I don't really remember what happened during the first part of the 31st week of the pregnancy as it is all overshadowed by the events of Tuesday night through Friday. Tuesday night Micah and I were watching Mad Men (we recently started watching this series to give us something to do together through the end of the pregnancy) and I went to the bathroom and realized I was bleeding. It wasn't terrible, but any bleeding this late in a pregnancy is not a good sign, so we gathered a few things and left for the hospital around 9:30. At the hospital I went straight to maternity triage and got hooked up on the monitor so we could make sure the babies were okay and to monitor my contractions. Apparently I was having contractions every two minutes, but most were not very strong as I could not feel them. The doctor came in and did an exam and said it looked like the bleeding had stopped, but he was not sure what caused it and was worried that it was a sign of preterm labor. The combination of the bleeding and contractions were enough to convince the doctor that I should get on magnesium to slow the "labor." I didn't know much about magnesium, but I knew it wouldn't be a fun experience.
They brought me into a room, transferred me to a hospital bed, I got to use the bathroom one last time, and then they started the IV for the magnesium. The first dose was awful as it made me so hot and uncomfortable that I had ice packs and cold washcloths on me to try to keep me cool. The rate of the magnesium was then slowed a bit so it wasn't as bad, but it definitely did not feel good. Since the magnesium makes you very dizzy, the rest of the night I was not allowed to get up to use the bathroom so the nurse said she could either put in a catheter or bring a bedpan to me. Although you lose all dignity with a bedpan, I was not interested in finding out what a catheter was like just yet, so I took the bedpan option. This might sound like a ridiculous detail, but after 36 hours of laying in bed with an IV in you, feeling so terrible that all you can do is stare off into space (it was really hard for me to sleep), and using a bedpan, I think you would remember the bedpan as well as it became more and more torturous as time went on.
My doctors and I had been talking about when I should get the steroid shot that would help develop the babies' lungs since they would definitely be premature even if I made it to 35 weeks (the new max per additional research my doctors had been doing), so I knew this was coming down the road, and the supposed preterm labor gave the doctor reason for me to get it immediately. This I was fine with since I definitely want the best for the babies. It is a two part shot that is given 24 hours apart, so the first part was given at 1:00 a.m. on Wednesday and I received the second part at 1:00 on Thursday. Recent research suggested that it was best to get the shot while on magnesium as the magnesium protected the babies' brains, so the doctor really wanted me to stay on the mag until 1:00 a.m. Friday so that the babies received the full benefit.
My contractions slowed to a normal level (I had a ton of contractions over the last couple of months of the pregnancy that ranged from 2 / hour to 12 / hour) but the doctors still thought I should stay on the mag for the brain benefits in combination with the steroid shot. I was getting extremely dehydrated as the nurse made me use the bedpan every two hours (she was threatening me with a catheter) and I hardly had any output. My legs, feet, and ankles were becoming so swollen and filled with fluid from the combination of the magnesium and the stupid hospital bed that puts your feet lower than your butt.
Throughout the day on Wednesday I ate the hospital food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner as the nurses said it was fine since I appeared to be handling the magnesium well. Breakfast and lunch went down fine, but by the time I got to dinner I was not feeling great so I just ordered simple foods (chicken soup, baked potato, roll) and only ate about half. Micah had gone to work, came to the hospital for a little bit to check in on me, and then he went home for a bit to grab some stuff and eat dinner.
By the time he got back I felt very, very nauseous. Apparently I only mentioned this to Micah (not the nurse) and he didn't think much of it as I had been feeling nauseous the previous two days at home. I wasn't all that concerned either, until I had to pull myself up to use the bedpan (nurse's orders) and work hard to get the required two ounces of urine out per hour. Micah pulled the bedpan when I was done as the nurse had stepped out, and all of a sudden, without any warning, I was projectile vomiting all over myself. Micah grabbed a bucket, which was good since I continued to be very sick, but I was a mess already. The nurse came back and was extremely surprised to see me so sick. After I had been sick for several minutes I felt much, much better, but I was a mess and I wasn't allowed to get out of bed because of the magnesium. Micah and the nurse spent a lot of time cleaning me and the bed up, and then the nurse looked at the computer for my most recent blood draw results. Apparently, they periodically checked the magnesium levels in my blood and the max was 5.8, but my level was 7.1. The magnesium overdose had made me sick! So the nurse immediately stopped the IV.
Although the doctor really wanted to start the mag back up so I got the full "benefit," my level continued to be high so the mag was not restarted. The lack of IV meant that I got to use the bathroom again too, which was amazing for me. But I still couldn't shower so it was pretty gross that I was covered in vomit earlier.
Thursday morning the doctor on duty came in and told me I could go home. Since my contractions never picked back up after the magnesium had been stopped, she decided that either it was not preterm labor or it had been stopped, and that I should go home. She had also talked to my perinatologist and decided that I should stop at her office for a thorough ultrasound to make sure that my cervix length was okay and that the babies all looked good.
The ultrasounds went well as the babies looked great. My cervix had shortened - in the past it was always around 5 cm and it was down to just under 3 cm - but the doctor was not really concerned. She said that the bleeding was probably caused by the change in my cervix.
I went home, SHOWERED, and sat on the couch the rest of the day and night as my legs were soooooo swollen that I looked like the Michelin man. I didn't get any pics of this, nor did I get a 31 week picture since I was in the hospital and then I was so uncomfortable with the swelling that I didn't want to take a picture.
Thursday night I checked for blood every time I went to the bathroom, which was frequent since the fluid was draining from my legs. Every time I only saw the old blood (dark, not bright red) so I was not concerned. Micah left the house around 8:30 as he wanted to go to the range before work, but he made me get up and check for bleeding before he left just to be totally sure I was fine. I was fine so I crawled back in bed for another hour.
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