Day 201

And so the waiting begins...

We were discharged from the hospital yesterday and allowed to come back home!!! YAY for a great night's sleep in my own bed! My diagnosis is still a little fuzzy; it seems that I'm in a perpetual, and very slow state of preterm labor. They could not find any medications or treatments in the hospital that would slow my contractions down or reduce their intensity. But I'm still not dilated so we know I'm not going into labor at this particular moment. And Baby Max is doing great and just chilling out in there! If he only knew what we were dealing with out here!!! I do have to admit that I absolutely LOVE my new doctor and the nurses at the hospital were awesome!!! I hope they're all there when we go back in to make this baby-having official!

So I got to go home with the instructions that I'm supposed to be on very STRICT bedrest. I think it's pretty funny that the discharge papers listed symptoms that I still continue to have as reasons to go back into the hospital, but there's really nothing we can do right now except wait. I have a doctor's appt tomorrow so maybe I'll know more then.

It has meant so much to David and me to receive countless messages, calls, and texts over the past few days! We have the best friends in the world! I just ask that you keep praying for Baby Max to stay in there just a little longer! Please also pray for my sanity as I struggle with this whole bedrest thing- giving up control of my life is hard for me to do! And prayers for precious Bailey and David as their worlds are changing and quite uncertain right now. I'll keep updating with any news!

Day 200

So I spent a day and a half in the hospital and all I have to show for it is this beautiful bracelet! Actually I'm quite glad that I don't have a baby to show for it just yet- he's still cooking in there! More updates tomorrow- just need a good night's sleep right now!

Day 199

Holly vs. the IV Pole- Round 1

So, here's the story! We came to the ER tonight after a long day of painful contractions. Doctors normally tell you to call or come to the hospital if you've had more than 4 contractions in an hour. Tonight it seemed I'd had about 10 in an hour and they were getting more painful as time went on. Could I actually be in labor??? At this point fear set in since I'm still only 33 weeks along.

We came in and they poked and prodded on me and hooked me up to about 5000 monitors. Still not dilated so that was good news. Over the course of the night and Monday they tried lots of different things to make the contractions stop (fluids, Demerol, morphine, vistaril...), but nothing even phased them. I continued to have contractions about every 5-10 minutes. Ultrasound revealed Baby Max is still good to go in there. More updates tomorrow...

Now, let's talk about my new nemesis- this IVpole. I personally think it's just plain mean to give an 8 month pregnant person massive amounts of fluids during the night. (I mean, I already get up about 4-5 times a night to go to the bathroom anyway! ) So, our night began and sleep evaded me. I stared all night at the monitor screen watching the lines go up and down as the contractions came and went. Then, as I lay there, I felt the urge. Let's keep this G-rated and just say that pregnant people don't have a lot of bladder control so I knew I had to act fast. My husband seemed to be sleeping peacefully (I think he was just pretending!) so I began the process of hoisting my rather large self out of bed, unhooking the plugs for the fetal monitors, unclipping my heart monitor, unplugging the IV pole from the wall, and dragging this behemoth pole to the bathroom. Just in time!!! Then back to bed to plug all of those contraptions back in and try to get comfy again. Little did I know, this was the nightly routine that was repeated at about 30-45 minute intervals ALL NIGHT LONG!!! Needless to say, I did not sleep a wink! Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day!

Day 198

Do I really even need a caption on this picture?!?!?!