After my obstetrician saw me as an "emergency walk-in" on Thursday and diagnosed me with preterm labor symptoms (completely effaced cervix that is starting to dilate), he put me on bed rest and had the nurse give me a shot of corticosteroids, which are used in antenatal patients to help fetal lung maturation. (The nurse said that she was giving me an injection of dexamethasone, but, I suspect it was actually betamethasone... I'd have to see my records to know for sure ... not that it makes a big difference, but ... ) I was told to go to the labor and delivery ward of my hospital the next day for another corticosteroid shot and fetal monitoring.
After being in bed all day and still feeling the effects of the blood sugar spike caused by the injection, we spent a little over an hour at the hospital being monitored and getting poked in the other side of the butt.
We took Bella with us which really was fun for all. The monitoring proved me right in that Bella gets Anna all wound up while Andy calms her down. When Bella was singing and talking, Anna's FHTs would shoot up to nearly 180 BPM, but when Andy would come over and talk, it would decel down to the 130 to 140 range. Crazy. I'm glad that he finally understands why I have been jokingly calling him the "fetus whisperer" for the last few months. (Whenever she's having a party in my tummy, I always get him to speak to her and/or rub my belly.)
The nurse was awesome! She got all the preregistration redtape out of the way so that we don't have to go down to the registration department next week and wait behind all the B.S. E.R. cases (too many people here use the E.R. as their family doctor's office) to get preregistered. She talked to Bella about what she was doing and even let Bella give me the shot of Celestone! She showed Bella where they were going to give the shot and why, let her cleanse the spot with an alchohol wipe, and, after the nurse jabbed the needed in place, let Bella push the medication and add the gauzy bandaid. Bella was all a twitter after that. We talked to the nurse about Bella being there when Anna is born and she said that Bella would probably do just fine because of her keen interest. Plus, she and I have been reading books, looking at diagrams, and watching videos about child birth. Not to mention that she helped Abbie in the delivery of her kittens!
I still have cervical twinges but I'm not as worried since my OB team is on standby. The Celestone (betamethasone) will cause Anna's lungs to begin producing surfactant so that she'll be able to breathe on her own should she come within the next couple of weeks. There is a Level II nursery at our hospital and a top-notch NICU just a few moments away via medevac should something go wrong. Still scary, but not as much so. Everything now is in the hands of God and the medical professionals who are on alert. Worrying won't do me any good, so I am being opitmistic.
I'm being good and staying off my feet. So far. Bedrest is horrible, especially when the hormonal urges are telling you to "NEST! NEST! NEST!" and the mental worries of reduced finances start rolling around in your head. Not to mention, I can't stand to just sit around. I don't watch daytime TV, I can only spend so much time on the internet, and I really want to be out there interacting with my kiddo. If I haven't gone into labor by 34 weeks, I am going to request to return to work, even if it's only two or three day a week. Getting out of the house and being productive, even if just for a couple of days a week, is better than nothing ... and it helps time pass by so much more quickly.
Well, it's after 4 a.m. and I want to get some needle point stuff done. Plus, I had an uber cool idea for our costumes for our Aquarium's annual "Fish or Treat" so I want to work on planning all the little details while the idea is fresh in my mind. Plus, Bella has her first gynastics class in a few hours, so I need to get all of her stuff ready to go.
Have a wonderful weekend and keep our little pea-in-the-pod in your prayers!
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