Wednesday, August 30, 2006
At Home - Day 3
I actually took a shower.
Babes are well. Trying to gain back the weight they have lost since they were born - one week ago tonight. Lots of eating and sleeping and pooping (the babies, not me).
Thank God for Grandparents is all I have to say.
Don't have any pics from today, but will post a few from earlier in the week (what day is it again?)
Babes are well. Trying to gain back the weight they have lost since they were born - one week ago tonight. Lots of eating and sleeping and pooping (the babies, not me).
Thank God for Grandparents is all I have to say.
Don't have any pics from today, but will post a few from earlier in the week (what day is it again?)
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Birth Story or Buy One Get One Free My Ass - I Paid For Them Both
Came to hospital on Tuesday evening around 7pm. Immediately was put on Magnesium Sulfate for the preeclampsia. This drug is IV and was horrible. Side effects include blurred vision, nausea, disorientation and muscle relaxation (including the uterus, which is not a good thing when you are trying to induce labor). My blood pressure kept going up. I had a catheter and they were checking my fluid output which was steadily decreasing. My kidneys and liver were not functioning properly, also part of preeclampsia.
They checked my cervix and I was 1 cm. So they gave me this medication to help ripen my cervix overnight. So I spent the night with the cervix medication and the Magnesium and penicillin (in case of strep B) IV and catheter, while a nurse sat by my bed side monitoring me. I continued to have contractions as I had been having for the past month or two. Not too painful except that each contraction caused the babies' heads to push on my bladder/catheter which was excrutiating.
Throughout the night they checked my cervix and it wasn't changing. In the morning they started the Pitocin IV to help increase the strength of the contractions. Because I was on the Magnesium the Pitocin wasn't working as it typically should. The two medications were fighting each other. The contractions became closer together and eventually were continuous, but not strong enough to cause dilation. So I was in constant pain for hours. They finally lowered the dosage and then turned off the Magnesium for a couple of hours to see if it would work better with it off for a little while. Contractions increased and I began to get sharp pains in my left rib/lung with each contraction which made it difficult to breathe. Magnesium came back on. They gave me Demerol to help with the pain. That made me sleep for about two hours. My legs swelled like balloons from the preeclampsia. Ernie kept rubbing them to help me get some circulation and pain relief. My hips and back hurt too. Some of this was also from being confined to the bed for so long. Ernie was really great. I know he was freaked out too. My parents were there the whole time as well lending their support. The three of them were able to go home for lunch and dinner seeing as we live across the street from the hospital (which turns out to be very fortunate).
After 9 hours like this they checked my cervix and it was 2 cm. Nothing had really changed.
By this time it was 8pm Wednesday. Dr gave me three options: 1. Stop the Pitocin and do another night with the Cervical ripening medication and start Pitocin again in the morning to see if the labor would progress more quickly with another round. 2. Break the waters and see if that would start things to move along. 3. C-section.
One of the other issues besides the fact that the labor was not progressing was that my fluid output had gone from a normal range of around 300ml per hour to 20 - 30 ml per hour. My kidneys were almost not functioning and the Dr was not ready to let them go for more than 3 hours at this level before performing a c-section. So this needed to be taken into consideration when looking at our three options.
The other issue to consider was the fact that I was in excrutiating pain and hysterically crying. There was no way that I would physically be able to go another round for 24 hours and then still be able to push the babies out. I was also loopy from all of the drugs and hadn't eaten or drank anything in more than 24 hours.
We had to decide on the c-section. Ernie was not convinced and quizzed the Dr for 30 minutes about options. The nurses, the Dr and my parents all tried to explain to him that this was the best option to protect my health. Then they left us alone for 15 minutes while I told him that there was no other way as far as I was concerned. That there was nothing else that I could do. I was done. It wasn't what I wanted. Wasn't my ideal birth experience, but I was sick and I felt sicker than I had ever felt in my life. I knew there was no way I would be able to even go another hour in the pain I was in.
By 8:30 they had me in the OR and were prepping me. Ernie instructed my doctor "You are supposed to be the best, so do a good job. Make a little incision." He then went outside to have a smoke and call his mom. He was so nervous.
They had me on the table and gave me the spinal block. Luckily for me now my memory of these events is pretty fuzzy because of all of the drugs in my system and the general exhaustion and system slow down from the preeclampsia. I do know that it hurt like a bitch.
They brought Ernie into the OR about 20 minutes later. He had his iPod and little iPod speakers. He played some classical music during the procedure (I know he will kill me for not knowing what it was, I think Bach). He had what he calls the "Buck Shakes" that you get when deer hunting. Basically his entire body was tremmoring and he couldn't get a breath or relax. He sat by my head and tried to joke with the Anesthesiologist, who was thankfully a fabulous gay guy.
I remember asking the Anesthesiologist when they were going to start and he said "honey they are already through 2 layers" and I was like "oh". Then I got sharp pains up my neck and in my chest and I kept asking him if I were having a heart attack or stroke and he kept saying "it's normal, it's normal. I have your vitals on screen here. You're fine". Of course I didn't believe him. Ernie will have to tell the story from here on in because I don't really remember much else. He kept giving me more and more drugs to shut me up and calm me down. I know he gave me Morphine at one point. And by the end of the procedure I was out like a light.
They found a fibroid had been causing the pain in my rib/lung. Apparently it had been deteriorating or something where the blood supply gets cut off and it begins to die off. The babies were pushing on it and it was in turn pushing into my ribs. The Dr decided that it's condition was bad enough to warrant an extraction, even though it is something they never do during a c-section because of the risk of bleeding. I remember smelling the burning while they cauterized it. Gross. I guess that was while I was going under. Ernie had already left with the nurse and the babies to the nursery.
Ernie told me later that the Dr told him afterwards that they had trouble getting the uterus to shrink and to stop bleeding because of the effects of the Magnesium, and had had to give me a few injections of something directly into the uterus to help it to contract. They also had some trouble controlling the bleeding of the fibroid which is why they had to cauterize it. But in the end I lost a lot of blood but was OK.
I guess I came out of the OR about an hour after the babies were born. They brought me back to my room and then brought the babies down to us a few hours later. Their APGAR scores were in the high 9s, so they were healthy and doing well. That was a big relief.
I got to try to feed them at about 12:30 am. They went back to the nursery around 1:30 and Ernie went home to get some sleep. I was monitored every hour throughout the night, blood was drawn, pressure checked, fluid measured, etc. I was still on the Magnesium and the Pitocin, one to help the preeclampsia and one to help the uterus to continue to contract. Needless to say I got little sleep.
The next morning they turned off the Pitocin. We had the babies on and off in the room with us all day. We had a few visitors. My parents were there for a while. I was basically out of it. I was still in Labor and Delivery, they hadn't moved me to the Maternity ward yet because they needed to monitor me closely.
That night (Thursday) they turned off the Magnesium at around 10pm. They finally removed the catheter as my fluid output was back up into the hundreds. I was moved to the Maternity floor at 1:30am. They made me try to walk after almost 72 hours confined to bed and with my incision - talk about pain! That night was very uncomfortable in the new room and I didn't really sleep at all.
That is the end of the birth story. I guess the rest is the hospital/recovery story. I don't know if I have the energy or wherewithal to get it down right now.
We all go home tomorrow - Yay!
They checked my cervix and I was 1 cm. So they gave me this medication to help ripen my cervix overnight. So I spent the night with the cervix medication and the Magnesium and penicillin (in case of strep B) IV and catheter, while a nurse sat by my bed side monitoring me. I continued to have contractions as I had been having for the past month or two. Not too painful except that each contraction caused the babies' heads to push on my bladder/catheter which was excrutiating.
Throughout the night they checked my cervix and it wasn't changing. In the morning they started the Pitocin IV to help increase the strength of the contractions. Because I was on the Magnesium the Pitocin wasn't working as it typically should. The two medications were fighting each other. The contractions became closer together and eventually were continuous, but not strong enough to cause dilation. So I was in constant pain for hours. They finally lowered the dosage and then turned off the Magnesium for a couple of hours to see if it would work better with it off for a little while. Contractions increased and I began to get sharp pains in my left rib/lung with each contraction which made it difficult to breathe. Magnesium came back on. They gave me Demerol to help with the pain. That made me sleep for about two hours. My legs swelled like balloons from the preeclampsia. Ernie kept rubbing them to help me get some circulation and pain relief. My hips and back hurt too. Some of this was also from being confined to the bed for so long. Ernie was really great. I know he was freaked out too. My parents were there the whole time as well lending their support. The three of them were able to go home for lunch and dinner seeing as we live across the street from the hospital (which turns out to be very fortunate).
After 9 hours like this they checked my cervix and it was 2 cm. Nothing had really changed.
By this time it was 8pm Wednesday. Dr gave me three options: 1. Stop the Pitocin and do another night with the Cervical ripening medication and start Pitocin again in the morning to see if the labor would progress more quickly with another round. 2. Break the waters and see if that would start things to move along. 3. C-section.
One of the other issues besides the fact that the labor was not progressing was that my fluid output had gone from a normal range of around 300ml per hour to 20 - 30 ml per hour. My kidneys were almost not functioning and the Dr was not ready to let them go for more than 3 hours at this level before performing a c-section. So this needed to be taken into consideration when looking at our three options.
The other issue to consider was the fact that I was in excrutiating pain and hysterically crying. There was no way that I would physically be able to go another round for 24 hours and then still be able to push the babies out. I was also loopy from all of the drugs and hadn't eaten or drank anything in more than 24 hours.
We had to decide on the c-section. Ernie was not convinced and quizzed the Dr for 30 minutes about options. The nurses, the Dr and my parents all tried to explain to him that this was the best option to protect my health. Then they left us alone for 15 minutes while I told him that there was no other way as far as I was concerned. That there was nothing else that I could do. I was done. It wasn't what I wanted. Wasn't my ideal birth experience, but I was sick and I felt sicker than I had ever felt in my life. I knew there was no way I would be able to even go another hour in the pain I was in.
By 8:30 they had me in the OR and were prepping me. Ernie instructed my doctor "You are supposed to be the best, so do a good job. Make a little incision." He then went outside to have a smoke and call his mom. He was so nervous.
They had me on the table and gave me the spinal block. Luckily for me now my memory of these events is pretty fuzzy because of all of the drugs in my system and the general exhaustion and system slow down from the preeclampsia. I do know that it hurt like a bitch.
They brought Ernie into the OR about 20 minutes later. He had his iPod and little iPod speakers. He played some classical music during the procedure (I know he will kill me for not knowing what it was, I think Bach). He had what he calls the "Buck Shakes" that you get when deer hunting. Basically his entire body was tremmoring and he couldn't get a breath or relax. He sat by my head and tried to joke with the Anesthesiologist, who was thankfully a fabulous gay guy.
I remember asking the Anesthesiologist when they were going to start and he said "honey they are already through 2 layers" and I was like "oh". Then I got sharp pains up my neck and in my chest and I kept asking him if I were having a heart attack or stroke and he kept saying "it's normal, it's normal. I have your vitals on screen here. You're fine". Of course I didn't believe him. Ernie will have to tell the story from here on in because I don't really remember much else. He kept giving me more and more drugs to shut me up and calm me down. I know he gave me Morphine at one point. And by the end of the procedure I was out like a light.
They found a fibroid had been causing the pain in my rib/lung. Apparently it had been deteriorating or something where the blood supply gets cut off and it begins to die off. The babies were pushing on it and it was in turn pushing into my ribs. The Dr decided that it's condition was bad enough to warrant an extraction, even though it is something they never do during a c-section because of the risk of bleeding. I remember smelling the burning while they cauterized it. Gross. I guess that was while I was going under. Ernie had already left with the nurse and the babies to the nursery.
Ernie told me later that the Dr told him afterwards that they had trouble getting the uterus to shrink and to stop bleeding because of the effects of the Magnesium, and had had to give me a few injections of something directly into the uterus to help it to contract. They also had some trouble controlling the bleeding of the fibroid which is why they had to cauterize it. But in the end I lost a lot of blood but was OK.
I guess I came out of the OR about an hour after the babies were born. They brought me back to my room and then brought the babies down to us a few hours later. Their APGAR scores were in the high 9s, so they were healthy and doing well. That was a big relief.
I got to try to feed them at about 12:30 am. They went back to the nursery around 1:30 and Ernie went home to get some sleep. I was monitored every hour throughout the night, blood was drawn, pressure checked, fluid measured, etc. I was still on the Magnesium and the Pitocin, one to help the preeclampsia and one to help the uterus to continue to contract. Needless to say I got little sleep.
The next morning they turned off the Pitocin. We had the babies on and off in the room with us all day. We had a few visitors. My parents were there for a while. I was basically out of it. I was still in Labor and Delivery, they hadn't moved me to the Maternity ward yet because they needed to monitor me closely.
That night (Thursday) they turned off the Magnesium at around 10pm. They finally removed the catheter as my fluid output was back up into the hundreds. I was moved to the Maternity floor at 1:30am. They made me try to walk after almost 72 hours confined to bed and with my incision - talk about pain! That night was very uncomfortable in the new room and I didn't really sleep at all.
That is the end of the birth story. I guess the rest is the hospital/recovery story. I don't know if I have the energy or wherewithal to get it down right now.
We all go home tomorrow - Yay!
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Friday, August 25, 2006
2 New Adzentoivich's
2 New Adzentoivich's were born on August 23.
Vladimir Joseph 5 lbs. 12 oz. 18" born at 9:11pm
Waylon Bram 6 lbs. 7.5 oz. 18.5" born at 9:12pm
Mother and babies are all doing fine at Stamford Hospital and should be headed home on Sunday or Monday.
We have gotten great responses from all of our hip, young artistic friends in NY and abroad, and confused looks and comments from those less artistically inclined.
To the former the 4 of us appreciate your support, and to the Later, you all s
hould be happy that they aren't named Wozzeck and Lazeraus.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Babies Update
No babies yet. Still sitting in this bed with tons of non-fun drugs going into my arm. Only 2cm dilated afer being on Pitocin for 4 hours. We have been in the hospital for 19 hours now. With any luck these guys will be born by midnight.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
This is it...Baby Day!
Yep. I am waiting for Ernie to get home from the city and then we are checking in to Stamford Hospital to be induced.
Turns out I have developed Preeclampsia afterall. Dr says not to worry, we will all come through it OK, but I must admit I am just a scosh nervous.
We will update you all as soon as the boys arrive. I anticipate sometime very early tomorrow.
Wish us all luck!
Turns out I have developed Preeclampsia afterall. Dr says not to worry, we will all come through it OK, but I must admit I am just a scosh nervous.
We will update you all as soon as the boys arrive. I anticipate sometime very early tomorrow.
Wish us all luck!
Monday, August 21, 2006
Getting Ready
The house is almost ready for the arrival of our little guys.
Ernie and his dad installed three new windows, the most important one being in the babies' room.
They also put windows in the bathroom and Ernie's Studio. Tres Magnifique!
Today my mom came over and put the rest of the nursery together, with Ernie's help. It looks great! I will get some pics up tomorrow.
There is a chance that I am developing preeclampsia. We find out for sure tomorrow. If so, the babies will be here by mid-week. Of course we will keep you posted.
Sunday, August 13, 2006
CONGRATULATIONS!
So many babies. Soooooo many........
Congratulations to Krista and Jason on the arrival of little Leia Elizabeth. She is georgous and perfect and was born July 14th (maybe it was the 13th?). Mom and Dad and baby are all doing fine and have already ventured up to our house in CT as well as to several NYC eateries. Bravo!
Congratulations to Josette and Mike on the arrival of little Jonathan Joseph. He is also beautiful and perfect and will be the second counsin of my little guys - or once removed or something like that. And Josette somehow still manages to post on her blog.
Congratulations to Melissa and Yves who just last night welcomed their little guy Noah to the family. He is also adorable and perfect. He was four weeks early and has no problems. He was born in Switzerland, where the family is living for the time being.
Melissa was due the week before me. We thought for sure my guys would be born first, I even asked her to bet me, but she declined.
BUT, rather than having my little babies to hold, I am here at home, miserable. Unable to find a comfortable position in which to exist. Peeing every 4 seconds. Sleeping for 20 minutes at a time. Pumping myself full of drugs to stop my premature labor. Being kicked and punched from the inside by two very aggressive little boys who want OUT NOW!
I have realized that my doctor is a Preemie Nazi. He will in no way allow these babies to be born before 37 weeks. People told me this about him but I guess I didn't really get what that meant. I mean surely these guys must be cooked enough by now, right? I spent 6 hours in the Dr's office on Friday being pumped full of more drugs and IVs of liquid to try to stop my contractions. Nothing worked. My body is rebelling against the drugs. But unfortunately not enough. Not that I want mt babies to be early or in the NICU for even one minute, but couldn't they be done by now? I don't know how much longer I can stand it. And I don't like to think of myself as a complainer. But really, I couldn't feel any worse. When these guys are born it will be the happiest day of my life in more ways than one. Please send booze in lieu of flowers to the hospital after their delivery - it will be mich appreciated, thanks.
Well, congratulations once again to all of my friends on the arrivals of their perfect little bundles of joy! I should also mention the arrival of Simon Kinglsey to Emily and John way back in May. I am so jealous I could spit, but I know my time will come soon enough....I just keep trying to be patient and find strength thought Zen meditation - or ironing.
Congratulations to Krista and Jason on the arrival of little Leia Elizabeth. She is georgous and perfect and was born July 14th (maybe it was the 13th?). Mom and Dad and baby are all doing fine and have already ventured up to our house in CT as well as to several NYC eateries. Bravo!
Congratulations to Josette and Mike on the arrival of little Jonathan Joseph. He is also beautiful and perfect and will be the second counsin of my little guys - or once removed or something like that. And Josette somehow still manages to post on her blog.
Congratulations to Melissa and Yves who just last night welcomed their little guy Noah to the family. He is also adorable and perfect. He was four weeks early and has no problems. He was born in Switzerland, where the family is living for the time being.
Melissa was due the week before me. We thought for sure my guys would be born first, I even asked her to bet me, but she declined.
BUT, rather than having my little babies to hold, I am here at home, miserable. Unable to find a comfortable position in which to exist. Peeing every 4 seconds. Sleeping for 20 minutes at a time. Pumping myself full of drugs to stop my premature labor. Being kicked and punched from the inside by two very aggressive little boys who want OUT NOW!
I have realized that my doctor is a Preemie Nazi. He will in no way allow these babies to be born before 37 weeks. People told me this about him but I guess I didn't really get what that meant. I mean surely these guys must be cooked enough by now, right? I spent 6 hours in the Dr's office on Friday being pumped full of more drugs and IVs of liquid to try to stop my contractions. Nothing worked. My body is rebelling against the drugs. But unfortunately not enough. Not that I want mt babies to be early or in the NICU for even one minute, but couldn't they be done by now? I don't know how much longer I can stand it. And I don't like to think of myself as a complainer. But really, I couldn't feel any worse. When these guys are born it will be the happiest day of my life in more ways than one. Please send booze in lieu of flowers to the hospital after their delivery - it will be mich appreciated, thanks.
Well, congratulations once again to all of my friends on the arrivals of their perfect little bundles of joy! I should also mention the arrival of Simon Kinglsey to Emily and John way back in May. I am so jealous I could spit, but I know my time will come soon enough....I just keep trying to be patient and find strength thought Zen meditation - or ironing.
Monday, August 07, 2006
I know, I know...
It's been an extremely long time since I have contributed a post to the blog. Sorry. Been a little bit busy.
What have I been doing, you ask? Well, working. working lots. Trying to work as much as possible before taking my maternity leave. Trying to get everything established and stabilized with my clients before effectively abandoning them for several weeks.
Been going to lots of doctor's appointments. Twice per week. Usually lasting at least 2 hours and many times more than 4 hours.
These days I am working from home. Thank God.
I have a bunch of new toys. An at-home uterine activity monitor, a terbutaline pump. It's been loads of fun these past few weeks.
Just found out my insurance isn't going to cover the monitor - don't know what we are going to do about that.
The uterine monitor basically is this sensor thing that wraps around your belly (which is now 48 inches around, BTW) with a velcro strap. It is hooked up to a little computer that measures the muscle contractions for an hour. During this hour one must lay still in a reclined position - sounds like a piece of cake, but not when you have 10 pounds of baby and several pounds of baby-sustaining tissue leaning up against your back and cutting the circulation to your lower extremeties. Sitting still in one position isn't all it once was.
Anyway, after the hour is finished you upload the data via the telephone to a monitoring center in St Louis where all of the nurses address you as honey or sweetheart. These nurses call you back once they evaluate your results and either congratulate you or reprimand you for the number of contractions your uterus had in that hour. Bad uterus!
I had many days of 9 - 13 contractions an hour. When this happens the nurses instruct you to lay on your left side and drink a glass of water. Then monitor again. Is it any surprise that I would still experience high numbers of contractions after this high-tech cure all?
After about a week of many contractions my Dr decided to put me on a subcutaneous pump. This pump is in a little pouch that I wear around my torso. It is a mini computer with a big syringe filled with medication attached to it. It attaches to a thin tube (that Mrs. Jinx has chewed through on two occassions) that enters my leg through a subcutaneous catheter. Basically it goes into my skin - or the fattest part of my thigh, as my nurse put it. At this point I have no idea how you would determine where the fattest part is, it's all pretty mushy.
Every hour this little pump gives me a dose of this medication that is supposed to calm the uterine muscle. Side effects include it relaxing your heart and lung muscles too - lovely. So it is necessary to take my pulse several times a day to make sure it isn't doing anything wonky to my heart. It also has the effect of making me shake. I shake like an old alcoholic. It is really nice. And did I mention that is makes you hot? Yep. I have been sitting in my air conditioned bedroom with an oscillating fan blowing on me. Ernie sleeps under the down comforter.
And the best thing is that I am STILL having lots of contractions. They have upped my dosage twice and upped the frequency of when I am given the bolus (higher dose). And this morning I still had 7 contractions in an hour. That is less than 10 minutes apart.
So my days are filled with monitoring and dosing. And working. Three things that alone are not always fun, but when put together are definitely a unique and non-fulfilling challenge.
I keep reminding myself that this is all for the babies' benefit. We need to keep them in there and cook those lungs a little bit longer - maybe 3 weeks? My crazy doctor wants to keep them in there until I am at 38 weeks, which is 4 1/2 weeks from now, but nobody thinks that is going to happen. Me especially. If we make it to 36 weeks I will be perfectly happy and the boys should be fully cooked.
At our last doctor's visit they did a growth scan, which is where they measure certain bones of the babies' bodies using ultrasound. They determined that Baby A is 5 pounds and Bay B is 4lbs, 14oz. So they aren't too scrawny!
We are still working on getting the babies' room together. Window still hasn't been put in. Painting still has not been done. On the flip side, we have managed to set up the "Bachelor Pad" in our bedroom so the boys have a place to stay should they arrive before their permanent room is compelete. We've got one crib, a changing table, a vibrating chair, diaper champ and a little couch for midnight feedings all set. I feel like I am living in my old studio apartment every time I walk into the bedroom. Too much furniture - none of it matching. But at least I can rest assured knowing that my kids have a home.
OK - so that's about all I've got for you guys. Time to go do some work and strap on the monoitor!
What have I been doing, you ask? Well, working. working lots. Trying to work as much as possible before taking my maternity leave. Trying to get everything established and stabilized with my clients before effectively abandoning them for several weeks.
Been going to lots of doctor's appointments. Twice per week. Usually lasting at least 2 hours and many times more than 4 hours.
These days I am working from home. Thank God.
I have a bunch of new toys. An at-home uterine activity monitor, a terbutaline pump. It's been loads of fun these past few weeks.
Just found out my insurance isn't going to cover the monitor - don't know what we are going to do about that.
The uterine monitor basically is this sensor thing that wraps around your belly (which is now 48 inches around, BTW) with a velcro strap. It is hooked up to a little computer that measures the muscle contractions for an hour. During this hour one must lay still in a reclined position - sounds like a piece of cake, but not when you have 10 pounds of baby and several pounds of baby-sustaining tissue leaning up against your back and cutting the circulation to your lower extremeties. Sitting still in one position isn't all it once was.
Anyway, after the hour is finished you upload the data via the telephone to a monitoring center in St Louis where all of the nurses address you as honey or sweetheart. These nurses call you back once they evaluate your results and either congratulate you or reprimand you for the number of contractions your uterus had in that hour. Bad uterus!
I had many days of 9 - 13 contractions an hour. When this happens the nurses instruct you to lay on your left side and drink a glass of water. Then monitor again. Is it any surprise that I would still experience high numbers of contractions after this high-tech cure all?
After about a week of many contractions my Dr decided to put me on a subcutaneous pump. This pump is in a little pouch that I wear around my torso. It is a mini computer with a big syringe filled with medication attached to it. It attaches to a thin tube (that Mrs. Jinx has chewed through on two occassions) that enters my leg through a subcutaneous catheter. Basically it goes into my skin - or the fattest part of my thigh, as my nurse put it. At this point I have no idea how you would determine where the fattest part is, it's all pretty mushy.
Every hour this little pump gives me a dose of this medication that is supposed to calm the uterine muscle. Side effects include it relaxing your heart and lung muscles too - lovely. So it is necessary to take my pulse several times a day to make sure it isn't doing anything wonky to my heart. It also has the effect of making me shake. I shake like an old alcoholic. It is really nice. And did I mention that is makes you hot? Yep. I have been sitting in my air conditioned bedroom with an oscillating fan blowing on me. Ernie sleeps under the down comforter.
And the best thing is that I am STILL having lots of contractions. They have upped my dosage twice and upped the frequency of when I am given the bolus (higher dose). And this morning I still had 7 contractions in an hour. That is less than 10 minutes apart.
So my days are filled with monitoring and dosing. And working. Three things that alone are not always fun, but when put together are definitely a unique and non-fulfilling challenge.
I keep reminding myself that this is all for the babies' benefit. We need to keep them in there and cook those lungs a little bit longer - maybe 3 weeks? My crazy doctor wants to keep them in there until I am at 38 weeks, which is 4 1/2 weeks from now, but nobody thinks that is going to happen. Me especially. If we make it to 36 weeks I will be perfectly happy and the boys should be fully cooked.
At our last doctor's visit they did a growth scan, which is where they measure certain bones of the babies' bodies using ultrasound. They determined that Baby A is 5 pounds and Bay B is 4lbs, 14oz. So they aren't too scrawny!
We are still working on getting the babies' room together. Window still hasn't been put in. Painting still has not been done. On the flip side, we have managed to set up the "Bachelor Pad" in our bedroom so the boys have a place to stay should they arrive before their permanent room is compelete. We've got one crib, a changing table, a vibrating chair, diaper champ and a little couch for midnight feedings all set. I feel like I am living in my old studio apartment every time I walk into the bedroom. Too much furniture - none of it matching. But at least I can rest assured knowing that my kids have a home.
OK - so that's about all I've got for you guys. Time to go do some work and strap on the monoitor!
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