An interesting 36 hours

Mess 1 has always been my laid back little man. Even my pregnancy with him was uneventful; I think we only ended up needing one extra appointment, and it was the Friday before he was born on Sunday.

Not so with baby girl. She has kept us on our toes since her first ultrasound at five weeks; and I seem to learn something new every few weeks. Here's the short story of the last few days.

Tuesday morning I woke up at 3:15, wondering if my water had broken. A quick call to the doctor confirmed that I needed to come in so they could check. After some tests the doctor determined that if anything I had a slow leak, but it still meant I was in the hospital until I delivered. Since I am still only 35 weeks they would let labor progress if it started, but wouldn't induce if it didn't.

Thankfully at this point she won't be dangerously premature, but would probably go to the Special Care nursery (which I think is the step down unit from the NICU) and need oxygen and possibly a feeding tube for a little while. Since would like to aviod that, we were hoping I wouldn't go into labor.

So by 10:00 when I still hadn't gone into labor they started IV antibotics, and told me to get comfortable as I wasn't going anywhere until she delivered. Since they won't induce until 36 weeks, we started making our plans for an extended hospital stay. I was moved out of L&D to a room in the antepartum unit (thankfully still private) to "get comfortable."

Hubby went home to get some things I needed as we still hadn't packed the hospital bag, and picked up Mess 1 and dinner so we could all eat together. My boy charmed the socks off the nurse, asking to help with my IV and if he could have some medicine. After they headed home I settled in to try and get some sleep, as I had to wear the fetal heartrate monitor all night, get my vitals checked every four hours, get my antibotics every six hours, and not to mention the uncomfortable bed. I knew it was going to be a rough night, and it was. I think I only got two decent hours of sleep.

So I was really looking forward to nearly two weeks of all this. However yesterday after they did some more tests they determined I was no longer leaking fluid. Apparently very small holes can sometime fix themselves (like fix-a-flat according to the doctor; I always like being compared to a tire).

The best suprise came when the doctor came back in the room and asked if I'd like to go home. (Um, yes, please). I am on bed rest until she decides to come, but at least I am at home. I am still at the point where they won't stop labor if it starts, but they would like me to go at least two more weeks, four if possible, before they induce.

I even have permission from the doctor and all my bosses to work at home so I can save my leave, since I have just enough to cover six weeks and then still have a couple of days left for doctor's appointments or other things that seem to come up with a newborn.

Suggestions for books or DVDs would be appreciated as I am sure I will be more than a little stir crazy before this is over.

Also, please pray that she decides to stay put for a few more weeks and for Hubby, as he is going to have to take care of everything until that point.

We'll keep you posted, and let you know as soon as she gets here.