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| This is the only picture of me pregnant with Mady that I have (and it's from Mark's phone and blurry!) where you can see my belly. It was taken the morning before we went for our fated ultrasound that had me admitted to the hospital. We took it just in case the baby was born that day and I had no pictures at all. Whoops! |
The explaination of the hospital stay
Tuesday, 03 June 2008 at 18:47
So, a bunch of people have been asking "what happened??" regarding why I was in hospital and am on bed rest, so instead of explaining it hundreds of times, I figured I would write a note and you can read it yourself. I'll keep you updated here if you care.
So on Wednesday while at work I noticed something was odd so I called Mark and we went to the hospital. They checked me out and determined that I may have a risk of going into labour prematurely. In order to determine this, they would have to check to see if I was starting to dialate and all that, so an ultrasound was ordered for Thursday morning with a follow up doctors appointment.
Thursday morning we went for the ultrasound, everything was fine, except that the fluid levels around the baby were low and so they determined that my water was probably leaking and thus I should skip my doctors appointment and go straight to the hospital for them to determine if this was the case.
We went to the hospital, they checked, and sure enough they found a very small indication that it was my water that broke. So that was enough for them to admit me and put me on bedrest. Because I was only 31 weeks and 4 days, they want to watch me quite closely.
Obviously a baby born now would be premature and they don't like that (neither do I). They said the baby will have no problems surviving should it be born now, it would just have to learn how to breathe without apnea (which usually doesn't happen until around 34 weeks) and it would have to learn to suck (again, that isn't learned until closer to 34 weeks). When the baby is born it will have to stay in hospital until it can do those things. Depending on how fast of a learning curve the kid has and when it's born it could be between 2 and 8 weeks (usually within 2 weeks of the original due date is when they go home) Their greatest concern is infection. So, they said I have to be on bedrest until 34 weeks at which point there is more chance of harm from infection than from induction so they would induce me (boo!!).
So every day at the hospital they were monitoring the baby and they booked a follow up ultrasound for Monday. Yesterday (Monday) I went for the ultrasound. They do what they call a Biophysical profile of the baby. Basically they look for 4 things: Big body movements, little movements like hands moving, fluid levels (needs a 2x2 cm pocket) and "practice breathing." You get 2 points for each of the 4 things that they see. A perfect score is 8, a concerning score is 4 or less. Well, they did the ultrasound and we got both sets of our movement points right away, but she couldn't find a big enough pocket of fluid, nor was the baby practice breathing (though she said, it's quite possible that she wasn't looking at the lungs when it happened, so I shouldn't be concerned, I just didn't get the score). She went off to show the radiologist and then came back with a radiology student who had never done ultrasounds (it was his first day!). She asked if he could have a look to learn on me. I said sure and, yea, he found a 2x5cm pocket of fluid so our score got to raise to 6!. I'm okay with getting B's!
So then the doctor came to see me. He said that since I was healthy and the baby seemed fine he saw no reason why I needed to sit at the hospital on bed rest, I could go home. Yeah! They want to monitor the baby every day, so they would send home care to come do that and then I'm to see him next week in his office (unless the baby comes before). He said the only risk is infection but it's so rare to see infection without labour (in which case I'd be back anyway), that he said I should go be comfortable at home.
So I came home last night. Home care called this morning and let me know that they have a stupid policy with premature water breaking patients that in order for them to come I have to score 8 on the biophysical profile. Which means every day we have to go back to the hospital so they can put the baby on a monitor for 20 minutes. How annoying. Then they're going to schedule a follow up ultrasound until I score an 8 (and then they can come to my home) or until the baby comes. Arggh. The frustrating part of that is because of lower fluid levels, I'm worried I might go in and only score a 4 or something and then be readmitted.
So, things to pray for:
-That my fluid levels stay up
-that the baby "practice breathes" so I can score an 8
-That I go into labour on my own and don't get pushed into being induced
-That if I make it to 34 weeks my doctor won't get so antsy that he induces me, but will let the baby wait as long as possible
-That I won't be bored. :)
-That once the baby is born it learns how to suck, breath and swallow really fast so that it can come home fast!
And that's all for now. Call me if you want to come visit (or even talk on the phone!), I like companty. :)
So on Wednesday while at work I noticed something was odd so I called Mark and we went to the hospital. They checked me out and determined that I may have a risk of going into labour prematurely. In order to determine this, they would have to check to see if I was starting to dialate and all that, so an ultrasound was ordered for Thursday morning with a follow up doctors appointment.
Thursday morning we went for the ultrasound, everything was fine, except that the fluid levels around the baby were low and so they determined that my water was probably leaking and thus I should skip my doctors appointment and go straight to the hospital for them to determine if this was the case.
We went to the hospital, they checked, and sure enough they found a very small indication that it was my water that broke. So that was enough for them to admit me and put me on bedrest. Because I was only 31 weeks and 4 days, they want to watch me quite closely.
Obviously a baby born now would be premature and they don't like that (neither do I). They said the baby will have no problems surviving should it be born now, it would just have to learn how to breathe without apnea (which usually doesn't happen until around 34 weeks) and it would have to learn to suck (again, that isn't learned until closer to 34 weeks). When the baby is born it will have to stay in hospital until it can do those things. Depending on how fast of a learning curve the kid has and when it's born it could be between 2 and 8 weeks (usually within 2 weeks of the original due date is when they go home) Their greatest concern is infection. So, they said I have to be on bedrest until 34 weeks at which point there is more chance of harm from infection than from induction so they would induce me (boo!!).
So every day at the hospital they were monitoring the baby and they booked a follow up ultrasound for Monday. Yesterday (Monday) I went for the ultrasound. They do what they call a Biophysical profile of the baby. Basically they look for 4 things: Big body movements, little movements like hands moving, fluid levels (needs a 2x2 cm pocket) and "practice breathing." You get 2 points for each of the 4 things that they see. A perfect score is 8, a concerning score is 4 or less. Well, they did the ultrasound and we got both sets of our movement points right away, but she couldn't find a big enough pocket of fluid, nor was the baby practice breathing (though she said, it's quite possible that she wasn't looking at the lungs when it happened, so I shouldn't be concerned, I just didn't get the score). She went off to show the radiologist and then came back with a radiology student who had never done ultrasounds (it was his first day!). She asked if he could have a look to learn on me. I said sure and, yea, he found a 2x5cm pocket of fluid so our score got to raise to 6!. I'm okay with getting B's!
So then the doctor came to see me. He said that since I was healthy and the baby seemed fine he saw no reason why I needed to sit at the hospital on bed rest, I could go home. Yeah! They want to monitor the baby every day, so they would send home care to come do that and then I'm to see him next week in his office (unless the baby comes before). He said the only risk is infection but it's so rare to see infection without labour (in which case I'd be back anyway), that he said I should go be comfortable at home.
So I came home last night. Home care called this morning and let me know that they have a stupid policy with premature water breaking patients that in order for them to come I have to score 8 on the biophysical profile. Which means every day we have to go back to the hospital so they can put the baby on a monitor for 20 minutes. How annoying. Then they're going to schedule a follow up ultrasound until I score an 8 (and then they can come to my home) or until the baby comes. Arggh. The frustrating part of that is because of lower fluid levels, I'm worried I might go in and only score a 4 or something and then be readmitted.
So, things to pray for:
-That my fluid levels stay up
-that the baby "practice breathes" so I can score an 8
-That I go into labour on my own and don't get pushed into being induced
-That if I make it to 34 weeks my doctor won't get so antsy that he induces me, but will let the baby wait as long as possible
-That I won't be bored. :)
-That once the baby is born it learns how to suck, breath and swallow really fast so that it can come home fast!
And that's all for now. Call me if you want to come visit (or even talk on the phone!), I like companty. :)
04 June 2008 at 13:38
well, a quick update. The home care people called me today and I'm not sure why, but they decided that they can come see me, even without me scoring an 8, which means that I don't have to go to the hospital every day (which is good because it took nearly an hour and a half last night for a 20 minute test!). I'll still have an ultrasound every week, but I'm staying home for now. Yeah!
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| Really bored, looking like crap and surrounded (within arms reach) with everything I could possibly need during the day while Mark was gone to work. And using the archaic laptop as we were weeks away from getting our mac (I think) and the other computer was downstairs where I wasn't allowed to go. (We've since combined our remotes so we no longer need 3 for watching TV. :) ) |
My kid is smart!
Friday, 06 June 2008 at 12:46
...well, at least smart enough to figure out how to practice breathing. :) Yeah!! That was really good news for us today at the ultrasound. And so we got to score an 8 on the biophysical profile. Which means my doctors are happy, which means mommy is happy. Who knew you could be so proud of your kid before they're even born? I was trying to not be one of those phycho parents putting academic demands on my child, but I will admit that we had a little "talking to" with them on our way to the ultrasound about scoring well on this test. They pulled through. :) Mommy is proud!
The doctor said that since I made it a week without going into labour, it's quite likely that I'll make it another week or 2 (which for sure would take me to 34 weeks). Then she said the decision will be about whether to deliver at 34 or 36 weeks. I was shocked, as no one has mentioned 36 weeks to me before. She said that after 34 weeks they'll go day by day, but there is no way they will let me go past 36 as there is no benefit to the baby compared to the risk. If I make it to 36 weeks then most likely the baby will come home within 4 days. If it's born at 34 weeks, it will probably be in hospital around 2- 4 weeks so since that's a big difference of time, I'm hoping we can make it closer to 36 weeks. But that does mean I will for sure have a June baby. And it gives me an actual countdown to the longest possible time this bedrest can last.
Of course, we're still praying for health for the baby and for them to stay in as long as possible, for no infection and for labour to start on it's own.
Thanks for your prayers!
The doctor said that since I made it a week without going into labour, it's quite likely that I'll make it another week or 2 (which for sure would take me to 34 weeks). Then she said the decision will be about whether to deliver at 34 or 36 weeks. I was shocked, as no one has mentioned 36 weeks to me before. She said that after 34 weeks they'll go day by day, but there is no way they will let me go past 36 as there is no benefit to the baby compared to the risk. If I make it to 36 weeks then most likely the baby will come home within 4 days. If it's born at 34 weeks, it will probably be in hospital around 2- 4 weeks so since that's a big difference of time, I'm hoping we can make it closer to 36 weeks. But that does mean I will for sure have a June baby. And it gives me an actual countdown to the longest possible time this bedrest can last.
Of course, we're still praying for health for the baby and for them to stay in as long as possible, for no infection and for labour to start on it's own.
Thanks for your prayers!
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