30 Weeks

Haven't been able to update or check blogs this week b/c J and I have been staying at his Grandparents empty place that is right near the hospital. I can't keep up the constant daily travel (hour each way) to the hospital and we want the comfort in knowing we're close to the hospital if need be. So we decided we need to stay up there as much as possible from now on. Now I'm only a few minutes from the hospital and J happens to work nearby so it cuts out the commute for both of us. It's definitely not ideal b/c like I said it's an empty house that isn't in top shape (to put it mildly). All that we have there is a mattress on the floor, a refrigerator and a TV (no computer). But- it's free and available so therefore we're really appreciative of having the option of staying there. We're also able to take our dogs and that would be a problem if we couldn't so that works out well too. We went up on Sunday and came home last night. I want to come home for a couple of nights a week to check on the house, get our mail, restock our supplies, etc.

It ended up that I spent over 20 hours and many visits in the hospital between just Monday through Thursday this week. It's been a long week. An average NST takes about 30 minutes but the shortest mine has ever taken is two hours and it's usually more like three. They're either keeping me on longer to watch the contractions, or to watch the decelerations in the heart rate or b/c they can't keep the babies on the monitors b/c they're moving around so much. If they're really concerned then they send me to triage for even more monitoring. Eventually the nurses decide on whether I can be released...at least until the doctor goes over the report later that day. They always release me and then I get the call a few hours later that the doctor wants me back the next morning to do the entire process all over again. So- that is my life right now. I am still on medication every four hours to stop the contractions/relax my uterus. It's not a fun medication to be on b/c it has a lot of unpleasant side effects. The worst one being the racing heart beat. It makes you very shaky/ jittery... therefore it makes it difficult to sleep b/c of it.

I am happy that I'm released each day so I can be w/ J in the evening and see my dogs. I figure the one benefit to all of this is that I'm so busy w/ all of these hospital and doctor trips that it's making my pregnancy go by much faster than if I were at home on bed rest 24 hours a day. All of this has actually made bed rest between appts much easier b/c I'm so exhausted/miserable/uncomfortable I really have no desire to do anything other than to lie down between appts.

The highlight of my week (MAJOR sarcasm) was on Wednesday. Let me back up...... I was told by Dr. H to increase my water intake on Monday so J and I bought several cases of Dasani bottled water. I started gulping this water down starting Monday night. On Tues night I woke up in the middle of the night w/ my throat burning. It just killed and nothing seemed to help. It continued to be extremely painful as morning came. I also had three nose bleeds in a matter of hours, had a splitting headache and I was starting to itch all over. I knew I was having an allergic reaction b/c I've dealt with a serious allergy most of my life. I'm terribly allergic to Sulfur and that includes anything w/ sulfite or sulphate (foods, beauty products, etc.) I've become really good at knowing what is safe to eat and use so I haven't had a major reaction in a few years. Anyway- I knew I was having a reaction but had no idea where I could have gotten sulfur from. I started looking at everything we had at the Grandparents and didn't see anything that could be the culprit. Finally as I was drinking my water I looked at the bottle and almost dropped it... It said water and Sulfur as the ingredients (sulfur added to enhance taste). I just couldn't believe that my purified bottled water was the problem. Who would ever think to check their bottled water. I knew I was in trouble so I called my Doctor and headed back to the hospital. It ended up that I was lucky I caught it early on. Sulfur builds up in my system and if I had waited a day or two we would have had a serious problem on our hands. It still ended up that I had 2nd degree burns (actual boils) in my throat and it most likely burned my stomach too b/c I was spitting up blood for the rest of the day. They pumped me full of steroids to counter act the reaction, gave me an IV full of Benedryl and some sort of syrup to drink that coated and soothed my throat. Can I just say how much of a pity party I was having/ still having. I mean really...just how much can happen to one person. It would be almost funny if I wasn't so miserable.

As for my babies...they seem to be holding up. I'm still pregnant and expect to stay that way for as long as possible. I had the heart scan (fetal echocardiogram "echo") and both of the babies hearts looked great! Yeah for some good news. My FFN continues to be negative so that definitely gives me some peace of mind. basically I need to find a way to get through the next six weeks without losing my mind. I've had a few crying breakdowns where I just felt so overwhelmed and just plain tired. Part of me is really sad that I can't enjoy this pregnancy more. It's not likely that I'll ever be pregnant again and it truly is an amazing and miraculous event. I still feel so lucky that my IVF worked and that J and I will be adding two little people to our family. I'm trying my best to have a good attitude about all of this. I can't say that I'm really successful but I try to stop and just be thankful. It could always be worse...a lot worse and I don't even want to think about that.

Please know that I think of all of you. I caught up on most of the blogs this morning but just don't have the energy to comment. Thank you for your prayers. Keep them coming!!!