Big Scare and Bedrest

I'm so sorry I have been MIA for a little while. I have a good reason I promise :) This may be a little lengthy, but I want to remember everything that happened. Last Saturday, June 23rd started off as a normal Saturday. We got up early, went to some garage sale, the farmers market, and the mall. By the end of the morning I felt pretty uncomfortable, but who wouldn't be at 31 weeks pregnant walking around on a soon to be close to 100 degree day. When we got to the restaurant for lunch I noticed I was bleeding a little. It wasn't anything to make me very alarmed, but this was the first thing that happened when I went into labor with Isaac at 33 weeks.  I immediately called the on call doctor. She said just to be on the safe side and because of my history I should probably come on in to the hospital. None of us were very concerned since I wasn't really feeling any contractions. My Dad even said he was going to take my mom and Kadynce to the house and come right back and pick us up. Once I got to the hospital things took off pretty quickly. They put me on the monitor and once I got still and started paying attention I noticed I was having some "tightenings" that were coming pretty regularly. They started an IV in hopes that some hydration would make things better. In just a short amount of time these "tightenings" were becoming actual contractions and they were coming every 2-3 minutes. NOT GOOD! The Dr. came in and checked me and I was dilated 2 cm (when I first got there I was only 1 cm). They had also discovered that I had another UTI that was probably what triggered the contractions. She told me I was going to be staying a minimum of 3-4 days then immediately began giving the nurse orders. Steroids, magnesium sulfate, procardia, IV antibiotics. You see, I worked on a high risk antepartum unit for about 18 months. While I know this makes me far from an expert, I knew what those orders meant and I knew that they were pulling out all the stops to keep this baby from coming and to prepare her if she did.

This is where I started to lose it just a little. I went from enjoying a normal Saturday with my family to being in the hospital, getting pumped full of IVs (magnesium is NOT fun)trying to keep my 31 week baby inside. God is so good though because right then is when they informed me that my nurse was going to be the same one that was there the day Isaac was born. She is AMAZING! While that news made the tears flow harder they were tears of relief. This was to me the Lord reminding me that His hand was in all that was going on and he was going to take care of both me a Lydia. It took until about midnight, but my contractions finally spaced out and I hadn't dilated past 2 cm. After a long, sleepless night they were able to turn the medication off and I was able to get up and shower. I felt like a new woman. The next few days were pretty uneventful. They continued the IV antibiotics for the UTI while waiting for the culture to come back, finished my steroids to help develop Lydia's lungs, did 2 sonograms (Lydia wasn't doing the "practice breathing" on the first one which is fairly normal at 31 weeks), and discontinued my oral medication that was preventing contractions. When my culture came back saying that I could just take oral medication for the UTI and my contractions had not returned I was discharged home on bed/couch rest until 36 weeks. That was Tuesday night.

Whew.... that was a lot of information. I'm not going to pretend that this has been or is going to be easy. I have had my moments of feeling discouraged. After all we went through with Isaac all I want is a healthy baby. It's hard to understand why this pregnancy has been so difficult. On top of that I still have so much to do before Lydia gets here. I had pretty much completely cleared the calender in July and that was when we were supposed to do everything. Washing baby clothes, painting the nursery, sewing bedding, organizing closets, and making freezer meals were just a few of the things on my to do list. While this is not what I would have chosen I am so thankful for so much and I know this is a part of God's plan. He has shown me that over and over this past week. So many people have already helped us so much and we just can't say thank you enough. From people coming to the hospital, to those that have watched Kadynce, to the wonderful meals, to the prayers and encouragement. We have been blessed by you.