The Hospital
So, I started my NST's (Non-Stress Test's) this week since it was my 32 week mark. In a "high risk" pregnancy, they want you to go in twice a week every week starting at 32 weeks to have NST's. They strap fetal monitors to your belly so that they can monitor both of the babies' heart rates for a while and see check for contractions.
I went in on Monday and was having some pretty regular contractions, but they gave me an ultra sound and decided that nothing significant was happening and let me go. We did bump up my next appointment by a day so that I could be checked a little sooner, just for good measure.
I went in on Monday and was having some pretty regular contractions, but they gave me an ultra sound and decided that nothing significant was happening and let me go. We did bump up my next appointment by a day so that I could be checked a little sooner, just for good measure.
Wednesday I went in and after 15 minutes or so my doctor came in and said she had seen all she needed to see and wanted me to go straight to the hospital so that they could put me on medicine to stop the contractions. She looked at me irritatedly and said, "Aren't you feeling these?!" I was kind of taken aback. I had felt tightening off and on during the day, but I wasn't in any pain so I thought they were Braxton Hicks contractions!
I had heard stories of other mothers of twins who were sent to the hospital after non-stress tests, so I wasn't surprised when that's what she told me to do. The gravity of what was happening hadn't sunk in and I wasn't in shock yet, which I think made my doctor grow in irritation. Afterwards, I realized she probably thought I wasn't taking things seriously enough and it sunk in that I had been kind of careless. I put myself in her shoes and in the end, I was grateful that her medical knowledge of every possible scenario pushed her to care for her patients.
She told me I could at least pick up Jayce, but then to go straight to the hospital.
I had heard stories of other mothers of twins who were sent to the hospital after non-stress tests, so I wasn't surprised when that's what she told me to do. The gravity of what was happening hadn't sunk in and I wasn't in shock yet, which I think made my doctor grow in irritation. Afterwards, I realized she probably thought I wasn't taking things seriously enough and it sunk in that I had been kind of careless. I put myself in her shoes and in the end, I was grateful that her medical knowledge of every possible scenario pushed her to care for her patients.
She told me I could at least pick up Jayce, but then to go straight to the hospital.
We checked in around 5:30pm and in a whirlwind of arms, cords, and clothes they got me all set up. I had monitors on my belly for the heart rates and the contractions, I had an I.V. in with a large dose of Magnesium (a muscle relaxer) coming into my blood stream to stop the contractions, a blood pressure monitor strapped to my arm that inflated every 30 minutes or so, a catheter, and both of my legs strapped into these shin-gaurd looking things to prevent blood clots since I would be laying down for a while. They are kind of like blood pressure takers for your calfs, inflating periodically. On top of that every time I got sleepy (which became frequent with all the magnesium) they put me on oxygen because my blood pressure kept dropping too low. I also got two steroid shots right in my bum to help the babies' lungs develop faster. It was a far cry from how I thought I would be spending my evening and I was really overwhelmed.
The worst part was the magnesium. The main purpose is so that it can relax the uterus and get contractions to stop, but what it does every where else isn't fun. The instant they injected it into my blood stream I felt warm and tingly all over. It makes you feel flu-like. Your body gets really hot, and all of your muscles become really weak. It even effects your eye muscles, making it hard to focus on just about anything.
To keep tabs on the magnesium level in my blood someone would come draw blood every couple of hours or so. Between being poked for blood, an I.V. that was delivering something awful feeling into my body, and having things inflating every so often all over my limbs, I felt tied down trapped. It wasn't easy to relax.
Jayce was there for me though and I was so grateful. He had so much on his plate with school because he was in the most stressful course of the year, but he was by my side. He kept putting cool towels on my forehead and neck and he would give me updates on what my contractions were looking like. I love that he is always there for me. Always.
It made my heart reach out to people that have to go through this sort of thing all the time for various long-term illness treatments with long hours or even months spent in hospitals, getting treatments that have awful side effects and being tied to all sorts of monitors and fluids. In that aspect, I'm grateful and humbled I had a small glimpse into what that might be like.
The next day (Thursday) they took me to see a high risk pregnancy doctor in the hospital. They wanted to take an ultra sound and give me an amniocentesis. A few nurses wheeled me down in my hospital bed with my I.V. and everything trailing behind me. I still hadn't eaten since the previous afternoon because they were waiting for the contractions to fully calm down before they ruled out the need for an emergency c-section. An empty stomach combined with the effects of the magnesium made the ride to the doctor's office rather dizzying. During the ultra sound I threw up allllllllll over. I am so sorry nurses of the world. Also, for throwing up again on the way back to my room. Everything in the ultra sound looked great though, so that was a great comfort.
They gave me the amniocentesis, which was much less of a deal than I thought it would be. The needle was extremely thin and it didn't hurt anymore than getting my blood drawn. The reason for doing it was to check and see if I had any sort of infection in the amniotic fluid. Sometimes infections in the sac(s) can cause pre-term labor, in which case it's better to let the babies come out than stay in. Luckily the results were good, so there would be no need for an emergency c-section.
That night they took me off of the magnesium (hallelujah!) and put me on a pill called Procardia to continue to keep the contractions under control. Luckily it doesn't have any of the side effects the magnesium did. They also took out the catheter and the heart rate cuff and nobody came to check the magnesium levels in my blood anymore. Oh, how good it felt to be released from some of my ties! I felt really blessed that although my body was sounding the "I'm ready to deliver these babies" alarm, all was well inside the womb.
To keep tabs on the magnesium level in my blood someone would come draw blood every couple of hours or so. Between being poked for blood, an I.V. that was delivering something awful feeling into my body, and having things inflating every so often all over my limbs, I felt tied down trapped. It wasn't easy to relax.
Jayce was there for me though and I was so grateful. He had so much on his plate with school because he was in the most stressful course of the year, but he was by my side. He kept putting cool towels on my forehead and neck and he would give me updates on what my contractions were looking like. I love that he is always there for me. Always.
It made my heart reach out to people that have to go through this sort of thing all the time for various long-term illness treatments with long hours or even months spent in hospitals, getting treatments that have awful side effects and being tied to all sorts of monitors and fluids. In that aspect, I'm grateful and humbled I had a small glimpse into what that might be like.
The next day (Thursday) they took me to see a high risk pregnancy doctor in the hospital. They wanted to take an ultra sound and give me an amniocentesis. A few nurses wheeled me down in my hospital bed with my I.V. and everything trailing behind me. I still hadn't eaten since the previous afternoon because they were waiting for the contractions to fully calm down before they ruled out the need for an emergency c-section. An empty stomach combined with the effects of the magnesium made the ride to the doctor's office rather dizzying. During the ultra sound I threw up allllllllll over. I am so sorry nurses of the world. Also, for throwing up again on the way back to my room. Everything in the ultra sound looked great though, so that was a great comfort.
They gave me the amniocentesis, which was much less of a deal than I thought it would be. The needle was extremely thin and it didn't hurt anymore than getting my blood drawn. The reason for doing it was to check and see if I had any sort of infection in the amniotic fluid. Sometimes infections in the sac(s) can cause pre-term labor, in which case it's better to let the babies come out than stay in. Luckily the results were good, so there would be no need for an emergency c-section.
That night they took me off of the magnesium (hallelujah!) and put me on a pill called Procardia to continue to keep the contractions under control. Luckily it doesn't have any of the side effects the magnesium did. They also took out the catheter and the heart rate cuff and nobody came to check the magnesium levels in my blood anymore. Oh, how good it felt to be released from some of my ties! I felt really blessed that although my body was sounding the "I'm ready to deliver these babies" alarm, all was well inside the womb.
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