Elizabeth Joy is our seventh child. At 13 weeks, we learned she would likely have Turner Syndrome (Monosomy X). 98/100 TS girls don't survive the pregnancy so we spent the next several weeks waiting and hoping for good news. At our 18 week anatomy scan, we were told her prognosis looked good and they expected her to survive! What a relief. In addition to our fears for her health, I have a short cervix and had some scary bleeding around 16 weeks. I began receiving weekly scans to check on the cervix in addition to weekly progesterone shots to help prevent preterm birth. At 24 weeks, I was hospitalized for three days due to kidney stones... and at 25+5, my water broke. I am now on day 3 of hospital bedrest and will stay here until Elizabeth arrives... hopefully several weeks down the road. I am starting this blog to follow my bedrest journey, our NICU time, and Elizabeth's journey with TS. Here's a recap of our hospital stay so far:
Day 1- Wednesday: about 7 am I tell hubby I seem to have a a little leaking. It stops and I have an OB appt scheduled for 9:50, so I plan to call and confirm that they can check me there. OB says go to L&D. I arrived at the hospital around 9:30 (still no more leaking) and when the tests were run, no evidence of amniotic fluid was found. So I went home... as I stepped out of my van about 11:15, I had several small gushes of fluid with each step. I thought... "hmmmm... benefit of doubt, maybe thats the gel from the exam liquifying..." I knew better. I investigated and it definitely appeared to be another small amnio leak based on color/odor/ph strips. Decided to sit and give it a bit of time before I headed back. I sat down for about 30 minutes and then the guy arrived to shampoo our carpet-- so I got up to let him in and as I was showing him the floor to be done, I started experiencing multiple larger gushes. There was no doubt that this was my waters. I did another PH test (because I have weird medical/science inclinations) and the strip was as blue as it gets. In the course of twenty minutes, I soaked three pads and my clothing before arriving back at L&D. This time I didn't say "I think my water is leaking"... I said, "my water broke". We still had to go through the testing, as fluid was running out of me like a waterfall. "Just to confirm its not urine"... hahaha. Before long I was settled in my room, IV in, antibiotic loading, steroid shot on board, and a magnesium infusion going. I will be here until baby is born.
Day 2- uneventful-- that's what we want. Continue IV antibiotics- I'm receiving two antibiotics via IV to ward off infection. In the afternoon I received my second steroid shot. Hubby doesn't like to watch those. :-/ I had my third IV placed because my veins keep blowing. NST in am and baby girl looks great.
Day 3- TODAY... 26 WEEKS. Yay! Finishing up IV antibiotics- should be done shortly after noon, then IV will come out and I can take a shower. We will start oral antibiotics for the next few days. Still lots of fluid coming out-- they have me using these pads that are literally half the size of a chux pad. When I tried to switch to a nighttime maxi, I instantly regretted that... fluids are still clear... all the questions are no-- no bleeding, no change in color/odor, no contractions. This is what we want to hear.
No comments:
Post a Comment