The good, the bad, and the ugly

I don't even know where to begin. This is going to be quite long, so please bear with me!!

Well, I had my appointment this morning. Dr. L immediately wanted an update about what has transpired in the last week. After giving her the run-down, she measured my belly. And at 27 1/2 weeks, I am measuring like I am 32 weeks. Then she pulled the ultrasound machine in the office to take a look at the babies. As always, Baby A remains head down. Baby B is head up. So when I feel most of the movement under my ribs, I am being kicked and head-butted!!

And because I was dilated last week, she decided to do a "womanly exam" to see how things were holding up. And this is where things get bad and ugly. I dilated a little bit more despite being on bedrest for the last week. Then she paused for a couple minutes before she said "I am really wondering if I want to send you home or if I want to admit you to the hospital right now." After a couple more minutes she decided to admit me because in her words "if I don't admit you, I will be worried sick about you all night."

But before I left, she decided to give me the 1st dose of steroids to help the babies' lungs mature. The med is only given twice and it is given 24 hours apart. And...lucky me, the med is a nice little injection right into the bum!! But hey, if it is going to help my babies, they can inject me with anything they want, any WHERE they want!

So off to the hospital I went. I called my mom and Nate and bawled on the phone with both of them thinking that I've done something wrong. I should've done/not done something differently, etc. Just a lot of guilt because I was feeling as though I have not provided a good home for the babies. Anyway, there were a few scenarios in which we were dealing with:
1) The ultrasound would be very promising as far as the babies' living arrangement remaining intact and I would be allowed to go home in the morning.
2) The ultrasound would be rather shady, and I would remain in the hospital for further evaluation.
3) The ultrasound would not go well and I would be transferred to Marshfield for hospital bedrest until the babies make their entrance.

To sum things up...I am home right now!! My ultrasound was VERY promising. Yes, I have dilated. However, the babies' mobile home (or not so mobile home now!) is hanging in there. Not as good as it was 4 weeks ago, but better than we had anticipated. So that is the good news. In fact, it is GREAT news. But of course, there is some more bad news. The bad news is that I am contracting a lot more often than what I think I am. During the first hour of monitoring, I thought that I only had 1 contraction. Turns out that the monitors picked up 6 of them. So guess what that means? More injections for momma!! This time, it was a shot of terbutaline. This medication is supposed to relax the uterus. The nurse told me that I was going to feel like I was running a marathon...heart would start racing, I would feel extremely hot, etc. Luckily, this injection was just in my upper arm. So I didn't have to bear my backside again!! Haha! After that, the contractions did quiet down, though I still had several that I didn't feel.

So the game plan at this point is still up in the air. What I DO know, is that I am on very strict bedrest for the duration of this pregnancy. Bathroom breaks and that's it. I am actually having another ultrasound tomorrow. I'm not sure why, but I didn't fight it. If I get to see my babies again, then I am all for it. Besides, at today's ultrasound in the hospital, there were no "fun" pictures. She took the babies' measurements, and that was it. I didn't get to see faces or feet or anything!! Also, I have another appointment to see Dr. L tomorrow morning. We'll discuss the game plan in more detail, and I will get my 2nd round of steroids at that point. Good thing neither the babies nor myself are entering the Olympics this year!! We would for surely be banned for doping!!

Oh yes -- the babies:

Baby A = 2 pounds 3 ounces
Baby B = 2 pounds 4 ounces

So Baby B is now the heavyweight. Four weeks ago, Baby A was our beefy baby (by 1 ounce), but Baby B had to put a stop to that. It will be interesting if they do another growth scan at the ultrasound tomorrow morning. If they do, I will decide which ultrasound tech I like better at that point -- whoever tells me that my babies are bigger is the winner!! I was hoping for two 2 1/2 pound babies, but the nurse told me in advance that that might be unrealistic being at 27 1/2 weeks. So I guess I should be happy with 2 1/4 pounds.

Last thing, I promise!! Each week now has become a huge milestone. Right now, it's not about getting to 34 weeks. It's about getting to 28, then 29, then 30, etc. Dr. L said that 28 weeks in and of itself is a HUGE milestone because 90% of babies born at that gestational age will survive. And of those, 8o% will survive without long-term disabilities. But obviously, with each week that passes, both of those numbers increase even more! So it's a day to day thing right now. Saturday will be 28 weeks. Then we shoot for the next Saturday.

Okay, I think I'm done now. I am going to go admire my newly formed muscles after doping myself with some steroids!!