Bed Rest

Well, you really didn't think that we could go a few weeks without some more drama, did you? Unfortunately, that's exactly what has happened. I'm sitting in bed right now because I'm being forced to; I'm officially on bed rest until Monday (hopefully no more than that!).

It was midweek when I realized that I wasn't feeling too well and felt a lot of crampiness. Since I'm repeatedly told (or made to feel like) I'm over-reacting, I kind of dismissed it as normal growing or stretching of the uterus. The pain continued for a couple of days and progressively got worse so I decided to call in and check to see if it was normal. Labor & Delivery told me that I should come in and have it all checked out. By this point I was convinced that it was the best option as fluids weren't reducing any of the pain or cramping.

They put monitors on the babies and they seemed to be just fine. They were moving all around, which made it very difficult for the nurses to keep them hooked up. One nurse actually had Greg hold down the monitor on baby girl so that she could track down baby boy. Baby girl kept kicking the monitor; this is pretty typical for her as she kicks me any time I place any kind of pressure on the area she's in. Stinker. The monitor showed that I had a lot of uterine irritability and despite the fact that I had been drinking extra fluids, they gave me two huge glasses of water to get down. The cramping wasn't going away so they hooked me up to an IV and gave me two bags of fluids. In the meantime though, I had a few contractions, one of which I felt pretty bad. It really scared me. I just kept thinking that they can't come now... I'm only 25 weeks... my precious babies are too tiny and aren't ready. People like to tell you not to stress, but how can you not in this situation?

My doctor gave me some vistrol (sp?), which was supposed to relax the uterine muscles. It was then that he told me to be on bed rest Friday-Sunday. I kept being told that cramping was a normal thing for multiples, but my doctor said that it is not wanted. He told me to come back if I have more of these symptoms. I was examined and my cervix was long and closed tightly, so that was a relief. As I we were being discharged, I was informed that I had a UTI. Supposedly, this can cause uterine irritability as well. I haven't ever had this type of infection so I didn't really know what to expect and I still don't think I have the obvious symptoms. I was prescribed antibiotics so hopefully this will clear up any issues and I can be off bed rest on Monday.

This has been very scary for us. Please pray for my health and, in turn, the health of our babies. The thought of going on an extended bed rest scares me half to death, but I'd do it in a heart beat to keep these little ones safe inside me.

Oh, and to nephew Grady, Paige, and Levi... sorry we're missing your milestone birthdays this weekend; it makes me so sad to miss them. I get really emotional everytime I think of it.