Babies:: 32 Weeks

Sunday night I was hanging out on the couch eating a very yummy "special chocolate malt" from Winsteads and Vince was giving Ben a bath-then all the sudden my vision got weird. It wasn't blurry but there was lots of spots & lines-I have never had something like this happen before. So I sat there for a few minutes and it didn't get better so got up to tell Vince. He had me lay down and took my blood pressure. My bp wasn't great but it wasn't dangerously high, my neck was sore from laying around for days so we thought maybe it was a pinched nerve. After about 30 minutes my vision got better and my neck was still sore but Vince was rubbing it and had the heating pad on it and it was feeling better. So we called it a night and went to sleep. Monday morning when I first got up my vision was fine but within a few minutes I had a headache and my vision was getting weird again. At this point Ben is watching tv in our bed, Vince is in the shower getting ready for work and I'm trying to figure out if I should call the doctor or wait until our doctor/ultrasound appointment at 1:30pm. We decided since it had been over an hour and it wasn't getting better we should call the doctor. The nurse told us to come in and they would squeeze us in. We had to wait a bit for our ultrasound but both babies were fine. Plenty of fluid and they were practicing breathing. So that was great news!

My mom came and grabbed Ben right after the ultrasound thank goodness-he was losing patience fast sitting in the office. The nurse took my bp a few times and it was in that 140/90ish range. Dr P came in and said it was off to the hospital. Headache, high bp and vision issues are not things to mess around with. Before we left she did check my cervix and there was no change from Thursday so that was good news! We got put in labor & delivery triage and spent the next few hours there. My headache was awful and they wouldn't let me have anything for it until all my test results came back so I laid in the dark with an ice pack on my head for what seemed like forever. The babies were on the monitors and were still looking good. Finally I was allowed some tylenol about 1:30 and then got word we were getting moved to a real room for a bit. Most of my blood work was back and was looking good but Dr P wanted Dr Wickstrom the Maternal Fetal Specialist to see me. We had seen her after our 12, 18 and 22 week anatomy scans so we knew her and knew she was really nice. So at this point my headache and vision was better my bp was running at my "new normal" and the babies were doing good so we thought we would be on our way home soon. Then Dr W came in the room and we were not prepared at all for what was about to happen. She said after looking at my blood and urine results that we had two issues-first my iron levels were very low but more seriously she was concerned that I was at risk for a seizure. She was very concerned that my brain was swollen and that we needed to do something immediately. She explained that the course of treatment was to start a 24 hour magnesium iv drip. The magnesium is a muscle relaxant and it relaxes the blood vessels to help prevent seizures. She warned us that the next 24 hours were going to be very unpleasant. The mag was going to make me really sick-and the first 30 minutes was going to be the worst because she was going to push a very large dose in and fast. She said I was going to feel like I was on fire. The decision was made by Dr P & Dr W to wait until the 24 hour mag drip was over before they addressed the iron issue. And we were told to prepare for a long hospital stay. Before I could even begin to process anything I was getting changed into a gown and my iv line was getting placed. Then basins of ice water and wash clothes were brought in the room to help keep me cool. Then is started...5:37pm and I just kept telling myself I just needed to make it until 6:07pm and the "worst" would be over. 

I was one of the lucky ones I guess-while I felt super sick & hot I didn't literally feel like I was on fire. About 10 minutes in a nurse practitioner from the nicu came down to talk to us. This was our second unexpected blow in under an hour. We were told to be prepared for the babies to be born the next morning at exactly 32 weeks and what we should expect from "32 weekers". Talk about another Holy Shit moment. No one had even made a slight mention about the babies being born early. My parents had Ben and Matt brought up my hospital bag (that I had just packed Sunday) and had packed a bag for Vince. And now he was headed back to our house to get the diaper bag and our camera so we were prepared for the delivery. So the very long night wore on and on. We were told a decision would be made in the morning based on how my bp was throughout the night, how the babies were doing, how new blood work came back and how my 24 hour urine catch results came back. We were up all night long. The babies and I had to be monitored constantly. And the babies were not happy about being on the monitors so the nurses were constantly having to readjust the monitors. I wasn't allowed any ice, water or food after midnight in case they had to take the babies in the morning. That made the mag drip even worse since I was so hot and thirsty and couldn't do anything but rinse my mouth out with water. I can easily say it was one of the worst nights ever. Tuesday morning Dr P came in to see us and said that while we were still waiting on the 24hr urine results everything else was looking good. She didn't think that I had developed pre-eclampsia , or that babies would not be making an appearance today and that I more than likely had a pregnancy induced migraine. But with a history of pre-eclampsia and being pregnant with twins they needed to be on high alert and overly cautious. She said we had to wait for the final results and Dr W needed to come see me before we could turn off the mag drip. But she did allow me to have ice chips & water. I can't even tell you how good those damn ice chips were! I managed to take a little nap but woke up feeling even worse. After another zofran and tylenol dose I felt a bit better. Dr W came in about 1:30 with the news that we could stop the mag drip! But she wanted to immediately start the iv iron drip. That meant one more hour of the babies and me hooked up then we would be free to get up for a shower. She was in agreeance with Dr P with that I hadn't developed pre-eclampsia as of yet but she wanted to monitor me one more night. After my iron treatment I got to take one of the best showers ever! No more monitors on my belly constantly, no more blood pressure cuff but I still had to have the iv attached for fluids until bedtime.

The babies had to pass a 30 minute "test" on the monitors before bed and then again at 6:15am but other than that they got to be left alone too. I only had to have my vitals taken every 4 hours so we actually got good sleep Tuesday night and woke up to the news we had been waiting for we got to go home! I had to continue bed rest and come back to the hospital Friday and Monday for more iv iron therapy, blood work, bp monitoring and baby monitoring and then go next Thursday for my regular weekly ultrasound/doctor appointment. I have been told we will be making more trips to labor & delivery before its all said and done. And we have been warned that the likely hood of making it to even 36 weeks isn't great now but our new goal is 34 weeks. Everyday I can keep them in my belly is said to be 3 less days in the nicu. So now we are taking it day by day by hopeful day.