My Adventures to the Hospital again...& AGAIN!

Well, I was originally planning to just write this post to inform everyone about the weekly biophysical profile tests Dr. McDonald was going to start doing on me...however I now I have a LOT more news! My test was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, but appearantly little Brooke just couldn't wait that long for us to hear her heartbeat! Tuesday evening around 5:30 I began to have a lot of Braxton-Hicks contractions. As I've mentioned before, I had been having a lot of these lately, but this time things felt different. Around 8pm, I noticed that I was having them every few minutes. Reagan and I had just ate dinner and were sitting on the couch watching a movie. I decided to change from a sitting position to laying down to see if that helped. Reagan went to get his watch and a piece of paper and began recording my contractions. Well, the contractions did not go away when I layed down. They were coming about every 10 minutes and lasting 50 seconds on average. We decided to call our awesome friend Kendra...she's a labor and delivery nurse at a hosptial here in Houston. She told us we needed to go ahead and call Dr. McDonald, so we did. Dr. M told us to go ahead and go to the hospital and she was going to let them know I was coming. Well, I was thinking, oh goodness ANOTHER trip to the hospital and it's not even time for her to come yet! As soon as we arrived, the nurse hooked me up to some monitors to hear Brooke's heartbeat and to check my contractions. We could definitely see my contractions on the screen! As I said earlier, these didn't feel the same...they were a little stronger but not really painful. They were actually more annoying feeling than anything! My nurse examined me and said I was not dilated, so that was excellent news. They did do a fetal fibronectin test which basically would determine if I would be going into active labor within the next two weeks. Well, the test results were going to take a while so they decided to keep me overnight since my contractions were not going away. My doctor also gave me a medicine called terbutaline to stop the contractions. They had to give me three injections of this and it definitely helped! My contractions stopped, however the medication made me very jittery, kind of like I had drank way too much coffee!

The next morning, Dr. McDonald came to see me and said my test results for the fetal fibronectin came back negative, meaning that I would not be at risk for preterm labor. What a relief! So they were able to let me go home! I still had my regularly scheduled appointment with Dr. McDonald that afternoon along with the biophysical profile test, so she told me I still needed to come in for that. So Reagan and I headed home and it was off to bed for me! Right before I left for my appointment, I noticed I had a couple of contractions again. It was a good thing I was going back to the see the doctor! Well, the doctor was running late, so we didn't get back to start the BPP test until almost an hour after my original appointment time. The BPP test basically constists of 2 tests. They first hook you up to fetal monitors to check baby's heartbeat and to see if you are having contractions and how baby reacts to contractions. The second part consists of a quick ultrasound to check the amniotic fluid and baby's movements and muscle tone. When I was finally called back, the technician hooked me up to the monitors and told me I would be on them for about 20-40 minutes. Reagan was with me for this part, but he had to leave as soon as it was over because he had a meeting. While the technician was monitoring this, she noticed I was having contractions about every 4-5 minutes apart. She said that Brooke was reacting just fine to them, howeve she thought Dr. McDonald would need to examine me before doing the ultrasound. So off I go into another room for the exam. By this time Reagan had already left. As soon as my dr. began to examine me, I noticed she had a concerned look on her face. She then told me that since last week, my cervix had began to thin out a little meaning that these contractions are starting to do something. So, she said it was back to the hospital for me again...and this time she was expecting me to be there for 24-48 hours. Well, since Reagan was not there, I began to bawl! I was so scared becuase she said that we were going to have to try new medicines to stop the contractions, as well as getting steroid shots to help mature Brooke's lungs in case I went into labor. Even though my fetal fibronectin test came back negative, she didn't want to take any chances in case the results were wrong.

So, as I continue to bawl my eyes out, I get in my car and make my way to the hospital across the street. Mom told me she would meet me there while Reagan went home to pack us a bag for our stay. Suzy and Tom also came by a little later, as well as my dad. I checked back into labor and delivery and guess what...same room! This was also the exact same room for our hospital stay back in May when I had the stomach parasite! I need to get out of this room! I think Brooke likes it too much and keeps wanting to come back! After getting hooked up to the all the monitors AGAIN, I was also given an IV...thank goodness for that because I was told I could not eat until I stopped having contractions. (I should have eaten more for lunch that day!) Dr. McDonald prescribed a new medicine called Procardia to stop the contractions. My first dose was considered a "mega" dose and I was given 4 pills at once...and then I would receive one pill every four hours after that. I was also given antibiotics through my IV in case I had some unknown infection that could be causing me to contract. THEN, my first nurse leaves as soon as she gives me the Procardia, and a new nurse comes on to give me the first steroid shot. I would receive 2 of these, one every 24 hours. Well, 5 minutes after the steroid shot, a huge wave hit me and I was incredibly dizzy and light headed. I couldn't even see straight. The new nurse came running into my room to check on me. We found out that the Procardia lowers your blood pressure (which as many of you may know, I already have a problem with low blood pressure!) and along with the other 2 medications they had just given me, it was too much for my body to handle. My heart rate shot WAY down. After about 20 minutes, the extreme dizziness had started to go away but I was then on a close watch every time they gave me my next dose of Procardia! This medicine has taken a lot longer to control the contractions. I still had some contractions throughout the night, and we found that if I layed completely flat that they stopped. I was also given Ambien to help me sleep through the night and boy did that have a funny effect on me! Appearantly, about 10 minutes after getting it, I started hallucinating! I remember seeing all these crazy things, however when I woke up in the morning I thought it was all a dream until Reagan told me that it definitely was not! Well, there are some big spotlights in the ceiling and I appearantly saw 2 cartoon mice in each of them and the spotlight was there spaceship! I also saw lights flashing all over the ceiling and even asked Reagan "don't you see those?!" and told him he had 4 eyes, 2 noses, and 4 ears. This was all said in front of the nurse! I'm sure they both thought I had gone absolutely crazy! Well after that it was off to sleep for me. Even though I was unaware of it, I still had contractions throughout the night and was given another shot of Terbutaline to help. The contractions finally stopped sometime early this morning!

Dr. McDonald came to see me again in the morning and told me that I needed to continue bedrest laying flat to keep the contractions under control and that hopefully I would be able to go home Friday morning. I would most likely be sent home with Procardia to continue taking for the next few weeks to keep Brooke from coming too early. I was FINALLY given permission to eat as well! I hadn't eaten since lunch the day before so I was starving!! I'm still in the hospital as I write this trying to pass some time...can't you tell by how long this post is?! Lindsey and her mom stopped by this afternoon and brought me frozen yogurt from Swirl! yuuuuum!! So, I've decided to try sitting up to see if my contractions had officially stopped and so far so good! I've been sitting up for the past 4 hours and have only had about 3 contractions!! Which that's about normal for what I've been experiencing for the past few weeks. So, it looks like I will officially be able to go home tomorrow morning! I still have to get my 2nd steroid shot this evening but other than that, I'm feeling great! Maybe I won't have to be on strict "lay flat" bedrest and will actually be able to sit up from time to time once I'm home. My mom also informed me that a girl from high school is just down the hall moments away from having her baby today! We are able to see the monitors for all the patients and we recently saw that her monitors were turned off which means her baby is here! Such a small world!

Please keep baby Brooke in your thoughts...we can't wait to meet her, but we need her to wait a few more weeks before she comes! And since Reagan and I have had so much extra time with nothing to do, we've officially decided on her full name... Brooke Nicole Tielke! I'm really glad things seem to be doing better right now since I have a shower being thrown for me on Saturday! I'd hate for everyone to go to all that work for me and then I'm not even able to attend. I may have to sit the whole time, but I'm very much looking forward to it and seeing all of our family and friends! I will keep everyone updated if anything new happens. Thank you all for your love and support during this very scary time for Reagan and I!