26.0

Now that I quite literally have all the time in the world, I thought it might be a good idea to write about our unexpected hospital stay a week and a half ago. It all started on Wednesday, August 29th. I was at work, and started to feel some cramping. Nothing painful, just uncomfortable. But when you're 24 weeks pregnant, any amount of cramping is unsettling. Luckily, I was kind of an "extra" staff member that day. All I had to do was give some of the girls their lunch breaks, then I could go home. So I got home around 3:00, right as Joey was leaving for work. Since the cramps were just uncomfortable and not painful, I wrote them off as Braxton Hicks and just laid down on the couch for the rest of the night. I was watching the Republican National Convention, and the cramps got a bit worse. (Nothing but a coincidence, I'm sure. Haha.) I had a bit of anxiety, but I've been such a nervous wreck this entire pregnancy, I told myself I just needed to calm down and that everything was fine. Once Joey got home from work, I felt much better. This next part is probably considered TMI, but nobody really reads this blog, so I'm okay with it. Anyway, I woke up in the middle of the night feeling as though I had peed my pants. Well, I didn't. But there was clearly something going on. I immediately pulled out my doppler to listen to the baby's heartbeat and make sure she was okay. (Yes, I spent $60 on one of those things, and it's possibly the best investment I've ever made. For peace of mind, I'd be willing to pay a lot more.) Well, since the baby was fine and I wasn't feeling any more cramps, I decided to try to get some sleep and call my doctor first thing in the morning. I called & let my boss know what was going on, called the doctor, (or her nurse, rather) and she told me to go straight to Labor & Delivery in case my water had broken. I surprisingly wasn't scared, but I think that's because I was in shock. Our pregnancy had been incredibly uneventful up until this point. Once at the hospital, I changed into a gown and got probed for awhile. Not fun. I knew the nurse would have to be "up in my bidness" to see what was going on, but she also had a young, male intern shadowing her that day. Joey wasn't a huge fan of that! I'm going to keep some gory details out of here, but suffice it to say that my body was doing things it should not have been doing until December. Prepping itself to deliver a baby, only 16 weeks too soon. At this point, I was hooked up to a machine that monitored both the baby's heart rate and my contractions. Even though I was feeling absolutely nothing, apparently I was contracting pretty consistently. My doctor came in and checked everything out. Given the fact that I was in preterm labor, she told me that we'd be staying overnight for observation, and from there on out, I'd be on strict bed rest. I could feel my blood pressure go up right then and there- we're barely making ends meet with both of our paychecks combined; how were we going to survive if I'm not bringing in any money? Luckily, I am starting a family with the most amazing guy in the world, who seemed to read my mind and immediately told me not to even stress about money issues. "I'll do whatever I need to take care of us; you just focus on our baby." I sure am one lucky son-of-a-gun to have found Joey. I really am. He never left my side while we were in the hospital. I know he was scared, but he put on a brave face for me. I didn't have much anxiety during our hospital stay, despite what we were there for. I think the fact that we had nurses and doctors surrounding us made me feel that everything was going to be okay. Knowing that the babe was constantly being monitored made me feel so much better about everything. Oh! And my water had NOT broken. That's kind of important. Anyway, we were discharged from the hospital the next morning, and so far- so good. As good as things can be, given the circumstances. I'm on medicine to stop contractions, but am still having them from time to time. This week has been so much better than last, though. The first few days after the hospital, the contractions were still pretty bad. My doctor is more of a realist than an optimist, which I actually appreciate. She's had premature babies herself, so she knows her stuff. Also, she's a doctor. Anyway, we've set two major goals with her. The first is to make it to 28 weeks. If our princess were born now, she would live- but she would be in the NICU for months and would be so sick- it would be heartbreaking, and her mama is not strong enough to watch her go through that. So she's definitely NOT allowed to come out anytime soon. Once we hit 28 weeks, the risk of neurological problems goes way down. So that's our first goal. Our second goal is 32 weeks. The doc says that babies born at 32 weeks & beyond will probably only spend a month or so in the NICU, and by the time they are a year old, will be catching up on their milestones and thriving at a very similar rate of babies born full-term. So those are our baby-step goals. Only 2 more weeks until we reach the first one! I still am hoping for a miracle- that I'll be able to keep her in until her due date, and maybe even longer than that! I'm probably one of the very few people who would be just fine with being overdue- although that wouldn't be the case had I not gone through this whole experience! As scary as it has been, though, I'm glad it happened. Because now instead of wishing my pregnancy away and just wanting it to be over with- which was exactly what I was doing a few weeks ago- now I'm just so grateful for each day that I get to keep my little girl growing inside me. I'm SO incredibly excited to meet her, but I won't say "I can't wait" anymore. I can. =)