I'm at Fred Meyer grocery shopping with Juniper. It's Wednesday morning and I am really surprised how few people are actually in the store! I will need to remember that this is the best time to hit up this store in the future.
Yesterday I did my 3 hour glucose retest and managed to overlap it with my scheduled doctor appointment. That is definitely the way to do it! Made it so much easier to pass the time although I will warn you that laying down on your back for an ultrasound while they push on your stomach is not an enjoyable experience when you've been fasting for 12+ hours and just chugged a bottle of flat lemon-lime flavored pure sugar syrup... YUCK! But I made it through it all without puking so that's all good. The ultrasound showed that the fluid for the twins had continued to improve over the past week:
Twin A @ 7.9cm
Twin B @ 7.6cm
Now you may remember that amniotic fluid levels should be between 2cm-8cm. Since I was on the high side of that the doctor said it could mean that I have gestational diabetes and the results from the glucose test would let us know how we needed to proceed. We got the results back and I was abnormal on 1/4 of the tests and borderline on another one. The doctor said that I am not technically diabetic but that I needed to start a diabetic diet for the next two weeks to see how that affect the fluid levels of the twins. Once I got home I realized that I did not have a fridge or pantry that could support that kind of diet (low carb, low sugar) so I started a list of things to get at the store the next day.
Ok, so here we are, in Fred Meyer. I've got a shopping cart full of veggies, low fat plain yogurt, nuts, etc. I am rounding aisle 12 when I feel this gush between my legs. I try to squeeze my kegels to stop the flow but it has absolutely no effect. Now, I didn't really freak out because I had been leaking for a couple days and chalked it up to being SUPERBLY pregnant and unable to hold my bladder. I had brought it up with the doctor the day before and she gave me some pH test strips to use. If they turn blue when pressed against a wet pad or underwear than that could be amniotic fluid but it could also be urine. That was going to be top of my list as soon as I got home.
I grabbed the last few things I needed, paid, went out to the car, unloaded all the groceries into the car, loaded Juniper into the car and drove back home. Once I got there, I took Juniper upstairs and went straight to the bathroom. I took off my jeans and saw a wet spot about a foot in diameter on them... not a good sign. I grabbed the pH strips and pressed one to my jeans and it turned blue... not a good sign either. Juniper was all upset that I hadn't turned on her favorite show and was yelling "Mama! Mama! Mama!" right next to me in our very small bathroom. The dog was whining to be let outside, the cats were having a spat in the living room and here I was, sitting on the toilet, trying to figure out who I should call first. I couldn't feel any contractions and although I had some discomfort in my lower back, it wasn't painful.
Back when I first went to the perinatologist office months and months ago, I was given a business card that had the phone number for the Labor & Delivery Advice Nurse. I was told to call this number after I was 20 weeks along if I was feeling anything strange or if I had questions. This little green card has been living in my wallet ever since. I figured that was probably the best place to start. I turned on Juniper's favorite show, Sarah & Duck, got her in her highchair with some snacks, let the dog out, made sure both cats were still alive, grabbed that card and sat down at the kitchen table.
"Hi, my name is Whitney. I am 27 weeks along with identical twins and I think my water broke about an hour ago."
We went over all the details and the advice nurse said that yes, I needed to come over to Sunnyside Hospital in Clackamas to get checked out in Triage at the Labor and Delivery department. I should pack a bag because if my water did break than I was going to be in the hospital for the long haul, until the babies are born.
Never a dull moment with these two, I tell you what!
Ok, time to call Greg to let him know what's going on. Then I called my Mom...
"Hey Mom, I need you to come get Juniper because I think my water broke and I need to go to Clackmas." Ok, so here we go. I went downstairs, grabbed my backpack and here's what I put in it:
- laptop with power cable
- clothes for 3 days
- 2 pairs of pjs
- robe
- Kindle with power cable
- charger for phone
- hairties, toothbrush, deodorant, headbands
- wallet, phone, keys
I packed the diaper bag with a couple days worth of clothes for Juniper, pjs, loaded juice cup, loaded bottle (since she wasn't far from nap time anyway), diapers, and whatever I thought Mom would need if she decided to take Juniper anywhere. Mom was there in no time flat. I gave Juniper and Mom a kiss and off they went. I let the dog in, unloaded the groceries I bought at the store, shut down the house and went down to the car.
Now some of you may be surprised to hear that I drove myself to Clackamas (although you shouldn't be). Greg was working and was in the middle of a busy day. Mom was watching Juniper and Nana all while making soup and cake (now you know where I get it from). I figured that it was probably just me being unable to control my bladder and I still wasn't feeling any contractions, just a tightening in my lower back which could have been from all the lifting I had already done this morning. Who knows, everything could be fine and I could be released and would need a car to get home anyway.
The traffic wasn't bad getting to the hospital but man, Clackamas is a really long jaunt from Saint Helens. I signed in at the front desk and they had already made tags for me and had papers for me to sign since I had called ahead. A nurse came over and brought me to a triage room where they would do some tests to see if my water had broken. One was peeing in a cup, one was getting a speculum put in so they could run a swab around down there. This swab was then wiped on a frame and looked at under a microscope. If the dried fluid pattern looked like ferns than that meant it was amniotic fluid. This test was inconclusive and the pH test of the urine sample came back blue, same as it had at home. This meant we moved on to another test where they swab you for a whole minute, swish that around in some chemicals and send it down to the lab. This will be the sure fire way to know. They then hooked me up to fetal monitors, one for each baby, to monitor for distress. these boys sure love to move around! They gave the nurses a run for their money, that's for sure. Both babies were fine, steady heart beats and all. Now we wait for the test results.
20 minutes later, the nurse came back in to let me know that yes, my water did break and that I was going to be staying here at this hospital until these babies are born. Now let that sink in a bit because it's a tough pill to swallow even if you've been prepping for this, knowing it would come any day.
They did a couple more tests, asked me a ton of questions about my history, put in my IV port, I changed into a gown and eventually they moved me into my room. My home away from home for who knows how long. Hopefully 6 weeks or more. I am allowed to go to the bathroom with assistance since I have 4 different fluids hanging from my IV rack, 2 fetal monitors, 1 monitor for contractions & a blood pressure cuff. I feel like a science experiment.
Once I was in my room they have me a steroid shot which will help the babies' lungs develop a little faster in case we need to deliver them soon. About an hour later they saw that I was having contractions. I still wasn't able to feel them but it was enough the they were concerned. At this point I agreed that we should start magnesium to stop the contractions and control labor. Now magnesium is an interesting drug. It is given to pregnant mothers before they give birth to help cushion the brains of the baby as it is being born. This cuts down on brain bleeds and other complications inside the baby. It is also a drug that relaxes all the smooth muscles in your body, uterus included. To stop labor, they gave me very large doses at first and slower doses later on. The first 30 minutes was the worst. It burned a little going into my IV and made my hand feel numb, then it felt like my whole arm was on fire. I felt very flush and overheated for about 20 minutes but thankfully I didn't experience any of the nausea that they sometimes see in mothers who get magnesium.
The worst of the symptoms has ceased, I am still having contractions but I can't feel them yet and the nurses say that is a really good thing. I am on a clear liquids diet for the rest of the night and got to enjoy a cup of ice chips and orange sugar free jello for dinner. The babies are moving around a lot so the nurses have to keep coming in to move the fetal monitors back to the right place. The nurse has been coming in about every hour to check my blood pressure, heart rate and to listen to my lungs. She said that one of the side effects to magnesium is that sometimes it causes fluid to settle in your lungs and they want to make sure that doesn't happen. Sounds like I will get checked on every hour until around midnight and then it will be every 4 hours for a bit so I can try to get some sleep. The fetal monitoring will continue non-stop for the next 24 hours or so.
If they do need to deliver the twins I am going to have them via c-section. We have all been through so much already and the last thing I want to do is put them under any more stress. I've been there done that with c-sections (that's how Juniper was born) and since the doctors say that it is the best way to deliver these twins, so be it.
A doctor from the NICU came in to talk me through what to expect from them. It was a lot of information but it all boiled down to the twins having about a 90% survival rate even if they were born tonight. There will be two NICU teams in the room when I deliver, one for each kiddo. Typically babies stay in the NICU until they are 35-37 gestational weeks old so if they are born in the next couple days we are looking at about an 8 week NICU stay.
It's been a really long day but there is so much relief knowing that I am in the best place I can be for the health and survival of these twins. I'll have a lot more time on my hands so I brought a blanket I am crocheting, my computer and books to keep me busy. You may even get more regular blog posts but don't hold your breath (::wink wink::). It's gonna be tough from here on out but we don't get to choose how we are tested in this life. We get to choose if we are going to meet the challenge head on or if we are going to run in the opposite direction and wait for it to eventually catch up to us. Well babies, I've never been one to turn my back on anything and I relish every new opportunity to step outside my comfort zone.
On the door to the bathroom there is a sign that lists out today's date, my name, support people's names, nurses, doctors, etc. There is a box that says "Plan of care for the day:" and in that box it says
"Stay pregnant"
Each day is a blessing and we'll see what tomorrow has in store.
With love,
Whitney