Over the next few days, I got good at telling when I was having a contraction, but not because I was in pain, I just had learned the sensation at the top of my abdomen, just under my sternum, that felt like someone was lightly brushing my skin and causing goose bumps set the fetal monitor off and thus signified I was having a contraction. My labor had been stopped, and I was only dilated at 1 cm for a bit.
On the morning of Monday Sept 4th, 2006 (which happened to be Labor Day, that coincidence was not lost on me!), I was feeling generally restless and uncomfortable, and asked for the fetal monitor to be put on to monitor the twins. The nurse told me that all the moms were complaining that morning because all the fetuses were acting up from the rainy weather. I was feeling baby A kicking a lot, but not on my abdomen. I felt it vibrate completely through my uterus and out my vaginal area, as if her little feet were just right there. The nurse called the doctor who came to examine me, and informed me that he could in fact feel her feet and I was at risk of her breaking my water, so it was time for the twins to come out via emergency caesarian. Larry and Josh were staying with me that day, but Larry was in the shower. It was quite upsetting for both of us later that he didn't get to see me before I was rushed off to the operating room.
So the unusual prayers for bedrest in a hospital bed for 4 months (meaning the twins would be full term) was all of a sudden not an option. I remember all of the hustle around me in the O.R. preparing me for surgery, and all I could say over and over was "it's too early, it's too soon, they aren't ready".
The journey continues, but not tonight. Good night, and I hope someone reading this finds it as interesting as I am finding it therapeutic.
Monday, February 21, 2011
The calm before the storm
I don't know how I remained calm with the news I had just received. I read the books, it was too early. The twins' lungs were not developed enough to be born now. We were sent straight to the Brownwood hospital (sorry, Larry, the birthday dinner at Red Lobster would have to wait), where I was hooked up to the fetal monitor and started on steroids to mature the twins' lungs, and magnesium sulfate to slow the labor down. Let me tell you a little about magnesium sulfate.....it relaxes the muscles to decrease contractions, but it is not smart enough to just relax the muscle contractions. I felt like a limp, weak, heavy sand bag sinking into the mattress of the hospital bed. Along with the hot flushed feeling, this relaxed feeling is not one that I ever want to experience again. I was virtually helpless. I needed help rolling, eating, everything! And this went on for 5 days.
On the night of Aug 30, 2006 I was care flighted to Harris Methodist Ft. Worth. Those arrangements took some work on the doctor's part because the flight crew did not want to touch me as soon as they heard "preterm active labor". Finally, the flight team from Harris Methodist came to Brownwood and picked me up. The next 4 days were a blur of fetal monitors, bloodwork, and feeling like a helpless sand bag.
On the night of Aug 30, 2006 I was care flighted to Harris Methodist Ft. Worth. Those arrangements took some work on the doctor's part because the flight crew did not want to touch me as soon as they heard "preterm active labor". Finally, the flight team from Harris Methodist came to Brownwood and picked me up. The next 4 days were a blur of fetal monitors, bloodwork, and feeling like a helpless sand bag.
The quest for motherhood
Who knew it would be so hard to get pregnant! A year after we got married, we began fertility treatments. Simple ones first, then up the ladder of complexity over the next 4 years until we ultimately had to endure in vitro fertilization (and by "we" I really mean "me" for the most part :)) Hundreds of shots, patches, pills, sonograms later, we found out that both implanted embryos took! Oh, happy day!
The first trimester went smoothly. No morning sickness, just the absolutely necessary 3:00 nap. I could not go one step further if I did not take that nap!!
The second trimester started out pretty uneventful, and I even needed less naps in the afternoons. Regular sonograms every 1 to 2 weeks followed, because I was considered a high risk pregnancy: 1.age, 2. twins, 3. in vitro. Referral to perinatologist also because of high risk pregnancy. First visit to perinatologist (7/25/06) we found out that baby A was a girl and baby B was a boy.
On Aug 28, 2006 (also Larry's birthday) I had regularly scheduled sono at OB-GYN in Brownwood. The perinatologist wanted to see me one more time, which would have been Aug 29th. I seriously considered cancelling since I had had a normal sono the day before. My appointment was rescheduled for Aug 30th because of an emergency the perinatologist needed to handle. I had a guardian angel or higher being looking out for me and my babies on those days, because I decided to go ahead with the appointment, and Larry and I were going to eat at Red Lobster afterwards (thank God for Red Lobster, that sealed the deal!) This turned out to be the visit that we discovered that I was in labor, and dilated to 3 cm. No pains, no warnings, no problems. But in labor at less than 24 weeks gestation!!
The first trimester went smoothly. No morning sickness, just the absolutely necessary 3:00 nap. I could not go one step further if I did not take that nap!!
The second trimester started out pretty uneventful, and I even needed less naps in the afternoons. Regular sonograms every 1 to 2 weeks followed, because I was considered a high risk pregnancy: 1.age, 2. twins, 3. in vitro. Referral to perinatologist also because of high risk pregnancy. First visit to perinatologist (7/25/06) we found out that baby A was a girl and baby B was a boy.
On Aug 28, 2006 (also Larry's birthday) I had regularly scheduled sono at OB-GYN in Brownwood. The perinatologist wanted to see me one more time, which would have been Aug 29th. I seriously considered cancelling since I had had a normal sono the day before. My appointment was rescheduled for Aug 30th because of an emergency the perinatologist needed to handle. I had a guardian angel or higher being looking out for me and my babies on those days, because I decided to go ahead with the appointment, and Larry and I were going to eat at Red Lobster afterwards (thank God for Red Lobster, that sealed the deal!) This turned out to be the visit that we discovered that I was in labor, and dilated to 3 cm. No pains, no warnings, no problems. But in labor at less than 24 weeks gestation!!
Sunday, February 20, 2011
To do list
Pancakes for breakfast...check, garage door scraped......check, garage door painted.....partial check, laundry.....partial check, go to bed.....not yet, gotta get the laundry checked off!
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Nothing good ever comes from a blind date....
A fellow employee at the Brownwood hospital asked me if I would be interested in going on a blind date with her brother. I agreed to give it a try, but did not hear from this brother for several months. Then in April of 2001, a phone call was received, and a blind date was set up. And I'm sure by now you have figured out that the hospital employee is now my sister-in-law, Michelle, and her brother is now my husband, Larry. We got married on August 10, 2002, and I suddenly went from 33 years of being single, to having a husband, a 13 year old daughter, and a 6 year old son! Quite a culture shock if you ask me! We did the best we could with 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom until we could expand our house to better suit our needs. And we survived. I'd say something really good came out of that blind date.....
In the beginning....
So I feel like I need to share some of the biggest events in my life to be able to fast forward to this point in time. I grew up in San Marcos, and graduated high school in 1987. During my school years, I was active with band, sports, and church activities. My primary sport of choice was competitive swimming. I was on the San Marcos Aquatic Club from the age of 6 or 7 until about 16 (when I began to be more interested in social activities than the swimming pool 2 hours every night).
I excelled in swimming, and qualified many seasons for the Texas Junior Olympics. I received many medals, ribbons, trophies, and plaques over the course of my swimming career, but have very few of them to show now, because of several acts of nature (house fire when I was 12 or 13, and then a flood in 1998 that washed my entire house down the Guadalupe River). But in between those 2 disasters, I gained a step-family that I loved, graduated high school, and graduated from Southwest Texas State with a Bachelor's of Science degree in Physical Therapy in 1995.
Ten days before I was to move to Brownwood, the flood occurred. I was almost completely packed and ready to move, and begin my new job at Brownwood Regional Medical Center. An interesting thing happened with that flood. The waters of the Guadalupe River were high enough to reach the roof of my 2-story home, and were moving fast enough to wash the house right off the foundation, but those same waters left my grandmother's china that I had inherited completely intact and in the same spot where I had left it all packed in boxes. The boxes were washed away from around the dishes, but the dishes remained unharmed and unmoved! (Although some of the pieces did actually make it a bit down stream, as we spent the next week combing the banks of the receded river for personal belongings). The only pieces to the complete set of Desert Rose China that I could not account for were the salt and pepper shakers, and the sugar bowl (but I did find the lid to the sugar bowl). So the few things that I did recover after the flood had great sentimental value to me.
Ok, fast forward to 2001, March to be exact.
I excelled in swimming, and qualified many seasons for the Texas Junior Olympics. I received many medals, ribbons, trophies, and plaques over the course of my swimming career, but have very few of them to show now, because of several acts of nature (house fire when I was 12 or 13, and then a flood in 1998 that washed my entire house down the Guadalupe River). But in between those 2 disasters, I gained a step-family that I loved, graduated high school, and graduated from Southwest Texas State with a Bachelor's of Science degree in Physical Therapy in 1995.
Ten days before I was to move to Brownwood, the flood occurred. I was almost completely packed and ready to move, and begin my new job at Brownwood Regional Medical Center. An interesting thing happened with that flood. The waters of the Guadalupe River were high enough to reach the roof of my 2-story home, and were moving fast enough to wash the house right off the foundation, but those same waters left my grandmother's china that I had inherited completely intact and in the same spot where I had left it all packed in boxes. The boxes were washed away from around the dishes, but the dishes remained unharmed and unmoved! (Although some of the pieces did actually make it a bit down stream, as we spent the next week combing the banks of the receded river for personal belongings). The only pieces to the complete set of Desert Rose China that I could not account for were the salt and pepper shakers, and the sugar bowl (but I did find the lid to the sugar bowl). So the few things that I did recover after the flood had great sentimental value to me.
Ok, fast forward to 2001, March to be exact.
Blog day 2
Working on some embellishments for my blog, hoping to make it interesting for any followers who may find their way to my blog, and add personal touches and interests to it. So far so good. I promise that family info is coming soon!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
