a breeze I thought. Either that, or I was so excited to have them and be at this point you could of stuck anything in that shot and I would have grinned! Only down side is that I am amazed how much fluid retention you get off of one shot and I do have a bit of a moon face this morning - but I know it's always temporary. I think when you're pregnant and not moving around a ton, you're just more prone to the fluid retention aspect of the steroid stuff. (My college pharm teacher would be proud :-)

You're probably wondering where the photos of little girl Spot is. My husband will have to crop some out of the DVD tonight for me to add. I really need to learn to do that myself. We usually get a DVD of the whole ultrasound vs photos for me to scan, so that's why I'm stuck with that option. But I do love having a mini movie of Spot. She is still posterior breech as she has been for weeks now. My uterus is kind of banana shaped due being unicornuate, and her feet are stuck in the lower curve sort of. I think one of her new hobbies is kicking my cerclage! They're not sure how likely it is she will turn even though things are still very early. Malpresentation and C-section is very common with uterine abnormalities. Also, the baby is more likely to be stuck in their final resting position very early on because they basically become straight jacketed stuck in the much smaller unicornuate uterus and turning becomes difficult even at 20 some weeks.

Well, hopefully I'll add some more photos of the little girl later. Thanks for telling me your favorite numbers you guys were thinking of over the weekend. It helped keep me entertained!

Almost 24 weeks and other numbers

Please go give Meredith a big old hug if you can. She is yet another girl who has made proof that being pregnant with a mullerian uterine abnormalitiy like have a unicornuate or a uterine septum = infertility, shortening cervix, contractions, and bedrest. She's 24 weeks and has been admitted to the hospital and may be stuck there for the next few weeks. On our end of the spectrum, I've had an awesome last few days and couldn't be happier with how this week has ended!

My husband has always said I was a little OCD and number obsessed. What do you think? Here are some numbers I thought of today:

Days since our IVF: 153

Days I have been on pelvic rest: 153
Days since my husband wish he had never heard of pelvic rest! 153

Consecutive days of bedrest since my cervix shortened: 81

Total days of bedrest since our IVF: 105

McDonald's double cheeseburgers with extra pickles eaten so far in pregnancy: 16 (none this week - thank you Ms. Nausea)

Number of contractions so far today: 23

Cartons of Edy's half gallon vanilla bean ice cream eaten this week: 2 (my most tolerated food during nausea)

Time I have thrown up this week: 8 (I thought morning sickness was supposed to end in the first trimester - maybe it's the new trendy thing? Hmm, I will consult the style network, LOL!)

Times Spot has had the hiccups today: 3

Consecutive days I have eaten peanut butter and jelly: 30+

Number of names we have narrowed down for Spot: 3

Times I have flipped from left side to right on the couch today: 10

Times I have glanced at the clock wondering when my husband would be home with dinner: 6

Packages that the UPS or FedEx man have brought this week: 5

Number of dreams I had last night revolving around sex: 3 (no you dirty people - they didn't involve the UPS or FedEx men!)

Hours of the olympics watched this week: 20+

Movies watched this week: 12

Times today glancing at my feet thinking I really need a pedicure: 5

This is the one I keep thinking of!
Days until we are 24 weeks: 1

Times I have thought I am the luckiest most fortunate girl in the world: to many too count.

What numbers have you guys thought of today?

Week 23 flying by

My husband surprised me as always with the camera and caught me as I was just waking up, hence the crazy hair. I swear I just had bed head hair, and I don't go out in public looking like I have mall bangs, LOL! Truthfully, I don't even have bangs - it was just crazy positioning on some layers :-)

Somehow amazingly week 23 is flying by. After a bit too eventful of a weekend, I'm delighted to say that I honestly don't know where the week has gone to - and that is a great thing these days! Monday I slept most of the day, I think I was catching up from the weekend. Plus the cat was out of the bag at work that I had been at the hospital over the weekend and a bunch of the CRNAs I work with called to check in. Phone calls make the day fly. Tuesday my mom came over, brought a whole bunch of food for us, did some laundry, and rough housed with my dog a bit (who has been looking at me lately like "Get up - let's play!") in the morning. In the afternoon my friend Pauline came over and kept me company with her cute 14 month old daughter. She brought me a bag of goodies for myself and the baby and it was a bit like Christmas in August. Today our cleaning lady came and made our house look like a home again and gave it the TLC it so desperately needed. My dog followed her room to room as she worked taking her toys. Luckily our cleaning lady has a little dog herself and is a dog lover. She always takes an extra moment or two to give Neela a little belly rub, or to toss her one of her favorite things to fetch. Today she was over almost an extra hour because she kept stopping to ask me questions about the upcoming baby, and how everything was going. I can't say I minded the company - no matter what form it comes in these days.

This afternoon I had another appointment at my OB's office which was uneventful - just a quick in and out since I saw him a few days ago at the hospital. I got my progesterone shot, weigh in, BP check, and the normal goodies. In just 5 days on Monday I'll have another cervical length check, a 24 week growth scan, and get my steriod shots started. For some reason that day is one I've been looking forward to as a bit of a milestone day for us, and I'm eagerly awaiting it.

While watching TV today I saw that presidential candidate McCain's wife had to be taken to one of hospitals near our home. She had injured her wrist from shaking a hand of a supporter a bit too vigorously. Now that's an accident that sounds both kind of funny and bizarre all at the same time! I got a call from my friend I went to school with who is a nurse there, and she said the hospital was a zoo with all of the news people and security people swarming around. The hospital and our house are both in the middle of an event this weekend that draws a crazy amount of traffic anyways - so the added flow of people has been adding to the congestion and craziness in the area. My husband said it took him extra long to get home from work tonight already, and the even doesn't technically start until Saturday. It's called the Woodward Dream Cruise and is a kind of classic car show where people come from all over with renovated old fashioned cars and drive up and down a road that runs between downtown and north about 10 miles. Each city along the way has events, food, and areas blocked off that you can park your old car with entertainment for the people that walk around to view it. It draws over 1 million people to the event. Usually we browse around part of it with both of our families and have a BBQ at our house. This year I think we'll have to skip and watch the highlights on TV :-)

Susan from ova achiever pointed me towards a really cool concept of designer or stylish hospital gowns at this site. Now if I had to wear a hospital gown for days on end, I wouldn't complain as much if it were stylish. I loved the link she sent, and maybe we should all drop it in the suggestion box outside the various L & D departments at the hospitals. Ha, if only those L & D departments actually had suggestions boxes that would be a good start.

Thank you so much for your kind words, good thoughts, and positive vibes for little Spot and I going forward after our little weekend bump. I honestly appreciate it so much, it's nice to know we're not in this alone sometimes. Well, I'm off to finish watching the rest of the Olympics for the night. Is it just me, or did anyone else notice that the men's beach volleyball team for Argentina is very attractive? I still rooted for the US team to beat them, but it sure was nice to watch the match from all angles if you know what I mean, hehe! Go USA!

Weekend at the hospital

I'm very glad to be leaving week 22 behind and moving forward to week 23 tomorrow. I spent much of the weekend at the hospital after my contractions really began to pick up in frequency and intensity yesterday. A day later, I am happy to be home. Yesterday while I was lying on the couch I began to notice that I was having a pretty decent contraction. Less than 10 minutes later I had another, and then about 5 minutes later another. I grabbed my husband, and off we went to the hospital (the same one I work at). On the car ride there I noticed my husband was really clipping along on the freeway and I jokingly said that we needed to arrive in one piece! I think he was kind of nervous for one of the first times. I was just trying to cover up the fact that I noticed these contractions were much different than my typical ones that only involve tightening and hardening, and the occasional discomfort. These contractions now actually hurt.

At the hospital we took the elevator up to the third floor and made the couple of turns until we were in L & D triage. I had walked that path so many times coming from the OR to do an epidural for someone in labor I could have done it in my sleep. But this time, those familiar hallways seemed to take so much longer to travel through. I was happy to be greeted by one of nurses I was familiar with. I gave a quick urine specimen in the bathroom, before settling into one of the rooms to change into a stylish gown and to be hooked up to the monitors. Usually I'm a pretty good aim, but I managed to pee a little in the cup, and a lot on my hand, LOL! I think I was more concerned with trying to make sure I kept it a sterile specimen, and instead I was a little off my game in the peeing on target mission.

Once hooked up, the monitors confirmed what I had started to notice since my arrival at the actual hospital. The peaks and waves on the monitor screen confirmed I was now contracting every couple of minutes regularly. My nurse said - ah yes I have paged your OB already and I'm going to get started on this IV to get you some fluid, draw a CBC, electryolytes, a couple other things and get you some terbutaline. My OB was on his way in when I received the terbutaline that I have heard so many lovely things or effects about (ahh, good times). I only joke about the terbutaline, but in reality I was delighted to receive anything that was going to stop these frequent contractions. A few moments after receiving the shot - I got that flushing and head rush feeling that some have described. Funny enough, what it actually reminded me of was one of the only times I had done a couple of shots of alcohol close together when I was on spring break in college. (During my dumb years - in other words.) My heart raced a bit from the med, but that part wasn't too bad I thought. The jittery and head rush floaty feeling was the part that made you say, "now that was weird." Pretty quickly I noticed a decrease in frequency and strength of the contractions.

Little girl Spot was happily content throughout with her beating along at 145 per minute. She must had thought the monitor I was wearing across my belly was similar to how it feels when my dog sleeps with her head on my stomach. Usually Spot will kick where she feels my dog's head - and now Spot was kicking directly under the circular monitor. When they moved it more to my left side (due to my left unicornuate) to pick up the contractions better, Spot moved her kicking as well :-) Just like she does when the dog repositions her head.

I was so happy to have the nurse I did, who helped shield my husband and I from the herd of intern and residents. (Not that I mind people learning on my case - I just get a little territorial over Spot and my cerclage lately for some reason. Plus triage was packed and they wouldn't miss one more patient. Please don't think poorly of me!) Instead the only person coming close enough to do a manual exam of my cervix and cerclage, was one of the nurse midwives and my OB once he arrived. In the past, I had worked with a couple of the nurse midwives quite a bit when I was assigned up to L & D - but the one stepped in to see me was a new face to me. Soon, I quickly feel in love with her, as her bedside manner and experience was awesome. I think she's a gem and the floor is fortunate to have her as one of the five midwives that practice at the hospital.

Luckily there was no drastic changes occurring with my cervix or cerclage. Just the same old characteristics of having a short, soft and squishy cervix. Now that my contractions had quieted down, my mind was already thinking forward. I was getting slightly hopeful that I would be out of there and home shortly since my cervix was it's old ugly self - but not breaking out any new shenanigans. I soon realized it wasn't going to be quite as quick in and out because my contractions once again picked up, quickly becoming every few minutes. My heart sank a little bit then, and glancing over to my husband I noticed he wasn't having much fun either. I just wanted them to be able to make them stop. Usually a shot of terbutaline is all most people need. I wanted to be in that "most people" category.

I guess I wasn't going home right now like I had hoped. Instead I needed more terbutaline to get things to go down to a dull roar. After spending the remainder of the weekend in my spiffy hospital attire - I am delighted to now be home tonight. It'll be nice to sleep in my own bed - it's hard to get much rest at the hospital - as I'm sure many of you know. I think my husband is delighted to be rid of the hospital as well. We both concluded that the theme for the weekend in triage must had been women in labor (wailing while they were being whisked away to a labor room) or pregnant women vomiting who had gotten desperate enough to make the trip in on the weekend. The latter of the two caused my husband to turn slightly green himself, which made me giggle a bit - but quickly felt sorry for the poor guy (the one good thing about being used being around vomiting women at work, hehe!)

So while I had originally planned to catch up on everyone's blogs on a boring weekend - that didn't quite go as planned. Instead I may celebrate the beginning of week 23 tomorrow by doing a little bloggy reading marathon. I am so ready to leave week 22 behind me that started off with spotting and ended with a hospital stay, contractions and terbutaline. Good bye and good ridance week 22! But hey - on the bright side...tomorrow is a whole new week and a whole new beginning. Maybe this will be the week my husband and I actually have a real name for our little Spot - we're getting closer to making that decision.

22 weeks and all is quiet - plus what Spot is up to

All is quiet on the homefront over the last few days. It has truly felt almost blissful at times! Thank you again for allowing me my whine at the end of my last post. I think I was just having an emotionally tired kind of day, but I'm out of my funk I think. Even though 22 weeks is coming to a close ( hip hip hooray!) here are some highlights of Spot at 22 weeks:

* Your baby weighs close to a pound at this point!
* Your baby can now hear your conversations more clearly than before. When you talk, read, or sing, expect her to hear you. Studies have found that newborns will suck more vigorously when read to from a book they heard frequently in utero.
* Eyelids and eyebrows are fully formed.
* Fingernails have grown to the end of the fingers.
* Be prepared for all those "Why" questions coming! Your baby's brain has entered a stage of rapid growth, especially in what's called the germinal matrix. This structure deep in the middle of the brain serves as a kind of factory for brain cells and disappears shortly before birth. But the brain's amazing expansion program continues until around the five birthday.
* With some help from mom, baby's liver is starting to break down bilirubin, a substance produced by red blood cells.
* Length is 10.94 inches (27.8cm); weight is nearly 1 pound (430gm). That's about as long as a package of Oreos and as heavy as a large bag of tortilla chips.
Your baby's hands have grown bigger and stronger and the nerve endings in her fingers have developed her sense of touch. She's in there testing out her newfound abilities by touching her face and grabbing the umbilical cord. Other cool developments:
Baby's hair is now a short, bright white crop. No matter what color it will end up—red, blonde, black—all babies' hair lacks pigment at this point.

Your baby has started growing taste buds and may be able to detect strong flavors in the amniotic fluid. If you could see inside, you might catch her sticking out her tongue for a taste and then grimacing, a sign that perhaps you should chill on the chili powder.


The stuff I bolded I thought was especially crazy or amazing. I had no idea that they could recall certain noises or stories after being born and increase their thumb sucking. I guess maybe I should start talking to our little girl Spot a bit more. Or at least read her some short stories out of the baby book my mom gave me recently. I just feel odd talking to my belly still, you know? I love her moving, but having full conversations with her just hasn't started flowing yet. Hmmm. Maybe soon? I giggled at the thought of Spot tasting the amniotic fluid and grimacing. I have eaten some more curry flavored stuff from Noodles and Company lately - poor baby probably wasn't too thrilled! She probably prefers the Mackinaw Island fudge ice cream I had tonight instead I bet. I didn't know that they amniotic fluid had different flavors..weird. But I do like thinking of her in terms of weighing about a bag of tortilla chips and as long as a pack of oreos...now that's my type of comparison!

My good fellow missed up uterus girl who is also 22 weeks pregnant has recently been put on bedrest as well, due to some icky contractions. If you get a chance - go give Meredith a hug. I think the first week of bedrest is the worst, and she deserves a smile so maybe go tell her a joke or something.

Well, I'm glad to bring you this boring post. I promise nothing but more boring posts ahead :-) We watched National Treasure 2 tonight. It was pretty good - and now we're watching the opening ceremony of the Olympics which is pretty cool as well. I watched the 3 hours of the John Adams 2 disc today, and have disc 3 waiting for me tomorrow. I hope to catch up on some emailing and bloggy type stuff too. I hope everyone else has a relaxing and boring weekend as well!

22 weeks going forward

Thank you for you kind words and checking in while I had my little spotting bit yesterday - they mean more than you know! Things have quieted down a bit - and I'm just back resting at home. Just the place I wanted to be! I go back to the office tomorrow for another appointment in the late morning. Until then I will obediently park my butt on the couch and watch my John Adam's disc two that just came from Netflix at last. Truly the spotting I can live with from time to time as long as I know things are okay by ultrasound. It's just the combination of contractions from time to time, coupled with spotting, and knowing I have the incompetent cervix and cerclage that sends me into worry land a bit. When just two of the above three are occurring the worry is tolerable. But when I am having all three - that's when even I get a bit concerned. Which is what happened yesterday.

Unfortunately there's not a darn thing that they can do about a shortening cervix other than what I already am doing, or have done. Also they closely monitor contractions and treat them with medication if they are causing aggressive changes in the cervix to buy you more time before delivery. So if I am having a set amount of contractions at any given time - I need to get to the hospital quickly for more aggressive treatment. Checking my cervix length every few days at the office is keeping me out of the hospital for now as well - since it allows them to be on top of any changes. Also, I think my OB trusts me when I say that at any sign something is wrong (preterm labor wise) I will know what to do and to contact him and get in asap. Therefore, I can avert a hospital stay for as long as possible and get as much time at home as possible. That is the goal for both of us. Once again - it comes down to time. Buying enough time to get us a more and more healthy baby in the end. (I guess that should be healthier and healthier for all the english majors out there? I'm not the best as you can tell :-) If it means eventually being duck taped to a hospital bed and using a bedpan, and not showering for days on end to keep Spot in there - I guess the phrase is "whatever it takes or one day at a time." Thank heavens I'm not at that point. I end every conversation or email with my OB with the phrase, "Whatever you think is best I will certainly always do." We have been so blessed so far - I realize that every day and am thankful.

My husband and I never take our eyes off the goal at the end - and that is what is keeping us going forward. I feel so selfish for even saying this....but somedays I just feel so tired. I've never done so much absolute nothingness in my days - and yet have never felt so exhausted in my life. That probably makes no sense at all. I feel so selfish for complaining like that. Yet I just feel so tired sometimes. But I know I need to quickly push that aside because I know we've been a heck of a lot more blessed than ever before.

It's 3 AM- why am I awake? Hiccups and spotting UPDATED

(UPDATE:
I didn't want to be a bad blogger, but I need to run back for the rest of some monitoring at the office. Thank you for your kind words - they mean the world - still spotting, cervix is a bit shorter, (but nothing earth shattering - 1.8 I think?) soft and squishy like always and there looks like there is the start of some funneling. But the cerclage is firmly in place. Spot is still hanging in there, and I'm trying to take her lead and stay Zen about things myself.)

Once again - the bedrest insomnia has hit full force. Amazingly at 11PM I fell asleep, but then was woken up by little Spot's hiccups. No complaints about that though - as long as you continue to grow in there - hiccup away to your heart's content little girl! Problem came with falling back asleep - which just doesn't seem to be an option right now. Perhaps it wasn't just Spot's hiccups that woke me up out of a dead sleep, but rather my internal little alarm signal as well. Shortly after I was unable to fall back asleep I noticed that I have started spotting. I have had some minor spotting recently - but this is much more than I've had anytime recently.

Now I was debating what to do while staring at the clock flashing 2:45AM at me. Darn it Mr Clock you aren't being very helpful with this decision making process! Mr Clock just stared back at me with his glaring lights. Hmmmm. On one hand my appointment with my OB was only a few short hours away in the AM - and the thought of dragging my husband out of bed and both of us making the drive to triage is about as appealing as catching a whiff of raw meat these days. On the other hand - I couldn't quite bring myself to do nothing and wait either. So instead I contemplated calling the answering service and seeing if they thought I was okay to wait until the AM appointment and ultrasound. Decisions at 3AM aren't as clear cut as the same decisions would be in daylight hours I swear.

As I picked up the phone to dial the answering service, I remembered that my OB was actually on call this night. Instead of having them phone him - I skipped the middle man and just sent my OB a text page with what was going on. Thankfully I got the answer that I wanted - that being to watch things for the next few hours as long as it's not increasing at all, and to come in first thing in the AM to the office. Phew - triage averted for now - a place I was trying to avoid like the plague.

So now I'm sitting here watching Mr Clock again. Can time move any slower? Well, week 22 of this pregnancy is starting off with a little more activity than I'd like. Today is day 62 of bedrest - and as much as I don't like being on it - I'd do anything for some more bedresting days in my future.

Some more nursery progress

Yikes - it all of the sudden actually looks like we plan on having a baby in our house someday! What I mean is that we have a crib assembled - no mattress or bedding on it yet - but a crib none the less.

Saturday my husband went about the job of assembling our crib. About 5 minutes into it he realized that the manufacturer attached the wrong directions, but he was able to do most without the directions. What little he couldn't - he was able to track down online. Our dog thought the whole process of putting the crib together was a little tiring for a weekend and decided to catch a nap while he was searching online, LOL!

With actual directions the crib was really easy to assemble and pretty much was together in an hour or so.



So tahhh - dahhhhh drum roll please. Finally we had an assembled crib!

Hopefully the dresser will be in after a couple of weeks, and in the meantime I can plan some decorating. That will be the fun part! We did put down a small throw rug we got this week from Restoration Hardware's Baby section. I think it'll match the pink and khaki bedding nice hopefully. Our dog sure liked it, and quickly sat down to take another nap. At first though she looked like she was ready to take a flying ride on a magic carpet or something - because the edges were still kind of curled up.

(Hmmm where shall I go on my magic carpet ride? Will they have some doggie treats for me there? Or at least some peanut butter....I do love peanut butter, and bananas!)

Well, I hope everyone is having a great weekend - and enjoying those last gorgeous weekends of summer. We watched A Mighty Heart with Angelina Jolie last night which was about a true life story of a Wall Street Journal reporter kidnapped in Pakistan back in 2002. It wasn't too bad - pretty much anything that can hold my interest for two hours these days on my mush brain is okay with me. Plus I like movies based on true stories - which this was. We might get brave and watch the second lord of the rings movie soon - my husband is wanting to continue the series and who am I to object :-) I filled my tummy with some more food from Noodles and Company..yummy! Bankgok curry noodles (there isn't too much curry on it I swear) and I was one happy girl. Maybe it was the yogurt moose tracks dessert I downed after it, but whatever it was I got some good movement from Spot afterwards. In fact - I think she was hiccuping at 3AM last night! Now that feels weird.

If you get a chance go wish Hollie good luck on her IVF cycle - she's near retrieval. Also the evil stepmonster is in the wait after her last IVF cycle - and everyone can use a hug then.