Some very positive news!!

As you know, I had another appointment today. Dr. L wanted to do another "womanly exam" just to see if there was any change made in the last 24 hours. And drum roll please...there was absolutely NO CHANGE!! Hooray! Despite the tremendous number of contractions I had overnight, there was no change. Amazing! She did assure me that because of everything my body went through yesterday as far as "womanly exams" and being shot up with meds I had never had before and just the plain old emotions of the day, it was probably to be expected that I would have more contractions than I have had since I began bedrest.

The other thing that had both of us smiling today is that at my ultrasound in the hospital yesterday, the babies' exit out of their living quarters is still measuring slightly over 3cm. It used to be over 4cm, so it did shrink a little. But it is still within a normal range (just on the lower end) for this stage of the game!!

We discussed the game plan from here on out. I will be seeing her once a week until the babies are born. I will also have weekly cervical length ultrasounds to make sure the exit out is still hanging in there. I will remain on very strict bedrest for the duration of the pregnancy. I will be headed to Labor and Delivery if the thought even crosses my mind that something might be out of the ordinary. She told me that she wants me to have a VERY low threshold as far as questioning myself about the need to be seen. She said she doesn't care if I go to L&D 50 times only to be sent home 50 times. In fact, she said she would give me a pat on the back for going in!! Also, she said that if I page the on call doctor to run my concerns past them and they tell me I could probably just stay home, but I am feeling uncomfortable with that idea...she said "just go in!!" So in other words, she really drilled it into my head that if I am even remotely concerned, then I am to be evaluated.

Yesterday, when I asked her what my chances were of making it to 34 weeks, she replied with "I don't want to beat around the bush with you Jess, it's pretty doubtful." Today, after the good news we were receiving, I asked her what a realistic goal would be for delivery. She told me that she would be very happy to get me to 32 weeks (Sept. 6) and if we made it to 34 weeks, she would do a little happy dance in the office and jump up and down! So it appears as though she is kind of changing her mind about the possibility of me making it to 34 weeks!! How cool is that?!

I am now on medications (terbutaline) at home to calm the contractions. It is the same med they injected me with in the hospital when they told me it would make me feel like I was running a marathon. Only at home, I will be taking it by mouth. Well...the med is absolutely FANTASTIC with halting the contractions. In the first 6 hours after taking a dose, I only felt maybe 3 or 4 during that whole time frame (when I normally feel 5-6 an hour!). Only downside is the nasty side effects. For those 6 hours straight, my pulse ran at a consistent 112 beats per minute!!! I normally run in the mid 60's, so my pulse has nearly doubled!! Not a good feeling, but as stated plenty of times before, I will do whatever I have to do for these babies. My pain and suffering is nothing if I can prevent the babies from experiencing any pain or suffering.

She also gave me a prescription for Ambien for sleep. I have only slept about 3 hours in the past 3 nights. It is SOOO hard to sleep while on bedrest. I'm just not expending any energy throughout the day. She thinks that getting more sleep may even help decrease the contractions. So we shall see.

In final news...I passed my glucose screening with flying colors! So I do NOT have gestational diabetes and can continue treating the babies to yummy DQ Blizzards! I am currently up about 23 pounds, so I still have 17 to go to make it to 40 pounds total. The only semi-disappointing thing about today is that we did NOT do another ultrasound. Therefore, we didn't get to see the babies, and I don't have any pictures to share. As I wrote about yesterday, the one in the hospital was so quick that there was no time for pictures!! Boo.

Sorry for the novel again! Just seems like so much has been taking place in the past 48 hours here. And considering that this blog is also my own little journal, I want to make sure I remember it all -- the good stuff and the bad stuff. We are still not out of the woods by any means. We're still taking things week by week, sometimes day by day.

And for those who are curious...yes I did take another one for the team today by subjecting myself to the 2nd round of steroids to my rear end!! Haha.