FFN test, NST test, amino levels, and lots of hours in triage

After my positive FFN test on Tuesday, Dr. H sent me to the hospital for monitoring on Weds for several hours. They were tracking contractions and the baby's heartbeats. The babies were highly active and the monitoring showed what they called uterine irritability. For whatever reason Dr. H got the report from the hospital and didn't like what he saw so I was told I'd have to come back today for a NST (non stress test) and an ultrasound. I was at the hospital today all day long. They did the NST test and I had a few contractions and I guess the babies heartbeats dipped a few times so Dr. H wanted me monitored in triage for a few more hours and then he required that I come back again for another NST test tomorrow and more monitoring in triage. This concerned me b/c I'm not exactly sure why he's so worried. Or if he's really worried or just a little concerned. No one is really telling me much other than what I've reported here. I was originally told I'd be released until Monday and then Dr. H said no after seeing the report. The only thing comforting me at this point is that he's a specialist and probably overly cautious and if he was seriously worried about immediate danger to the babies than he'd hospitalize me and not let me go home between visits. It was reassuring to hear several nurses talk about how good Dr. H is and how's he the best specialist in the area. I noticed that when someone is told that he's my doctor they immediately come to attention so he must hold some rank in this hospital. The hard part is the stress and worry (no duh) and the hospital is an hour away so that makes it a long day and I don't know how long I'll be up to making the drive.

I was diagnosed w/ a yeast infection and that could very well be contributing to the contractions and uterine irritability. I was put on something to clear that up and also put on Nifedipine to relax uterine contractions. It's a beta blocker that is usually prescribed for chest pain and works mainly by lowering your blood pressure. I have to take it every 4 hours (I was told every 6 hours yesterday and now they increased it to every 4 hours) and can feel the effects. I have very low blood pressure to begin with so it's super low now. I stayed around 80/55 today so I feel dizzy, lightheaded and faint at times. This was especially fun when they gave me the second dose of steroids today since that made me feel jittery on top of the above mentioned symptoms. And can I just say that the steroid shots are completely doable pain wise for us IVF patients (since we can handle anything after going through IVF and PIO) but still not fun...talk about a major burning pain for a few minutes.

It looks like at a minimum I'll now on be doing NST tests twice a week along w/ an ultrasound to measure amniotic fluid. Today the amniotic fluid levels were good. Baby A was 19 and baby B was 18.7 or something close to that. I'll also be doing my regular appts w/ Dr. Helm on top of the hospital visits. He'll be re-doing the FFN test on Monday and I pray it comes back negative and that it was positive this week b/c of the yeast infection and "affection" that occurred between J and I the night before. Those are fixable conditions...especially the "affection" part since we're not allowed to have any sexual activities at all now on...not even breast stimulation. It's going to be a long few months in that department. It may even be worse for me than J b/c sex is a huge stress reliever for me.

So at this point I'm hanging on to this theory... that sex and the yeast infection are my culprits b/c I just don't believe my body is giving out on me already. I do think it's the end of most daily activities for me. I'm on ordered bed rest right now. My papers actually say no cleaning, no cooking and no shopping. I'm to be on my backside unless I'm going potty and I'm allowed one 10 minute shower a day. Maybe that status will change if my FFN test comes back negative on Monday. Since you're supposed to be safe from preterm labor for 2 weeks if its negative. You can see how much hope I'm holding for a negative FFN... and by the way when I asked for clarification...Dr. H said a positive FFN means you have a 1 in 6 chance of going into preterm labor in the next 2 weeks. And he did say that sex "could" cause a false positive.

I am feeling calmer for the most part. I was a big ball of tears non-stop Tuesday and Wednesday. Not sure why I'm feeling somewhat calmer today...maybe out of energy to cry. I still feel like I'm okay and the babies are okay. And I remind myself constantly that it's much better to have all of this extra monitoring and be overly cautious to stay on the safe side. Worse case scenario and they hospitalize me than Dr. H will need to live up to his reputation and keep the babies inside me for many weeks to come.