Bed rest at 24 Weeks - Monday, May 26, 2008

I started having contractions around 5 o’clock Monday morning and by 6 I had already had 5 so I called labor & delivery and they told me to come in to be checked. They put Peanut on a fetal monitor to check his heart rate and a monitor to check for contractions, which by that time had calmed down significantly. They checked my cervix, which was closed and long. But because my blood pressure was elevated they started an IV with magnesium sulfate and I was admitted and put on inpatient bed rest, indefinitely. And so began the constant monitoring: continuous fetal heart monitoring, blood pressure checks every 30 minutes, blood draws every 6 hours, 24 hour urine sample, twice a day ultrasounds (one to measure Peanut’s fetal movements and another to measure the blood flow from me to Peanut). I was also given steroids to help develop Peanut’s lungs. The doctors were concerned that I was developing toxemia, aka pre-eclampsia. But my high blood pressure was the only symptom as I had no blurred vision, no headaches, and no swelling.

The doctor’s discussed with me the possibility of preterm delivery and that if the baby or I were in distress they would have to deliver me via emergency c-section. On paper I had reached the point of viability (24 weeks) just the day before, but because Peanut’s growth had been restricted as a result of lack of blood flow to the umbilical cord, he was actually only measuring approximately 22 weeks by ultrasound. Based on this we were told by my high risk doctor at my last appointment with him just the week before that his chances of survival if born at this point were very slim. The day I was admitted and put on bed rest the doctor’s from neonatology spoke with us and gave us a 50/50 chance of viability. I always figured that I was not going to make it to full term but I was hoping to be in the hospital for at least the next month or so and deliver somewhere around 30 weeks. At a minimum I wanted to get two more weeks which would hopefully get Peanut’s growth to the 24 week mark.