Bathroom Privileges Only

These are the words the I heard over and over again during my two day "pregnancy jail" in the hospital this week. Man, I have heard before that twin pregnancies can be a ticking-time-bomb, and can literally go from normal to not in what seems like minutes. This, I have found, is true.

Monday afternoon I had an NST (Non-stress test). These are standard with high-risk pregnancies, starting around 32 weeks usually. Basically it requires being monitored for 20-30 minutes to make sure baby(ies) are having a certain number of heart rate spikes within a certain amount of time. Logan always passed these with flying colors, and true to form, so do Parker and Cooper. I passed my first NST of this pregnancy with no problem, no contractions, nada... Then, I left and went to the grocery store to pick up a few things we needed. By the time I got home, I was having painful contractions. By Tuesday morning, the contractions were still there, and considerably noticeable. I had a regular appointment with Dr. W Tuesday night, and while there, she told me I was dilated to 1cm and in need of some monitoring. Within a few hours, I was in Labor and Delivery, dilated to 2cm and 80% effaced, with full blown (PAINFUL) contractions every 2-4 minutes; and being admitted to the hospital. Ugh...

Tuesday night in the hospital just sucked. Sorry for lack of a better descriptive word, but that is simply what it was... sucky. I was hooked up to monitors, in an uncomfortable bed, with an IV, in a hospital gown, with a killer migraine from the different drugs I had been given. I was pumped with a cocktail of antibiotics, Terbutaline, Nifedipine, steroids to help speed along lung maturation, and saline. I had developed a low-grade fever in the middle of the night as well, which has yet to be explained. Needless to say, I barely slept and was miserable, and ready for a shower come Wednesday morning. Dr. W was the on-call doc on Wednesday and broke the news to me that I would be staying at least one more night, and was on "Bathroom Privileges Only". She let me spend the day wireless, however, so bless her for that! No IV, no monitors, and I was allowed to shower, eat, and nap in a nice, larger room in Mother-Baby. I really did find it humorous how many times throughout the day I was reminded I was on "Bathroom Privileges Only". I mean, really? Where was I going to go?

Luckily, the contractions had really slowed significantly on Wednesday, and it was evident that we were starting to gain control over my labor. I realized how much I had truly been overdoing it. I am the mom though. I am the wife, and the hub of the house. Brian is a wonderful partner in the normal, everyday happenings of our household, but really, I am the one who takes care of most things around here. Combine that with doing daycare... I was really overdoing it and was clearly in denial. I realized this mostly when laying in the hospital bed and realizing that my hips didn't feel like they were being ripped in half, and my back wasn't aching... hmmmmm... it began to tell me that potentially this wasn't normal, and perhaps they are all right. Time for mama to rest. A friend reminded me that it is now the time to think of gestating these boys as my full-time job. Now that I am home, I really need to remind myself that many times a day. My job is no longer to clean, mop, vacuum, do laundry, go to the store, dust, and on and on and on. My job is to bake these babies as long as I can. So that's what I am doing. I am resisting the urge to grab the Clorox wipes, and shielding my eyes when I see something on the floor that should be vacuumed.

One thing I know for sure, is that we have the most wonderful family and friends. Not only has my amazing husband been my rock, my source of comfort, and sense of calm, he has also been Daddy Daycare, put work second and family first, and picked up the slack around the house while I am not able. Brian's Dad and sister have come out to help with Logan, and we have had friends bring us meals to help take off some of the stress. How amazing? Oh, and I need to mention the support of kind words from friends all over the country that have sent me messages, texts, emails, and the most gorgeous boquet of flowers I have ever seen.

So, our next goal is 34 weeks - 1 week and 2 days from now. When we get there, we will set the goal of 35 weeks, then 36. We are hoping to require little-to-no NICU stay for our newest McGowan's, so the longer they bake the better. In the meantime, I will try to remain on "Bathroom Privileges Only" while here at home, take my meds every 4 hours, and focus on my full-time job of gestating!