My first trip to the hospital...

Ok... so to say the past week has been a whirlwind is still a little bit of an understatement!...

As most of you know, I have been in the hospital for the past few days... Here's how it all went down & a little summary of my very first hospital stay...

Thursday- It all started with my regular 2 week check-up with my OB... He always checks my cervix at every visit, but this time he felt that it was getting shorter (which is a sign of preterm labor) so he asked me to come in the next day for an ultrasound just to confirm what he thought he felt.

Friday- I go in for my ultrasound and it confirms that it has indeed gotten 11mm shorter in 2 weeks so he decides to admit me into the hospital for further monitoring since I have also been having cramps. Sweet Wormie was not at this appointment with me because he had a meeting so my doctor told me I should go pick Jeremy up and come straight back to the hospital and go in through the labor and delivery entrance and they would be waiting for me... We get checked in to the Antepartum area and get settled in a room and all the fun begins... *Side note- they have different sections in the Labor & delivery unit. Antepartum is for high risk pregnancies, but it's not constant monitoring like other areas of Labor & Delivery*

They hook me up to a contraction monitor and baby heart rate monitor (which are 2 stethoscope looking things connected to a computer screen and held in place by 2 thick bands that go around my waist). Once on the monitor, it shows that I was having several contractions (which I hadn't been feeling) so they start an IV of fluids & amoxicillin and give me meds to try to stop the contractions. They also decide to start a round of steroid injections to help speed up Baby Anniston's lung development in case she comes early.

Let me just say, the steroid shot was unbelievable painful!!!! Getting shots & stuck with needles does not really terrify me- I don't like getting my blood drawn, but other than that I'm usually ok with them if I just look away... The nurse warned me that the needle was really big & long and that it was going to burn once she injected me, but I was not prepared for how bad it was really going to be! The shot had to go in my bottom, so I rolled over to my side & Sweet Wormie held my hand. While she was giving me the shot, it felt like it lasted forever! I ended up squeezing Wormie's hand so hard!... I even think I bit it because I needed to bite down on something for the pain! By the end of it, I had tears rolling down my face! :( But the shot really helps Baby Anniston and that's what I had to be focused on. The nurse said that basically all of the steroids go directly to the baby and it can help to develop Baby Anniston's lungs in 3 days that would normally take 3 weeks to do!

Saturday- This day was kinda quiet for the most part... They just continued to monitor me off and on throughout the day and kept me hooked up to the IV... I got another steroid shot later in the day and the nurses let Sweet Wormie take me on a wheelchair ride for 30 minutes! :) We went to the nursery to see all the little babies that were just born and out to the serenity garden...

At this point in our hospital stay, I wasn't too miserable yet... I was thinking we would maybe be able to get sent home on Monday... Plus, there was a pretty decent room service menu I could order from 3x a day and the nurses let us have free rein to their ice cream & Popsicle fridge... Little did we know, this was just the beginning!...

Sunday- Early Sunday morning I think is when things started to go down hill a little... I got hooked up to my monitors early that morning after breakfast... the original plan for this day was to transition me to new meds I would be able to take at home for my contractions and put me on bedrest at home, but that morning while they were monitoring me was the first time they noticed Baby Anniston's heart rate drop a little & I was still having contractions. She bounced back pretty quickly, but they were concerned enough to put me back on the monitors more throughout the day.

During lunch, the monitors show Baby Anniston's heart rate dropping again so 2 nurses come running in my room. They said I had to move to Labor & Delivery and start a magnesium IV treatment ASAP... everything was happening so quickly... in no time, I was moved to an L & D room and getting all kinds of monitors and wires hooked up to me.

The magnesium treatment was BRUTAL!!! First, they have to pump it into your system really fast for 30 minutes and then they turn it down. When the mag is in your system, it makes you EXTREMELY HOT!!! We had the a/c in my room turned down to 55 degrees and I had a huge bucket of washcloths soaking in ice water that they were putting all over my body and changing out every 5 minutes or so!... The mag also makes it hard to breath so I had to really concentrate on breathing...

This is me on mag...

While I was on the mag, I was hooked up to soooo many wires and contraptions!! They kept a blood pressure cuff on me that was programmed to take my BP every hour, the baby heart rate monitor & contraction monitor around my waist, an IV, plus 3 other wires stuck to my chest to measure my heart rate & breathing, and another wire thing stuck to my finger! I was freaking out!! I don't even like wearing necklaces or having my sheets tucked in the bed because I have a slight issue with being restricted & claustrophobia so I was dying!!... On top of all that, I had to use a bed pan because I couldn't even walk to the bathroom!! :(... that was definitely an awkward experience!

Monday- I was on the mag for about 10 hours and they had to take me off because I was having a really hard time breathing, having chest pains, & was throwing up! So I spent most of Monday recovering from the side effects... While on it, your not allowed to eat or drink anything!- not even water! I was only allowed to have ice chips, but when I started throwing up, the nurse took my ice chips away :( ... so when I was finally allowed to eat on Monday afternoon, Sweet Wormie got me a smoothie & plate of fries from the cafeteria...

The rest of my time in the hospital is really kind of a blur?!?!... It was a lot more monitoring, meds, no sleeping, oxygen masks, IVs, no showering allowed, hospital food, & bed rest... Somewhere along the line they hooked me up to these fancy booties that filled up with air every few minutes to help stimulate the blood flow in my legs so I wouldn't get blood clots... add that to the 20 other contraptions & wires I was hooked up to all day long... When I was finally allowed to walk to the bathroom, unhooking & rehooking me from all my wires was such an ordeal!

Wednesday- This was mine & Jeremy's 3 year wedding anniversary!... They FINALLY let me take a shower (Praise the Lord!!) and for dinner he went to pick up Outback for us!!... :)

Thursday- I was discharged and sent home on bedrest!! {Hallelujah!!}... and that is where I am now... I am only allowed to get up to use the bathroom & walk to the kitchen to get a quick bite to eat... I also have meds to take at home to keep the contractions in check...

I have a f/up doctor's appointment on Wed so I hope to know more then about how long they will have me on bedrest...

P.S. Thank you everyone for your thoughts, prayers, texts, visits, flowers, and support!! The out-pouring of love we got from our family, friends, & church was really comforting during this time!