Week 27 in Review

A little late.. 26 week photo

I've been recovering this week from a semi-tramatic weekend, thus the very late post with lots of updates..

Last Saturday I was having a normal afternoon when I had the most frightening experience I've ever had with my health. I looked up from crocheting with double vision, unable to "uncross my eyes" it seemed. I sat up telling my nurse, who had just finished getting the babies onto the monitor, that I had had a sudden change in vision. Within the next second I felt my blood pressure & pulse rise radidly, pulsating throughout my body like a drum. Grabbing my throbbing head, I loudly announced that she needed to get a doctor, NOW, I thought I was having a stroke. She calmly & quickly took my blood pressure as nurses ran down the hall to my room. As soon as they got me turned onto my side & an oxygen mask on me, the symptoms subsided. The nurses stated that indeed, my BP was extremely high & pulse was racing, but it quickly went back to normal. My vision also returned. Having education in & treating stroke patients, I knew this episode had something to do with my blood pressure & that what had just experienced was not something to ignore. The doctor ordered an EKG of my heart & they did multiple neurologic exams, all coming out normal. We still don't know the cause of what happened.. but everyone is watching my BP & pulse very very closely while on the Procardia medicine.

Before the nurse left the room, I felt a tinge of pain down low that I had never felt before. She reported that I was also having contractions show up on the monitor. She decided to check my cervix to be on the safe side, reporting that I was now dilated to 5 cm & could feel Addison's head. They pulled the wires from the wall & monitor & whisked me to L&D.

Once in L&D, I was put on Magnesium Sulfate to stop the contractions & also help prevent neurologic deficits in the babies. This is a great drug but comes with horrific side effects including a burning sensation throughout the body, intense sweats, nausea, vomiting, difficulty breathing, etc etc. After the events upstairs, I wasn't a bit afraid though, just wanted to prevent labor at all costs.. When the doctor arrived & checked my cervix herself, she stated I was only 3 1/2-4 cm, not the 5 I was told upstairs! With the contractions coming close together, I was still at a high risk of delivering soon. They would keep me on the monitor all night & hope that the mag worked it's magic. The doctor thankfully gave me some pain medication in my IV that knocked me out completely within seconds, giving me a wonderful nights' rest even on mag!

The next morning my contractions subsided & the doctor decided I was safe to return to antipartum. I never thought I'd be happy to return to this place! What a blessing, once again! The rest of the week I've been recovering from the mag, which completely wiped me out. My eyes have been impacted the most, feeling slow & tired most of the time, but that's ok with me as long as we're still here! They also restarted Procardia to keep the contractions at bay. Let's hope it continues to work! Here's my wonderful L&D nurse who even wrote a verse on my board as a constant reminder:)

Thursday I had a sonogram to recheck fluid levels & development. The girls looked great! Fluid levels have slowly begun improving more & more each week. One surprise was the Addison had her hand above her head, which is currently right against my opened cervix. Yes, her hand was sticking THROUGH my cervix! The MFM (maternal fetal medicine specialist) stated that he wanted her to move it before delivery, but wasn't too concerned that this would be a problem at this point & also said he was very pleased with their development looks. Praise the Lord! Tomorrow will be 28 WEEKS!!! I've been quite emotional the past few days, feeling incredibly thankful that God has brought us this far. I never imagined we'd be seeing 28 weeks with a 95% survival rate when we arrived at week 23. Well here we are, & I feel like shouting it from the rooftop!