32 weeks! (and an unexpected trip)

 

I woke up last Wednesday morning feeling what I thought were just Braxton Hicks contractions. I had felt some before, but these were just slightly more intense and definitely more frequent than I had ever felt. I laid down for a while thinking that they would just go away, but after about an hour or so of regular contractions we decided to call the triage nurse. After explaining everything to her she put a call into the on-call doctor and then called us back to let us know that we should head to labor and delivery. 

I really thought it was no big deal. Chad even asked if we should pack a bag and I said no, I'm sure they're just going to monitor us for a while and send us home. Little did I know....

We arrived at the hospital and were sent to triage. After hooking the monitors up we saw that the contractions were coming every two minutes!  I was given a shot right away to stop them and soon after the contractions flat lined. We were sent to the maternal fetal medicine specialists to check on the babies and to see if any progress had been made. The babies looked great, but it turned out things were progressing and I was in fact in preterm labor. It was then that we were told we wouldn't be going home that day.

They started the steroid shots to help the babies lungs develop and continued to monitor us all. That day turned into a five day stay at the hospital! We received excellent care and all the doctors have informed us that at this point the babies should do wonderfully, but of course we all want them to stay put as long as possible! 

I was able to come home on Monday with medicine to control contractions and on bed rest. I've been feeling great since being home and I'm hopeful that we will be able to get a couple more weeks down the road. Will you join us in praying that? 

This has taken me by surprise because things had been going so smoothly. Even though I know the girls will be fine, it crushes me to think about leaving them at the hospital in nicu for who knows how long if they come too early. I know that God is in control and He already knows their birthday, even if it does end up being earlier than we planned.

Actually our whole journey to this point has been different than we planned, but God is still good! 

We were supposed to have maternity pictures taken over the weekend, but that didn't happen so my mom took a couple of impromptu hospital photos. Not exactly what I had in mind, but it's not the end of the world =)

How Far Along: 32 weeks

Size of Babies: Honeydew Melon

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 43 lbs

Genders: Two girls!!

Movement: Yes! I keep wondering if at some point they won't really have room to move anymore, but they are still dancing all around!

Sleep: Sleep is not so great.  

Maternity Clothes: Yes!

Symptoms: Pretty bad round ligament pain, sporadic contractions.

Aversions: Nothing specific I can think of. 

Cravings: Ice cold water and just food in general.  

What I miss: Not a thing. I've waited too long for this and I'm grateful for everything I'm experiencing.

Best Moment this week: Getting to come home from the hospital. 

What I'm looking forward to: Making it another week. Or two, or three!