Baby

I just want to share with you the events that Brad and I have been experiencing.

On the 15 November (Saturday) I was admitted to hospital because I was in premature labour. I was exactly 24 weeks pregnant. I wasn’t aware that I was in labour but I had started bleeding that morning. They hooked me up to the fetal monitor and I was told I was having intense contractions 3 minutes apart. Brad and I were quite shocked and distressed. The doctor came to tell us that their first line of action would be to hook me up to a drip with some medication that may stop the contractions, if that didn’t work, she’d try a different drug and after that she’d have no choice but to deliver the baby. The odds for the baby wouldn’t be good – only a 40-50% chance of survival. As you can imagine, we were really worried but still optimistic that the drip would work.
The medication came with a whole lot of side effects and they had to do chest x-rays and allergy tests. After a couple of hours on that, I was still having regular and intense contractions. It wasn’t working. They quickly put me on the other medication and fortunately that helped the contractions subside. I was kept on that drip for 48 hours and on Monday night they stopped it. By Tuesday night the contractions started again and they put me on the drip again for another 48 hours. By this point I was extremely worried and kept crying and I was feeling hopeless.
On Thursday night I came off the drip and once again the contractions came back but this time they weren’t as intense so they decided to just monitor me for a while. They had been monitoring me on the fetal monitor for about half an hour and the nurse came and told me to lie on my side for a while (the monitoring is always done while you’re on your back) and the contractions subsided.
The doctor decided to leave me off the medication but I was given strict instructions to lie on my side.
It’s now Sunday evening and I’m still in the same situation – the contractions come if I lie on my back, sit or walk around but so far they are still mild enough not to warrant going on the drip again. I only have one more time that I am medically allowed to go on the medication again (3x is the max).
It’s been a very emotional and stressful time. But everyday that I can prolong the pregnancy counts. It was a small victory on Saturday when I hit the 25 week mark. And as I write this I can say we are now 25wks and 1 day.
I am in a private room in the hospital and I am so stiff from lying on my side. Brad has been in and out of the hospital, he often spends the night here on the little sleeper couch and it’s been a very stressful time. I’m not out the woods yet but we can only hope for the best although some days are harder than others.

I’ll keep you updated.
Love Carla