32 Weeks

Well, we have had an "exciting" week to say the least!

Last Sunday (the 15th....my birthday). I noticed that my braxton hicks contractions were becoming timable, which isn't quite normal for me. They were coming every 8-10 minutes. I rested, drank lots of water, etc. and they didn't seem to ease up very much. So I called my Dr. who told me to go to the hospital if they persisted.

And they did so we went. I got examined right away and was told I was 3 cm's dilated and was indeed having contractions. I was admitted right away and started on Magnesium to stop/slow down the contractions and was very quickly given a steroid shot to help mature the babies lungs, were I to deliver. The "dose" for this shot, though, is 2 and they need to be given 24 hours apart. In addition, in order for them to be completely effective, labor needs to be held off until 24 hours after the 2nd shot.

so once I got in bed and settled down, the contractions settled down which was good. I was hooked up to monitors all night to measure the babies heartbeats and contractions. The first night I only had 4 contractions ALL night which was good.

Throughout the entire thing, the babies were rockstars. Their heart rates were awesome and they were SO active and kept kicking the monitors off which annoyed the nurses a little, haha, because they had to keep come in to readjust. But they all laughed it off and said it was good to have such active babies.

The next morning I was sent downstairs for an ultrasound to check the babies growth, etc. They each measured in a JUST under 4 lbs a piece which is awesome for 31 weeks! They looked good and healthy and are growing appropriately.

So the 2nd day at the hospital was by far the worst. The magnesium (which I previously didn't think was that bad) kicked in and made me feel like death. I was SO hot and tired but I couldn't settle down and fall asleep. My room was ice cold but I felt like I was burning up and they had to keep putting cold packs on my head. I also felt a little sick so I couldn't get down anything but yogurt. So 24 hours after the 1st steroid shot I got the 2nd and was told my magnesium would be turned off 24 hours later.

So after resting that night, I woke up feeling somewhat more refreshed for day 3 at the hospital. I felt a bit more awake and not so physically hot. Then in the afternoon the magnesium was turned off. We all breathed a little sigh of relief that I had completed the course of the steroid shots. So now if the babies are born, their lungs would be much better off than babies who hadn't gotten the shots for this gestational age.

So after that they monitored me for another day and on Thursday afternoon I was discharged! My contractions are next to nothing now which is awesome. I am on STRICT bedrest - meaning bathroom trips ONLY. They also checked my cervix one last time before I left and it hadn't changed so that's good.

So now the plan is to just keep these babies cooking as long as possible! But now we are 32 weeks and have gotten the steroid shots so if they were born tomorrow their prognosis is very good. They would of course need NICU time to get nice and big like a "normal" newborn, but health wise they should do very well at this point. My next little goal is to make it to 34 weeks though, so we'll see!

So that's the story - so far we're all still doing well and keeping very very quiet!