Whoa nelly!

Here's a quick update...I had started a much more detailed one but then it got lost :-(

Pete, my parents and I spent all day Saturday doing tons of stuff to get the house ready for the girls!  I found a great recliner on craigslist (to replace my sleeping in our lawn chair!), we got the closets moved, my dad and Pete started installing new doors on the bathroom and nursery. 

After a long day, I set up camp on the recliner to relax and catch up on some "Dexter" and noticed my mid/lower back starting to ache.  I tried going to bed and was up from 12-5 AM on and off.  Finally, I decided to call the doc.  After giving my symptoms, he said that I should come in!  I thought for sure I was being over reactive but Pete said that he heard something in my voice that concerned him when I said "Something just doesn't feel right".

It sure is weird walking through Abbott at 5:30 in the morning on a Sunday..normally its such a busy village, like its own city, but that morning it was a ghost town!  We arrived to the 6th floor labor and delivery unit and shortly the nurse discovered I was in labor...almost 3 cm dilated and having contractions.  The perinatal on call dr. came in and explained I would start on magnesium sulfate "mag" for 48 hours.  Whoa!  I was shocked!  The nurses gave me several different iv's to prep me one which made me feel uncontrollably shaky!  Around 8 am I got moved to a different room on the same floor and got hooked up to monitors for several hours watching both babies heart rates and my contractions.  The girls heart rates have stayed strong the whole time I've been here.  I was having some contractions mainly in my back.

Around 3 PM on Sunday I moved down to the 5th floor (called the antepartum/preterm labor unit).  What a refreshing place and I've gotten to stay here ever since.  The room is way bigger with a beautiful view of downtown (versus the brick building I had before), supplied with a refrig, microwave, working tv remote (yay!) etc.  Every nurse I've had since I've been on the 5th floor has been wonderful.  I feel SO safe here and well taken care of. I've even got to have several of the same nurses twice which is great.

So since Sunday afternoon I was told that I'd be on bedrest for the remainder of my pregnancy...just not sure if it would always be in the hospital or if I'd get to go home at all...time would tell.  Sunday night was a rough night of sleep...and I can't believe how much I was peeing!  Monday I was kind of out of it all day...but I saw the on call doctor from the perinatal clinic (which is where I go and is also attached to this hospital!) and a nurse....they both told me that on Tuesday I would get to go off the iv and switch to an oral med, nifedipine and see how myself and the babies did on that.  Nifedipine is a cardiac drug often used to lower blood pressure (which thankfully mine has stayed low so far) but often used to help stop labor.  They told me that if all went well I'd possibly get to go home and be on bedrest by Wednesday.

Even though I was spent by the end of Wednesday, it was a fun night.  Pete gathered my lengthy list of stuff from home and ran a few errands.  Bless his heart...he is being SO patient and is already being SO good with the girls!  Kendall and Derrick stopped by and we had a great visit with them-they brought Pete and I some goodies (magazines for me and a twins dad shirt for Pete). Then Ellen and Tom stopped by to visit with some gorgeous flowers (hydrangeas, my fav and roses) and yummy fruit!  What nice visits we had with both of our visitors.  Then, Pete then helped me take a shower (which felt AMAZING) and got me settled into bed.  I hadn't slept more than about 6 hours since I'd been at the hospital so when the nurse offered a mild sleeping aid I accepted.  What an AMAZING night of sleep I got!  It felt SO good!  I only got up twice to go pee (compared to the hourly visits the nights before, no joke) and slept from about 10:30-8:45! 

Today (Tuesday) has been a fabulous day.  I had a yummy breakfast and then was taken off the iv!  Babies are moving more for sure now since they are off the mag (which was slowing them down).  I  got monitored around 11 am and haven't had any contractions yet!  Dr. Fairbanks (who I saw yesterday as well) came in and was very hopeful saying all looked well and the plan will be for me to go home on Wednesday! 

I spent the morning catching up on getting LOA stuff figured out for work, communicating, online browsing/shopping :-) (no purchases made, just for fun!), watching HGTV and chatting on the phone.  Around 1 PM I got some surprise visitors...my Grandma Shirley and Grandpa Lloyd!  What a huge smile that ran across my face when I saw them!  My Grandpa is SO close to getting his prosthetic leg so the fact that they made the trip down here when it isn't very convenient meant the world to me!  We just all had a great time chatting.  I could have sat and talked with them for hours...they mean SO much to me and are such inspiring people!

Now, I just finished lunch.  I will say, the hospital food ain't so bad!  I order it through room service and there are tons of options.  I'm fallen in love with getting a side of cooked carrots and having vanilla pudding as dessert...both hit the spot!

My friend Anne and her mom, Sue are going to come visit in a little while.  I'll get some great advice/stories I'm sure from Sue (the mom of my twin friends, Anne and Sarah) about being pregnant with twins.  She went on bedrest too and I still can't believe carried twins.  She is very petite and about half my height! 

I'll try and keep you all updated via the blog.  We appreciate everyone's thoughts, concerns, prayers, reaching out for help.  We can't begin to thank our families for all they have done for us throughout this entire pregnancy.  Both of our moms dropped everything they were doing on Sunday when we called them and went over to our house and cleaned/organized.  How blessed are we that our families get along so well together. 

If I don't get back to you right away, I apologize.  My mom is a good person to contact and my friend Kendall has volunteered to answer any questions as well (Kristin, thanks for your offer too...sorry we haven't touched base yet!)  Text me if you'd like their contact info.

I'm trying to relish in the opportunity to get stuff lined up and organized before the babes are here.  My thoughts are often scattered so bear with me and all the grammar on these blogs. :-) Love you all so much!

Love,
Becky, Pete and the girls :-)