The Beginning at Baptist.

I arrived at Baptist about 8:30 pm on November 11th. It had been a long day. They got me set up in a room and I vaguely remember some family and friends coming to visit but that could have been another day as well. I can't be sure of when specific things occurred over the next few days. It is all a blur and it was then too. 

My doctor checked me again and I had dilated to a 4. That meant another round of magnesium. Yuck. Matt and I were so unsure of what was going on, but I am pretty sure that I cried for a week straight. After the third round of magnesium, things seem to be somewhat stable.  At some point during the night a NICU nurse came to talk to us about what we could expect if I delivered at 24 week. The survival rate was 51%. She explained how underdeveloped our babies would be and since they didn't even weight one pound yet, things looked pretty grim. She told us we might have to make some difficult decisions based on the health and quality of life our children might have. Even now, thinking about that brings me to tears. I don't know how we could have made those kinds of decisions. To think that we might not get to enjoy our babies and watch them grow up was unbearable. Matt and I talked about it after she left and knew that we would not want our children to suffer. We decided that we wouldn't even try to process that or make any preliminary decisions. It was just too difficult.

I am not sure how much sleep either of us got during those first few days. There were lots of downs and a few  stable moments. One night, four nurses and one anesthesiologist stuck me seven times before they were able to get a good IV port. So on top of all of the other stuff, I was a pin cushion.

At this point I was on complete bed rest and would be for a week and a half.  I had a few more magnesium rounds and was put on a medication four times a day and had what we came to call my rescue shots to keep me from contracting and dilating anymore. I didn't get to shower for a week an a half. You can imagine how I looked after crying for a week, sweating profusely from the magnesium and laying in a bed but not sleeping much. I did not master the use of the bedpan, but was brought to new levels of comfort (or complete and total  humiliation) with my mother, husband and a few nurses.

Things began to settle after those first 9 days and finally I was allowed to get up and shower. What a glorious 5 minute shower it was. It took me 20 minutes just to get ready to walk 6 feet and sit in the shower, but it was totally worth it. My mother took my doctor's orders of a short shower to the max. She was so strict about in and out but I savored every moment, because I was not sure when the next one would be. I do have to say it was nice to have someone else wash my hair! Thanks Mama!

We had been hearing that the new and improved wing would be open any day and I would be one of the first ones moved over there, so on day 10, they moved me to my new home! Room 418.