Why I Have A Bandaid On My Wrist

Everyone,

I had this really sweet post almost all typed up about Juice and was going to post it this morning but I thought maybe you'd like to hear about why I have a bandaid on my wrist first.

You see, yesterday, I was feeling pretty miserable. The cold was kicking my butt. Since Butterfly seems to be on the mend, she was also feeling a little more feisty. I think she is tired of me sitting around all day long telling her I can't do things because my tummy hurts. Poor thing. I was trying to keep her entertained (thank you Mom for the pony movie!!!) and I just could not get comfortable. My back hurt. My belly hurt. My head hurt. Why is this couch so hard and why does it sag so much when I sit in it?! Oh, right, I've got about 30 lbs on me that I normally don't have.

Butterfly finally got sick of me bouncing around and got down on the floor to watch her show. I stretched out, I curled up, I tried propping pillows around me, and I failed. Finally I got up and walked around the house for a little bit, doing tiny chores like cleaning the kitchen table and switching out some laundry. I could not get comfortable. Walking around made it feel like someone had put a vice on my lower back and was now making it magically grow across my lower belly.

Wait. Did I not have these conversations with my nurse every week about preterm labor and the signs? Did I not pay attention to all those books I read, and all those articles that come into my inbox weekly? Apparently not.

I put Butterfly down for a nap (but I don't want to NAP! I want to stay with yoooouuu!!) and I took a shower. Most of the time that kills whatever aches and pains I have. This time, just made it worse. I couldn't seem to get away from the pain.

Then I got out and heard Butterfly crying that her diaper was poopy so I changed her (with lots of screaming on her part, poor tired diaper rashed girl) and I put in Dumbo for her to watch. I took some tylenol and tried to lay down on my bed and get comfortable. No such luck. Finally, after much tears and re-reading the little booklet my OB gave me, I called them.

"I can't get comfortable and I have a horrible back ache and cramps and nothing I do seems to help. You want me to come to the hospital? Now? Uh, I think I can be there within the hour. Who is the doctor on call today? Not Dr. Useless. Oh good."

So yep, I ended up in labor and delivery again yesterday. I walked in, got all situated in bed #3 (last time it was bed #2...bed #3 is better with an actual wall and a picture to look at) and they hook me up to all the belly monitors. Well, they try anyway. Baby A was not being very cooperative and the nurse couldn't find his heartbeat. Kind of freaked me out. I think this is my biggest fear right now, that one of them has died and I don't know about it. So she found Baby B right off and got him on the monitor. And then she put the contraction monitor on me. And then she looked and looked for Baby A. She called in another nurse, who found him right away. Whew.

She then put the blood pressure cuff on me. Alarms started to go off. She looks at me and says, "Is your blood pressure normally very high?" Uh, no. She takes it again, and more alarms go off. I see her frown, and she turns and leaves. About a minute later, she comes back with the news that I have protein in my urine. And high blood pressure. Oh. I have no swelling, no headaches, no reflex problems, nothing else but those two things. She said that she though I was going to be in and out, but now she's thinking I may have the babies today. WHAT? Talk about high blood pressure!

Dr. Big Hands comes in and talks to me for a second. He orders blood work to check my liver function and 3 other viles of the stuff, some food and an IV for me. He says I look pretty good, but I am having contractions. Oh. News to me. So he also decides to check me and see how dilated I am. Most uncomfortable. (There is a reason his name is Dr. Big Hands!) I am 3 cm dilated, about 80% effaced and Baby A is head down at -2 station. So there is a reason I'm having monster back aches!

The nurse puts in my IV (which hurt a lot worse than the back ache at that point) and she gets me some food. I listen to the other couple in the room with me bicker (semi good natured) and enjoy my dry bbq chicken and wilted salad. The other couple is sent home, another lady comes in. I pull out my phone card and call my mom. We talk to pass the time. I call Juice and talk to Butterfly for a few minutes about the color of her pajamas and how they are so comfortable and how she built a house out of blocks with Daddy. I read my book. I stare at the chart of dilation and effacement on the wall. I get my blood pressure checked every 15 minutes and the nurse teaches me how to turn off the alarm because it goes off every single time. I start to get really uncomfortable in the little triage bed again.

I decide it's time to take a bathroom break, and they unhook me and hand me my IV bag and I shuffle off. Back in bed, I try to untangle myself from my mess of cords, and just make it worse. I decide to wait for the nurse to hook me back up. She does after a minute, and we have to find the babies again. Baby B is fairly easy to find and feel. Baby A is just not cooperating. I had to have another nurse come in and hold the monitors on my belly to catch him. She sat there for a good half hour with me. We chatted about middle school (she has a daughter there) and how they had 31 week twins that morning that were doing well. They take my blood pressure again and it has gone way down. No more protein in my urine. Huh.

Dr. Big Hands comes back in, sits down on the chair and chats with me for about 20 minutes. He says I look good and since my contractions have gone from every 2-7 minutes (I was not feeling them) to every 10-15 minutes, he's going to send me home. Yay! I was so done with the hospital by then. I'm supposed to stay hydrated this time. And if I come back in, they will not stop me. He even mentioned in passing that he would start me in labor if I wanted, but I really do feel like these guys need at least another week. If this had been Wednesday of next week, I would have said yes! But it's not, and the babies can cook as long as possible.

So I am home with only a bandaid on my wrist where the IV went. I have a Dr. SA visit this afternoon, and a regular check at the OB on Friday. I am feeling very very ready to get these boys out of my body. I will have made my last goal of 36 weeks on Saturday. Dr. Big Hands is on call all weekend (he was so enthusiastic about having a vaginal birth I kind of want him to be the delivery doctor) so maybe there will be more news later! I will write more tomorrow after my doctor visits.

Safire

PS- Juice was telling Butterfly that the 'brudders' might be coming out of me and she got so excited! He was also telling her that someone would come and stay with her if that happened and her bright face kind of dimmed and she said, "But Nana and Grandpa were supposed to stay with me." So see, the boys can't come until next Saturday at least. :)