I stayed at the hospital last night, and neither Sarah nor I got a lot of sleep. As the day went on today, however, things got better and better. Here's a summary of what's gone on the past couple of days.
Tuesday - Doctors' appointments (with a heaping of stress), followed by a admission to the hospital and a steroid shot for the babies lungs.
Tuesday Night - Move from Labor and Delivery bed to an antepartum bed. I go home.
Tuesday/Wednesday overnight - An increase in contractions, a side effect of the steroid. The contraction inhibitor isn't doing enough to slow them down. Sarah is moved back to Labor and Delivery and put on magnesium sulfate to curb the contractions.
Wednesday - Anxiety and steroid shot still contributing to contractions. Terbutaline is discontinued, magnesium sulfate is maintained. The nurse's description on the side effects of magnesium sulfate ("like a bad case of the flu") turn out to be correct. After going into work for a bit to get some things in order, I headed back to the hospital, where I stayed overnight. In the early evening Sarah received the second steroid shot.
Thursday - Magnesium sulfate is discontinued at Noon. Sarah is able to eat lunch at 2 PM (albeit very little). The contractions slow to the point that they cease the continuous monitoring of the fetal heartbeats and uterine contractions. Symptoms continue to ease to the point that Sarah is moved back to an antepartum room, where monitoring will be performed on an "as needed" basis. Sarah will sleep the sleep of the medicated and I will sleep in my own bed, rather then on the bench in the L&D room like I did last night.
Best Case Scenario - Contractions are minimal and infrequent, no side effects of medications persist, and Sarah is allowed to go home Friday evening. A slightly more realistic but still optimistic scenario has this playing out on Saturday morning instead.
So, we will wait, and hope, and pray for the best. We'd really like to get to at least 32 weeks and would feel better about 34, as the time in the NICU decreases with every hour preterm labor is delayed. The docs will aggressively suppress labor until 34 weeks, at which point they will try to delay it, but will take measures that are less heroic than those taken at an earlier point in the pregnancy. Our nurse from the last couple of days is off tomorrow, so she told us she didn't want to see us again for a few weeks, but when we do come in, to makes sure we find her. We will do our best.
Oh! I almost forgot. Sarah is feeling much better, and would welcome phone calls and perhaps even a visit. Just be sure to call ahead to see if she's up to it. Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers. We really appreciate it.
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