The Inevitable

Well, it's not the only inevitable. The babies will eventually come, and that's expected, of course. What I mean is I have now entered into the dreaded hospital stay they warned me about in April. Bed rest just wasn't enough, I guess. I went in on Thursday, June 4, to get a routine check of the babies' blood flow through their umbilical cords. The week before when they measured the growth, I thought it seemed odd that they weren't concerned that Baby B was even farther behind in her size. As a matter of fact, they didn't even say anything about it. This time they noticed that the Dopplers were off..."more abnormal" were the words. I did another NST at the office, and they sent me straight to the Indiana University Hospital in Indianapolis to monitor us more closely. I didn't even get a chance to go home first. I was thrown off. I should have expected it every time I went in to my appointments, but I just wasn't prepared.

The first day, I was put on the monitors for about 18 hours in labor and delivery ICU. The babies' heartbeats and my contractions were carefully watched. After a lot of adjusting to make Baby B stay on the monitor (she's small but mighty), everything seemed fine. I am now in a smaller room in the 2 South Unit, wherever that is. Every day my vitals are checked (temp, BP, oxygen levels), put on the monitor every 8 hours for half and hour, and given medicine to reduce my contractions every 6 hours. I thought it might get kind of annoying, but I kind of like the company of the nurses.

One nurse came in last night and we talked about how amazing it is that a woman's body changes and adjusts to much during pregnancy. She also had a lot of information about what they are looking for on the monitor, which is what no one had ever explained to me before. She said when I have a conraction, they want to see the heart rate spike and drop. It means the babies are able to tolereate the stress. A doctor at a different time explained to me that if Baby B couldn't handle the stress, they would definitely be delivered by C-section. I also learned that if the baby was in distress and their heart rate didn't drop, a bunch of people would rush into my room and do a "rescucitation of an unborn child." That means laying me on my left side and....I don't know what else. Anyway, the babies seem to be doing fine as far as the heart rates go. I haven't had a doppler check since before I came in, but they'll be doing them three times a week. I am doing ok. I've been having contractions, even when I'm on my medicine, but it's nothing to be concerned about.

As far as my stay here, I have a small room with a lovely view of the rocky rooftop, overshadowed by the enormous side wall of the cancer center. I haven't seen the sky, breathed fresh air, or felt the sunshine since Thursday...it's Sunday, and I don't anticipate going out today either. I CAN go outside, but I have to have someone wheel me out there. Any takers? So far I have had a few visitors every day. Allan has been here every day. He has an hour drive. Our goal is to make it to our anniversary next Sunday without skipping a day, meaning we have seen each other every day since our wedding. If he comes to see me every day until the 14th, he doesn't have to come so often after that. It's just kind of something "romantic" we wanted to do, since being at the hospital hardly allows for a romantic anniversary. I guess there are activities to do around here, like crafts classes and special groups for moms with multiples. I haven't seen the lady that comes around with all the info though. I'll have to hunt her down.

Well, that's it for now. We don't know when the babies will be born. It's a wait-and-see. It depends on how the babies are doing. I'll definitely keep you posted.

ps: For all my facebook friends, the site is blocked here. No facebook unless someone can pull some strings for me :)

Melody