Maggie's Week One Recap

We are one week done!! Everyone here has told me that I need to make small goals for myself instead of looking 16 weeks down the line, and here we are... one week done! When I got here one week ago, I had no idea what the future was going to be for us (and still really don't) but at least we are getting a little closer to having an idea. A lot of things have happened in the past week and I know that when this is all said and done, one week will seem like nothing :) So here is the run-down from the week:

Came on Monday afternoon and got started on a drug called Magnesium Sulfate to stop/slow down contractions. That worked relatively well to slow down the contractions, but never stop them although made me COMPLETELY loopy and out of it for a few days and feel really crummy. While I was still having contractions on Tuesday, they used the Magnesium Sulfate and another drug and kept the contractions to about 4-5 per hour. They thought that was good. On Wednesday, they thought that I was under control enough to put me on a pump style drug in my leg similar to an insulin pump. That drug didn't have too many bad side effects, mostly just raised mine (and Wyatt's) heart rate, but I was detached from the beloved IV pole. This seemed to work for a while and I was much more myself on that particular drug. Thursday night was our rather eventful night this week. Somehow, Wyatt was getting himself stuck on the umbilical cord and his heart rate was dropping for periods of time throughout the night. They kept coming in several times through the night and moving me in strange positions, put me back on IV fluids, put me on oxygen, etc in order to get that under control and finally they did at about 6 am. Sadly neither Chris nor myself got much sleep due to the beeping, buzzing, loud flurry of activity that night. I feel bad for Chris because he had to go to work the next day and I just had to sit in a bed and sleep as I felt like it. Friday was pretty uneventful. Saturday my contractions picked up again in the afternoon to every 2 minutes, and after trying one more oral drug, it was determined that the pump was just not going to cut it any more and they would need to get out the "big guns" again in order to hopefully slow them back down. So back onto the Magnesium Sulfate I go. I was dreading this since I had every side effect known to man the first go round, but I knew that I had to do what
was best in order to keep Wyatt in where he belongs for as long as possible.

And here we are back to Monday again! As my friend Lindsay described it, Magnesium Sulfate is "liquid death", and that is sort of what it feels like. It feels like your veins are on fire as it goes in, it makes you nauseous, blurred vision, unsteady on your feet, say silly things, lose muscle control, dries out your mouth and chest, causes headaches and of course vomiting, but it is worth it. They tell me that as I am on it longer, my body will get more used to it and the side effects will decrease. So far, I agree. This second time around, I have only had a slight bit of nausea, vomiting, and blurred vision, but I still feel like myself. I can play on the iPad, look at magazines from time to time, and watch TV. I am not sure my reading comprehension is what it should be, but it will get there over time, I am sure :)

I am getting a lot of questions about how long I will reside at Community Hospital. I do not have a definite answer on that since Wyatt seems to have a stubborn streak (obviously, he gets that from his father) and lacks some patience (I blame Chris for that), or maybe he is just overly excited to make some friends and be social (something I will take full responsibility for). But what I do know is that I am here for this week. And my incredible doctor mentioned in passing that we might discuss the options for going home around the 32 week mark depending on various conditions (that puts me at Mid-January by the way...)but she said that she has seen it all too often where a person is sent home and comes right back because bed rest is much harder to do at home than in a hospital-- I am sure, at home there are dishes, trash, cleaning, laundry, mail, etc that could be distracting while in the hospital, all I have to do is lay here and get up to use the restroom... So in a nutshell, I am going to be here awhile, but I am in the best place I can be for my own health as well as Wyatt's.

I thought I would share with you "positives" of being on bed rest at Community:
1. I can watch as many Lifetime Movies as I feel like it.
2. My body is adjusting to being woken up every 4 hours-- will come in handy when the baby gets here.
3. I have friends that do not work that can come see me more than I see them while not on bed rest.
4. We put fewer miles on our car and of course spend less on gas since only one person can drive.
5. I am getting really good at playing games on my iPad and am open to suggestions of new things to download.
6. I get to hear my babies heartbeat several times a day and listen to him get the hiccups and kick the nurses back when they start poking at him.
7. I can be extremely lazy all day long and have people do things for me like throw my trash away-- although, it is getting quite old.
8. I know that I am keeping Wyatt safe and sound as long as he will be there.

There are many more to come, but I thought I would share my thoughts from the first week! Hope that everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

Maggie