But the news is terrific: It's a boy!!
Born early on the morning of 36 weeks and 1 day he was in time for breakfast. The first day was very very good and spent together.
The downside of being in the hospital is that Mijke is offline again, so for now you'll have to make do with a second hand story -instead of waiting longer.
Mom is doing fine (except that everything hurts, why did nobody tell her you can't sit, stand or walk properly?) Baby is mildly annoyed at having to feed himself, prefers food delivered through a tube, because that way he can sleep and grow. Although sometimes it's nice to get the milk directly from the source... The yellowness is being conquered with the help of a lamp and getting better, other than that he is doing well, being kissed by his sister and all.
Will forward your comments to the hospital e-card system, and will find out about pictures soon.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Back home. For now...
Guess what? I managed to escape the hospital... I passed their "walk up and down the hall for 30 minutes"-test or whatever they call it. Still having light contractions a couple of times an hour, with a couple of extra scares thrown in just for fun. But since the steroid shots have had time to do their very important job, and having passed the 32 week mark, they have changed the flags in my file from "Oh shit! Keep that baby in!!!" to "Well, s/he should be kind of okay if s/he's born now, so when s/he wants to come, we'll let her/him..."
Which means there's really no point keeping me strapped to a hospital bed. I might as well wait it out at home. So home I am. With strict orders to stay in bed as much as possible, with bathroom priviledges and 3 30-minute strolls through the house a day. If anything changes, I am to come in to the hospital ASAP (thank god it's only a 10-minute drive).
The past couple of days have scared the crap out of me. But because they decided to keep me there after my check-up last Tuesday and managed to stop labour just in time that same night, I am still carrying our baby. For that, I am unbelievably greatful!
We will see how it goes from here...
Which means there's really no point keeping me strapped to a hospital bed. I might as well wait it out at home. So home I am. With strict orders to stay in bed as much as possible, with bathroom priviledges and 3 30-minute strolls through the house a day. If anything changes, I am to come in to the hospital ASAP (thank god it's only a 10-minute drive).
The past couple of days have scared the crap out of me. But because they decided to keep me there after my check-up last Tuesday and managed to stop labour just in time that same night, I am still carrying our baby. For that, I am unbelievably greatful!
We will see how it goes from here...
Friday, February 5, 2010
32 weeks and 2 days
She is doing great!
The first night in the hospital was rough, with at it worst contractions every 3 minutes (!!) . With the medication dose doubled however peace and quiet returned. More hours were won for those little lungs. We were joking on the phone that while other people count down the weeks from 32, she is counting hours. Like 12 hours more than the twins already. And then one more night, and another.
Today she will try to walk for half an hour, three times during the day. If this goes well she can go home Saturday (bedrest remains to be seen) and hopes to make it to 34 weeks.
The good news of making it past 32 weeks is that even if the little one decides to come "now" is that she can go/stay in the hospital close to her home town and shouldn't need the specialist hospital with NICU much further away. (Although I imagine it will be hard enough running back and forth with the twins to a nearby hospital)
I discovered the hospital has an E-card system: you pick a card online and they print it and bring it around to the patients room the next day. I've been forwarding your comments already, so between phone calls, Internet, and printed paper she knows we bloggy friends are cheering her on. Thank you!
(And Mijke, I hope I haven't scrambled your information and your blog too much!)
The first night in the hospital was rough, with at it worst contractions every 3 minutes (!!) . With the medication dose doubled however peace and quiet returned. More hours were won for those little lungs. We were joking on the phone that while other people count down the weeks from 32, she is counting hours. Like 12 hours more than the twins already. And then one more night, and another.
Today she will try to walk for half an hour, three times during the day. If this goes well she can go home Saturday (bedrest remains to be seen) and hopes to make it to 34 weeks.
The good news of making it past 32 weeks is that even if the little one decides to come "now" is that she can go/stay in the hospital close to her home town and shouldn't need the specialist hospital with NICU much further away. (Although I imagine it will be hard enough running back and forth with the twins to a nearby hospital)
I discovered the hospital has an E-card system: you pick a card online and they print it and bring it around to the patients room the next day. I've been forwarding your comments already, so between phone calls, Internet, and printed paper she knows we bloggy friends are cheering her on. Thank you!
(And Mijke, I hope I haven't scrambled your information and your blog too much!)
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Bedrest
Message from a friend.
Mijke just called and told me not to be scared, and just post a message for her saying that she is ok, and hanging in there. In a hospital. I suppose the good news is that the baby is hanging in there/her as well. If I remember correctly she had her weekly check up this morning and was told her cervix was getting too short now. Time for hospital.
As a precaution she was given steroids to mature the little lungs, something she missed out on with the twins. She is also on anti contraction medication, and it is working, everything is quiet now.
She is on bedrest, so only allowed to get up to use the toilet. While I was still shocked she was already reassuring me that she was fine. That this is probably just a scare, and that in a couple of days she might just be home enjoying weeks and weeks of pregnancy. That for now she will enjoy the time off, like maternity leave. Read a book. Have a rest. She sounded like her cheerful normal self.
The only bad news is she doesn't have internet access, just TV. And for now that doesn't worry her.
Tomorrow will be 32 weeks.
Mijke just called and told me not to be scared, and just post a message for her saying that she is ok, and hanging in there. In a hospital. I suppose the good news is that the baby is hanging in there/her as well. If I remember correctly she had her weekly check up this morning and was told her cervix was getting too short now. Time for hospital.
As a precaution she was given steroids to mature the little lungs, something she missed out on with the twins. She is also on anti contraction medication, and it is working, everything is quiet now.
She is on bedrest, so only allowed to get up to use the toilet. While I was still shocked she was already reassuring me that she was fine. That this is probably just a scare, and that in a couple of days she might just be home enjoying weeks and weeks of pregnancy. That for now she will enjoy the time off, like maternity leave. Read a book. Have a rest. She sounded like her cheerful normal self.
The only bad news is she doesn't have internet access, just TV. And for now that doesn't worry her.
Tomorrow will be 32 weeks.
Friday, January 15, 2010
29 weeks and counting...
Wow. 29 weeks... Almost into the 30's... a little less than 3 more weeks and this little one is at the same term the twins were when they were born. And look at THOSE two now!
I knew this pregnancy was going to be a scary one, what with my background. But I didn't know my fears would consume every waking (and almost every sleeping) moment. To be honest, they didn't really, up until viability. I had some fears, yes, but as long as I hadn't hit that 24-weeks mark things still seemed a little "unreal".
Then suddenly it hit me: "If anything happens NOW, they MIGHT just try and save our baby!" From 24 weeks on, they will try and postpone labour. From 25 weeks on, they might even try and help a baby when it IS born. And from 26 weeks on, the will do everything they possibly can to give the baby a chance to fight. A chance to LIVE.
With that knowledge came the fear that I might miss some vital clue. That I MYSELF would do something stupid, or ignore a feeling or a sign. Something that might make it "just a day, or an hour, or even a minute too late" for our baby. But everything was still quiet, nothing much was happening. I was feeling great, no contractions, no other signs, nothing. I'd been spotting a little (and when I say little, I really mean little) bit every so many weeks, but that wasn't cause for concern. Right? Not after the 22 week ultrasound showed that the partial Placenta Praevia that had been diagnosed a couple of weeks before had resolved itself. So. I'd almost convinced myself that this time around, I was going to stay pregnant until at least 37 weeks.
Almost.
And then I hit 26 weeks. And Christmas passed. And I said to my husband: "Wow, we made it through the Holidays this time. I managed to still be pregnant at Christmas, instead of celebrating Christmas in the NICU again!"
I sighed a big sigh of relief. And 3 hours later all hell broke loose.
I started bleeding. Within 30 minutes I was in L&D, hooked up to a CTG. Baby still doing fine, bleeding had stopped, they had no idea where it came from. And then they started talking about maybe smelling and seeing amniotic fluid. And having me transferred to a NICU-hospital. And scared the shit out of me.
Fortunately a simple test (that they did 3 times just to be sure, because they couldn't believe the result) showed that I wasn't leaking anything I shouldn't be. And I was told I was allowed to go home, but to call if anything changed.
Next day, I was back. More bleeding. Not more than the day before, but they told me to call if it started again so I did. And because I was also feeling some lower-backpain and my uterus was feeling a little 'off' (no contractions, just a bit 'heavy'. Hey, if they tell me to share every little detail with them (even if it seems totally insignificant to me), I do. I am a good girl) they made me come back. Hooked me back up. Baby still doing great, kicking and squirming and being a pain because they couldn't get a grip on it's heartbeat. But hey, if it's still kicking, it's heart is probably still working too, right? This time the monitor showed very light (probably BH) contractions. Nothing unusual for my term. Then the ob/gyn came in to measure my cervix (because, well, PROM the last pregnancy and all). Still closed. Still not too short. Shorter than normal, but still okay. For now.
Back home again. But with the strong advice to take it as easy as I could. No bedrest, but as much sitting and lying down as possible with two toddlers running around. Thank god for the holidays, and my husband having taken a week off from work.
I've been having very light contractions a couple of times an hour for a couple of hours a day ever since. I've lost some more blood and about half the mucul plug. I'm in for a cervical-check every week and it's getting shorter with every visit. But it's still just on the right side of "Oops, this is not good!". So I'm still at home. Scared, but functioning. Counting the hours and the days and hopefully the weeks and maybe, just maybe, even the months.
I mean, really. It's only ONE baby this time, right? The last two put together at birth weighed almost as much as a full term baby, so I can hang on to just a singleton. Right? Every doctor I've spoken to before even attempting this second pregnancy told me "Hey, it was twins last time. Twins always come early..." and I almost believed them. Almost. But not really. And here I am, hoping to make it to 30+ weeks. And then to 32 weeks. Because that's what the twins were, and look at them now (I know that's no guarantee, but I'm grasping every straw in sight). And then to 34 weeks, because that's considered "safe". And then to 37, because then I might get to take our baby home right away.
I'm hoping. I'm telling myself to stay positive. Succeeding at it most of the time, even. At least during the day. But oh, those long long nights with nothing to do but think and dream and worry...
I knew this pregnancy was going to be a scary one, what with my background. But I didn't know my fears would consume every waking (and almost every sleeping) moment. To be honest, they didn't really, up until viability. I had some fears, yes, but as long as I hadn't hit that 24-weeks mark things still seemed a little "unreal".
Then suddenly it hit me: "If anything happens NOW, they MIGHT just try and save our baby!" From 24 weeks on, they will try and postpone labour. From 25 weeks on, they might even try and help a baby when it IS born. And from 26 weeks on, the will do everything they possibly can to give the baby a chance to fight. A chance to LIVE.
With that knowledge came the fear that I might miss some vital clue. That I MYSELF would do something stupid, or ignore a feeling or a sign. Something that might make it "just a day, or an hour, or even a minute too late" for our baby. But everything was still quiet, nothing much was happening. I was feeling great, no contractions, no other signs, nothing. I'd been spotting a little (and when I say little, I really mean little) bit every so many weeks, but that wasn't cause for concern. Right? Not after the 22 week ultrasound showed that the partial Placenta Praevia that had been diagnosed a couple of weeks before had resolved itself. So. I'd almost convinced myself that this time around, I was going to stay pregnant until at least 37 weeks.
Almost.
And then I hit 26 weeks. And Christmas passed. And I said to my husband: "Wow, we made it through the Holidays this time. I managed to still be pregnant at Christmas, instead of celebrating Christmas in the NICU again!"
I sighed a big sigh of relief. And 3 hours later all hell broke loose.
I started bleeding. Within 30 minutes I was in L&D, hooked up to a CTG. Baby still doing fine, bleeding had stopped, they had no idea where it came from. And then they started talking about maybe smelling and seeing amniotic fluid. And having me transferred to a NICU-hospital. And scared the shit out of me.
Fortunately a simple test (that they did 3 times just to be sure, because they couldn't believe the result) showed that I wasn't leaking anything I shouldn't be. And I was told I was allowed to go home, but to call if anything changed.
Next day, I was back. More bleeding. Not more than the day before, but they told me to call if it started again so I did. And because I was also feeling some lower-backpain and my uterus was feeling a little 'off' (no contractions, just a bit 'heavy'. Hey, if they tell me to share every little detail with them (even if it seems totally insignificant to me), I do. I am a good girl) they made me come back. Hooked me back up. Baby still doing great, kicking and squirming and being a pain because they couldn't get a grip on it's heartbeat. But hey, if it's still kicking, it's heart is probably still working too, right? This time the monitor showed very light (probably BH) contractions. Nothing unusual for my term. Then the ob/gyn came in to measure my cervix (because, well, PROM the last pregnancy and all). Still closed. Still not too short. Shorter than normal, but still okay. For now.
Back home again. But with the strong advice to take it as easy as I could. No bedrest, but as much sitting and lying down as possible with two toddlers running around. Thank god for the holidays, and my husband having taken a week off from work.
I've been having very light contractions a couple of times an hour for a couple of hours a day ever since. I've lost some more blood and about half the mucul plug. I'm in for a cervical-check every week and it's getting shorter with every visit. But it's still just on the right side of "Oops, this is not good!". So I'm still at home. Scared, but functioning. Counting the hours and the days and hopefully the weeks and maybe, just maybe, even the months.
I mean, really. It's only ONE baby this time, right? The last two put together at birth weighed almost as much as a full term baby, so I can hang on to just a singleton. Right? Every doctor I've spoken to before even attempting this second pregnancy told me "Hey, it was twins last time. Twins always come early..." and I almost believed them. Almost. But not really. And here I am, hoping to make it to 30+ weeks. And then to 32 weeks. Because that's what the twins were, and look at them now (I know that's no guarantee, but I'm grasping every straw in sight). And then to 34 weeks, because that's considered "safe". And then to 37, because then I might get to take our baby home right away.
I'm hoping. I'm telling myself to stay positive. Succeeding at it most of the time, even. At least during the day. But oh, those long long nights with nothing to do but think and dream and worry...
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Saturday, December 19, 2009
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