Weekly Check-In
33 Weeks
This week Baby Salisbury is the size of a Durian Fruit (eww)
Okay, okay...I'm a bad blogger. I totally missed last week. BUT, I have a good excuse, I really do!
I'm currently blogging from my hospital room in good 'ol Provo, Utah.
Yep, I said hospital room.
It's a long story...ready?
Monday afternoon, during my routine doctor's appointment, my doctor discovered that I was dilated and I was having contractions. He had me admitted to our local hospital with the hope that we could stop my contractions and stop me from dilating any further. Being 33 weeks, I would not be allowed to deliver at our local hospital. If I continued to progress, they'd have to transport me to the city, to a bigger hospital, where they can take care of pre-term babies better.
So after a couple hours, they checked and I was still progressing. So my doctor had no choice but to have me transported to Provo just in case I was to deliver. We were going to be air lifted out, but there turned out to be some bad weather over the mountains so the helicopter couldn't come get us. Instead, I got the oh-so-fun option of taking a two hour ambulance transport. J followed the ambulance in our own car that way he wouldn't be stranded in the city in case he needed to go somewhere. The ladies who transported me were super nice, but I really can't say that I loved riding backwards in the back of an ambulance through mountain passes.
Yeah...not my favorite.
Anyway, we arrived in Provo at 1 o'clock am on Tuesday morning.
The doctor who was on call came in and checked out my cervix. Here's the fun part-
My cervix was still mostly closed thanks to my cerclage (cervical stitch) that I had placed in February. It was only dilated 1 cm. What was dilated was a tear that had developed below opening to my cervix. That was dilated to 3 cm.
Long story short- I now have two holes in my cervix! The cerclage did such a good job of holding the opening closed, that the pressure from the contractions had to be relieved somehow, and we had a "blow out" below the opening. Pretty much like blowing out the side of a tire. Lovely mental image, I know.
So, I've been on bed rest and continual monitoring since Monday.
They've done everything they can to stop the labor, but they've also done some really important things that will improve our little guy's chances if he's to be born right now or anytime soon.
They gave me steroid shots to help develop our baby's lungs, and they put me on antibiotics to help prevent any infections. But best of all, they managed to stop my major contractions, so hopefully I won't dilate any further.
Tomorrow is our next big day- If I haven't dilated any further, there is a great chance that I'll be able to go home and be on bed rest until I deliver. If I can just make it to 36 weeks, then we can stay at home and deliver at our local hospital. On the other hand, if I have dilated any further when they check tomorrow, I'll more than likely have to stay here in the city and deliver. They don't want to risk sending me home, 2 hours away, if I'm just going to go back into pre-term labor. Then I'd just have to come back.
Cross your fingers for us! Baby Salisbury is looking GREAT. His vitals are perfect and he's in no distress whatsoever. We only need him to stay in there for 2.5 to 3 more weeks. If we can make it that long, then he' won't have to spend hardly any time in the NICU and we'll be able to take our son home (barring any medical issues). If we can't make it, then he'll more than likely spend a couple weeks in the NICU but babies of his gestational age have great odds of being perfectly healthy. They may be delayed with breathing/feeding, but for the most part, they're fine.
So, here's a picture of my hospital belly (hopefully this won't be my final belly shot!)
Okay, okay...I'm a bad blogger. I totally missed last week. BUT, I have a good excuse, I really do!
I'm currently blogging from my hospital room in good 'ol Provo, Utah.
Yep, I said hospital room.
It's a long story...ready?
Monday afternoon, during my routine doctor's appointment, my doctor discovered that I was dilated and I was having contractions. He had me admitted to our local hospital with the hope that we could stop my contractions and stop me from dilating any further. Being 33 weeks, I would not be allowed to deliver at our local hospital. If I continued to progress, they'd have to transport me to the city, to a bigger hospital, where they can take care of pre-term babies better.
So after a couple hours, they checked and I was still progressing. So my doctor had no choice but to have me transported to Provo just in case I was to deliver. We were going to be air lifted out, but there turned out to be some bad weather over the mountains so the helicopter couldn't come get us. Instead, I got the oh-so-fun option of taking a two hour ambulance transport. J followed the ambulance in our own car that way he wouldn't be stranded in the city in case he needed to go somewhere. The ladies who transported me were super nice, but I really can't say that I loved riding backwards in the back of an ambulance through mountain passes.
Yeah...not my favorite.
Anyway, we arrived in Provo at 1 o'clock am on Tuesday morning.
The doctor who was on call came in and checked out my cervix. Here's the fun part-
My cervix was still mostly closed thanks to my cerclage (cervical stitch) that I had placed in February. It was only dilated 1 cm. What was dilated was a tear that had developed below opening to my cervix. That was dilated to 3 cm.
Long story short- I now have two holes in my cervix! The cerclage did such a good job of holding the opening closed, that the pressure from the contractions had to be relieved somehow, and we had a "blow out" below the opening. Pretty much like blowing out the side of a tire. Lovely mental image, I know.
So, I've been on bed rest and continual monitoring since Monday.
They've done everything they can to stop the labor, but they've also done some really important things that will improve our little guy's chances if he's to be born right now or anytime soon.
They gave me steroid shots to help develop our baby's lungs, and they put me on antibiotics to help prevent any infections. But best of all, they managed to stop my major contractions, so hopefully I won't dilate any further.
Tomorrow is our next big day- If I haven't dilated any further, there is a great chance that I'll be able to go home and be on bed rest until I deliver. If I can just make it to 36 weeks, then we can stay at home and deliver at our local hospital. On the other hand, if I have dilated any further when they check tomorrow, I'll more than likely have to stay here in the city and deliver. They don't want to risk sending me home, 2 hours away, if I'm just going to go back into pre-term labor. Then I'd just have to come back.
Cross your fingers for us! Baby Salisbury is looking GREAT. His vitals are perfect and he's in no distress whatsoever. We only need him to stay in there for 2.5 to 3 more weeks. If we can make it that long, then he' won't have to spend hardly any time in the NICU and we'll be able to take our son home (barring any medical issues). If we can't make it, then he'll more than likely spend a couple weeks in the NICU but babies of his gestational age have great odds of being perfectly healthy. They may be delayed with breathing/feeding, but for the most part, they're fine.
So, here's a picture of my hospital belly (hopefully this won't be my final belly shot!)
Please excuse the hospital selfie, I look and feel like crap.
I hope you guys have had a better week than we have! We'll definitely keep you updated as we go!
-K
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