Didn't want to join me on the bed in the first couple of minutes, but we were watching Sesame Street in no time cuddled up...waiting for our discharge. Such interesting gadgets in this room.
yea...first hospital stay...The saga continues. Here is a rundown of the 32nd week :
The saga continues, 32 of 40 weeks:
We did the VBAC class on Saturday which was great, part 2 is on the 14th. It still seemed worthy to do because I had a record 17 days with no bleeding and the placenta position up for debate..sort of.
We had our first fetal non-stress monitoring on Tues. where Dr. Caldwell indulged all my natural birth questions, bless her heart, she has been willing to believe it could still happen along with me. Also, asking hospital protocal for c-section was more uplifting than my last surgery as well, things like delayed cord clamping etc, pretty standard here.
I started actually putting a bit of thought into a labor plan Tues. night after joking with Doug that after the good stress test and record clean streak that I'd probably have incident momentarily and then Wed. at 7am followed Dr's. orders to the maternity ward because of a blood gush. It was no worse than any previous one and I was tempted to ignore it, but went in. I expected to be in for a few hours and released, but they wanted 24 hours. Baby was fine, bleeding stopped (as they all have almost immediately after the gush) but they detected minor contractions which I couldn't feel. They gave me the 2 shot series of betamethasone 24 hours apart for developing the lungs...just in case.
How It Works
Betamethasone and dexamethasone cause an immature fetus's lungs to produce a compound called surfactant. A full-term baby's lungs naturally produce surfactant, which lubricates the lining of the air sacs within the lungs. This allows the inner surfaces of the air sacs to slide against one another without sticking during breathing. Premature infants whose lungs have begun producing surfactant are more able to breathe on their own, or with less respiratory treatment, after birth.
Why It Is Used
Betamethasone and dexamethasone are corticosteroids, also called glucocorticoids, that are given before birth (antenatally) to speed up a preterm fetus's lung development. Either is used when a mother is in preterm labor and birth may occur within 7 days. This helps prevent respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) and related complications following premature birth.
Many infants born at 33 to 34 weeks' gestation have sufficient lung maturity to breathe on their own. But considering the low-risk, high-benefit nature of this treatment, corticosteroids are typically used up to 34 weeks of pregnancy.
I was hooked to a fetal monitor for about 12 hours, got an ultrasound (where they wheeled me in a gurney all through the hospital, such overkill). Mostly I was bored to tears, not having expected a 24 hour stay.
The anestesiologist visited to go ahead and talk through the c-section either planned or emergency and do all the paperwork so it's ready to go whenever it should happen. We will have blood ready for transfusion and to IV lines ready in case it goes as badly as the last surgery. We do not want to lose 2 liters again!! Nothing like the fond memories of a frantic anestesiologist stabbing you a dozen times trying to find another vein while passing in and out of consciousness, then being filled up with liters of saline instead of blood.
So I'm home now Thurs. morning and though not put on strict bed rest, I'm asked to do even less and stick around home. Dr. Caldwell stopped in this morning and is no hurry to firmly schedule a c-section, wanted to get as much time as possible but is guessing we'd get down to business end of 36 weeks -37 weeks Ball park 1st 2 weeks of April. Now we wait and see.... The Dr. on call for this says, "This is your last child, Yes?"
My list of problems on my OB chart for every appointment reads:
Placenta Previa
Rh factor, negative (have to get shots for that)
Advanced maternal age
Pregnancy
Uterine fibroids...
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