Two steps forward and 7 steps back

I am actually writing this blog post 4 days after the actual date.  Thanks so much in part to Morgan for charting and taking down note after note during much of the chaotic part of the day.  Thanks also for the support that you gave even when I was so insistent that I was OK alone.  And thanks for finally telling me, "it's time" to call Ryan.......

So I awoke this morning at 4:30, well, I guess "awoke" wouldn't be the word since I have been up all night long. More like I woke up for the 10th time since 10pm from the lower back pain I was having.  All of which was the same back pain I have been having from day one.  The only difference is that it is on the left side today instead of right.  Ryan left for work around 5am and I laid around for awhile then thought if I am going to be awake I might as well be doing something.  So, I got up, paid bills, did some laundry, showered, and by 7am thought it was time to call the doctor since this pain was being so stubborn and not being relieved with Tylenol.  I already basically knew what the triage lady was going to say and I was right.  She told me to come in for an appointment.  As soon as I walked in the door at the doctors office they told me that she meant to send me straight to the hospital so I got back into the car and headed over to Banner Gateway OB Triage department.  I walked in there just fine, told them about the back pain, peed in a cup, jumped into bed and they hooked me up to the monitors.  Basically, there are two disks on your belly one that monitors the babies heart rate and the other that monitors your contractions.  I remember thinking to myself, "Really? This is so overplayed.  I so do NOT need all of this stuff".  And then there were like 3 nurses standing at the end of my bed drilling me on how long the "contractions" have been going for, what time they started, how long they are lasting, do I feel pressure, has my water broke...... WHOOO really people?  I had no idea that the "back tenderness" that I was having was contractions..... I was abruptly proved wrong.  Told I would NOT be leaving, would not be returning to flying for work, and in fact would not be returning to work PERIOD.  AHHHHHH!  There it was, the words I didn't want to hear.  I WAS going to make it to the end working, maybe not flying, but damnit I would be the one working the day before I pushed him out...... or NOT!

So things abruptly changed: I soon lost all modesty and the talk went from contraction times to cervical length.  I remember thinking, "No way in hell am I dilated, I just cleaned the pool yesterday, its too early, and I feel fine".  Yup again, shut down by my own...... I was checked and told that I was dilated 2cm and 80% effaced.  While I could hear the concern in the nurses voices I also remember them saying that pre-term labor isn't always uncommon and they were going to start meds that would take care of it all.  My doctor, Dr. Guzman, was not on call that day but Dr. Allen from the same group was. She was in surgery all day but the nurses kept calling to get orders and update her on my status.  At first they just tried me on a medication called Terbutaline.  It is small, much like an insulin shot, and goes in the back of the arm.  No biggie, stung a little and then 5 minutes later I felt like I was on crack.  It felt similar to drinking adrenaline, heart pounding and headache.  The effects lasted only about 15 minutes and it really didn't touch the contractions, so another one was in order.  I received the second one and I guess you could say that it slowed the contractions from every 2-3 minutes to every 3-4 or so.  They soon picked back up and the third and final shot was given.  By this point I was also receiving an IV and told that I would be admitted and possibly started on a Magnesium drip.


Soon enough the drip was started.  I was given 4 grams of Magnesium bolus over 30 minutes to begin the infusion and then the drip started at 2.0 grams per hour.  This all began around 3p.m. or so.  Needless to say, I was warned about all of the side effects from this horrible drug but was definitely not aware of the actual result.  They told me that it would make me lose my appetite, nauseated, dizzy, flushed feeling, weakness and so on.  I felt pretty good through the bolus, so much so that I actually scarfed down a sandwich really fast,  but once they started with the actual infusion and titratingMorg!!!

5:15pm: Magnesium was increased to 3.5 grams per hour due to no decrease in the contractions.  5:45pm: I was totally restricted to the bed and they put a catheter in me.  Boy was this fun!!!!.... NOT!  I think the worst part is that Michael remained breech and every time he kicked it fell like the catheter was going to fall out.  6:00pm: I had started to feel pressure and pain.  Missy called Dr. Allen back and told her to come back to re-evaluate me.   She also put a bedpan upside down under my butt and laid my head flat in hopes that Michael would move the OPPOSITE direction and not continue to start coming out.  6:15pm Dr. Allen returned and basically said, "its' time"..... Now is when the panic began.  I had to call Ryan and tell him to come home (from Yuma).  I had delayed this all day and told him that everything would be fine.  In a way I felt guilty for waiting so long and also cause I thought about what would happen if he missed his son's birth.  I have to add, since being on the Magnesium drip and them titrating it up so much I was basically a 1:1 nurse to patient ratio.  I gained a lot of respect for Labor and Delivery nurses!!! They were checking my reflexes, pain, pulse, blood pressure, and everything else every 15 minutes.  6:20pm the Nurse Anesthetist was there explaining spinal and epidurals for pain relief, the difference between the two and had me sign consents for both.  At this time I was also signing a consent for a c-section and just in case I would need a blood transfusion.  By 7pm it was shift change and Missy was leaving and Michelle was my new nurse.  Morgan continued to update Ryan constantly on his way home.  Oh, and I forgot to mention, Ryan had taken the boat down to Yuma to work on it while there so he was also towing the boat back. (I know, the story is quite a laugh NOW!!!)  I remember very little around this time but I do remember keep thinking to myself, "hold on, he will be here soon".  I don't think that minutes have ever felt so LONG, EVER!!!  By 7:15pm Dr. Allen rechecked me again, I was still 3cm and 80% effaced but he had moved from a -2 station down to a 0 station, which basically means he was entering the birth canal butt first- OH YEAH!!!  Dr. Allen did a bedside ultrasound to confirm that he actually was butt first and he hadn't moved.  Ryan was still 1.5 hours away.  By this time Dr. Allen had basically laid it on the line that if there was any further progression I would be rushed in for a c-section and there would be no waiting for Ryan.  I was then asked if Morgan would be going with me.  At this point I really didn't care who, what, or when I just wanted him to STAY PUT.  I had said yes to Morgan coming with if Ry wasn't there yet and I know it freaked her out.... Just a little:) At 8:05pm I was rechecked and there were no changes and everything was status quo.  8:30pm Ryan was in Maricopa with the boat dropping it off at the house and coming straight to the hospital.  I was also rechecked at this time and though there was no change I had also felt like amniotic fluid was leaking.  They said that there may have been a slow leak in the bag and the fern test was inconclusive.  9:20pm Ryan finally arrived at the hospital.  Much relief was felt by all.  Dr. Allen came back in to talk with me regarding the continuous leaking feeling and it was basically said that it was a waiting game.  At this time they were going to just continue to monitor.  Morgan left the hospital around 10pm.  It was a long, long, long day for everyone!  

 As you can see the Magnesium took away my "pregnancy glow" HAA!!!

 Yup, I'm feeling just about as horrible as I look!!! Good picture of Ryan though:)