Admitted to the Hospital

Tuesday night (technically Wednesday morning since it happend at 1am) I woke up thinking my water had broken because I realized I was lying in a pool of fluid. I assumed it was amniotic fluid, which of course was terrifying since I hit 22w0d that day. When I turned on the light in the bathroom I panicked even more because I discovered it was blood. My legs and feet were covered in blood. I had soaked through the sheets and the mattress, left a trail of blood on our white berber carpet, across the bathroom floor, etc. I stepped in the shower to try to wash it off, but I kept bleeding so it was a hopeless task to try to clean myself up. Paul called the neighbors, and Gabby (who will finish 8th grade next week) came over immediately. A little later we called Paul's parents who arrived at our house around 4am so Gabby could go home. Paul contemplated calling 911, but I thought he could just take me to the hospital. We couldn't make up our mind which hospital to go to. At first I was inclined to go to the one that has a NICU, but in light of our insurance hassles (and the fact that I know they don't accept babies younger than 24 weeks), we decided to go to the closer, smaller hospital. We called them on the way, and they told us to head straight to labor and delivery (where I had been in January 2010 with the retained placenta).

The first room they had me in for 4 hours was freezing. The thermostat was set at 95, but it was actually 58 degrees in the room. That is very unpleasant when you're only wearing a hospital gown. They hooked me up with an iv (ports in both hands), took some bloodwork, and did an ultrasound, which showed the cause of the bleeding was complete placenta previa (totally blocking the cervix). I was very thirsty, but they wouldn't give me any water or even a piece of ice because they were concerned they might have to do an emergency c-section to save my life, which would end the life of our son because he isn't viable outside the womb yet. They didn't allow me to eat or drink anything for the first 7 hours I was there because of this potentiality. This was extremely upsetting for me. At one point I was begging Paul to pick a name. I kept saying please don't let our son die without a name. Thnakfully the bleeding eased up enough that they let me eat at 8:30am. Normally my stomach wouldn't be growing at 3am, but I had been awake since 1am so my body thought it was much later than it actually was since I only slept 3 hours that night (10pm-1am). I had a catheter the first 14 hours because they didn't want me moving at all. I was on very strict bedrest (ex. don't even roll over on your side just be still). I had so many things attached to me - air compression things on both legs (connected to a machine), a blood pressure cuff, iv, etc. The bleeding stopped around 11:30pm on Wednesday night (about 22.5 hours after it stopped). They discharged me at 10:00am this morning and told me to come back on Monday for a follow-up. I was to stay on bedrest at home for 2 weeks.

Then I had my MFM appointment at 10:30 with a doctor from Harrisburg. My mom took me there by wheelchair. At this appointment I learned that #1 I needed to be hospitalized for at least another week due to the previa (as there's a high probability I'll start hemmoraging again in the next few days), #2 due to the contractions I've had lately my cervix has shortened to a dangerous point (needs to be stitched together), and #3 our son is starting to show signs of fetal anemia (probably needs a transfusion). That hospital doesn't have the equipment needed to fully evaluate the anemia. The doctor said I need to spend at least 1 more week in a hospital -either the one near us where the kids were born or the one in Harrisburg (where he's based). I chose the one in Harrisburg as we'd have to pay thousands of doallrs to go to the other one due to our insurance. The down side is that it's 1hr 45 minutes from our house. Paul stayed home with the kids, and my mom drove me to the hospital. We arrived around 3pm.

When I first arrived the monitor said I was having some contractions so they gave me some medication to try to stop those. They gave me compression stockings instead of the machine, and I'm hooked up to an iv again. I am in the labor and delivery ward, but if I don't have contractions or bleeding this evening, I'll be moved up a floor to a maternity ward. They said before I am discharged they will give me the steroid shot to speed up the baby's development. Oh and he did cooperate today - the baby is definitely a boy. So please pray for #1 the bleeding to stop and the placenta previa to resolve (move) because they can't deal with the shortened cervix or anemia until that resolves. I have to have 7 days without any bleeding before they'll discharge me. I also ask for prayers because it's going to be REALLY hard to be separated from my kids for at least one week. I already miss them like crazy.

I didn't have access to Facebook or Blogger at the other hospital, but I do have it at this one. Paul went to the library and checked out 6 books for me this morning. Hopefully that will help pass the time while I'm on bedrest at the hospital. I'm praying for a better night's sleep tonight as I haven't gotten much sleep the past 2 nights (last night due to having to go the bathroom very often due to the iv pumping fluid through me and having vitals checked throughout the night, etc.). This NICU accepts babies at 23w so I need to make it at least 6 more days for him to have a chance at surviving although the odds aren't good at that stage. It would be much better if he makes it at least 28 weeks, and of course 35 is an even better goal! Please pray he stays put as long as possible.