Saturday at the birth center

Greetings from the birth center! We had an eventful last day or so & things are going well.

Theresa was on an i.v. of magnesium sulfate all day to put the brakes on the contractions. That worked for quite some time, long enough for her to get the 2nd shot of the steriods that are designed to speed up lung development in preemies.

I forget the name of the steriod, but they only give it when pre-term birth seems inevitible. It comes in a big needle and they give you a shot in the ass with it. The first shot Tee had went in a bit better than the second one, which made her bum hurt for a time.

Maybe it's no surprise, but there are only women that work here. I've seen one dude since I got here and the rest are ladies.

So, the magnesium! Holy shit. When it's brought up around here, the staff get a pained look on their face. Then, softly, they'd ask, "Did they tell you what to expect with that?"

Um, they did, and you're supposed to expect, it seems, to get your ass kicked. Tight chest, headache, overheating. Deep, deep malaise.

It did its job, though, at least for a while, and she had minimal contractions yesterday and throughout the night.

Most babies, when their mom's are on magnesium!, absorb some of the side effects of the meds and are listless, don't move around much, and sometimes have lowered heart rate. Not my son! He's been in there playing tic-tac-toe with himself and jump rope with the umbilical cord. It's been kind of a wow factor with the nurses when they see his heartrate and stuff - pretty cool. Regardless of what else is happening, Fenix is super healthy.

After a time - oh dark thirty this morning - the magnesium! wore off and the contractions returned. Not returned in a "oh gosh this baby is about to come out" but "yyyyyep, that's a contraction. yyyep, that's another one", etc. So, thankfully, they removed the magnesium! i.v. and T started to feel better in pretty short order.

So here we are, Saturday morning. Been here at the birthing center since Thursday afternoon. Theresa is on bed rest, which not only means that she's in bed except for trips to the bathroom, but that she needs to be in bed in such a manner that does not put weight, and therefore stress, on her cervix. = lying down. = boring.

We're in the "wait and see what happens next" phase. Either labor will begin in earnest, or not.

Stay tuned!

Sigh. This little guy really wants to come

So as many of you know, I am in the birthing center. It appears that Fenix is really ready to come out now.
Here's what happened....

Early Weds a.m. I started having tons of painful contractions. This went on for about an hour and a half. I tried all the tricks to make them go away and eventually they did.

Fast forward to Thursday. I woke up feeling less then great so I decided to work from home. That afternoon I had an appointment with my midwife and I mentioned the contraction incident from Weds. She seemed concerned and decided to check my cervix. Well guess what? It was thinning and softening. Not a good thing at 33 weeks.

She sent me over to the birth center (across the street) for an ultrasound and to be put on the contraction monitor. We found out that I was still having contractions... some that I hadn't even noticed. Given the frequency of the contractions they gave me a shot to stop them and then another slower acting pill that does the same. They stopped for about an hour and came right back. At this point the decision was made to give me another shot of the drug and then a shot of steroids in my hip to help speed up lung development in the baby in case he was really coming soon.

I was admitted, transferred to a private room and got a sleeping pill to get me thru the night. Jason slept here too.

Well at around 1pm today the painful contractions started up again. That's when they decided to pull out the big guns and give me an IV of magnesium sulfate as a last ditch effort to stop my labor because a pelvic exam revealed that I am already 2cm dilated, my cervix is softer and thinner and the baby's head is low in my pelvis.
Bonus they gave me another ultrasound and I saw his little head and face. He is freaking so cute!

Anyway this latest drug makes you feel like ASS. And I mean that. But I am trying my best to stay positive and keep thinking good thoughts. I can still shoot for a vaginal birth (I'm told it will likely be easier on me now since he is small) and my midwife can still do my delivery.

As a bonus tomorrow my childbirth instructor, Penny Simkin, is stopping by to check on me. I have to say that this woman is my personal hero and if you are having a baby please please read her books. And better yet if you are in Seattle you must take her class.

But I digress. I feel like crap right now but at least I'm still pregnant. I don't want to leave my little boy here! I would love to have him stay in my belly to grow a little longer. Wish us luck...