90: percentage certainty I felt that the contractions were just dehydration
10: Time I started a non-stress test at my doctor's office on Tuesday
3: Number of contractions I had in 20 minutes
117: Lowest heart rate measured for X during my 1st non-stress test on Tuesday (some cause for concern, but now seems to be just a fluke)
140-160: X's heart rate 99.9% of the time, even during a contraction (which is excellent, and a reason to think X is handling contractions like a champ)
3: pounds X currently weighs
2.5: pounds most babies weight at that point... my son is a big boy. And bigger babies have better chances when born early.
1.5: weeks ahead that his head is measuring (in other words, he's got a big head. D'oh!)
12:40: Time I started talking to my doctor after several more tests
0: Amount I'm dilating (this is GREAT news--- it means I am very unlikely to deliver within a week of taking that measurement-- anything more would be, well, bad.)
29: Weeks gestation I'm currently at
32: Weeks gestation my doctor is "confident we'll get to"
37: Weeks gestation my doctor is "hopeful we'll get to" (this is considered full-term)
1: (pound) weight at birth required for some expectation of survival
90: percentage survival rate for babies born at 29 wks, but with significant long term complications
Extremely high: survival rate for babies born at 32 weeks
Extremely low: chance of long-term complications for babies born at 32 weeks.
0: Expectations I had for having that conversation with my doctor on Tuesday
1: (Hour) time I was given to go home, eat, and pack an overnight bag before I had to be checking in at the hospital
5.5: Hours spent in the hospital Tuesday
24: Hours I was supposed to spend in the hospital (yay for being discharged early!)
1: Shot of Turbutaline given to stop contractions
4: Rating I gave the contraction I experienced just before I got my shot of Turbutaline (most I've had are 1 or 1.5)
2: Number of contractions I had after I had the shot of Turbutaline, over the course of 5 hours
3: Number of tries the nurse made to get my IV in place (3rd time's the charm)
1.25: Liters of fluids I got while hooked to the IV. Fun.
5: Number of visitors I had at the hospital (lucky me!)
5: Days I was told to go on bed rest
2: Times a day I have to take a pill that is supposed to stop contractions
4: Times a day I have to take an antibiotic in case an infection is the culprit behind the contractions (Crossing fingers that's all it is behind this craziness-- never thought I'd say "I sure hope I have an infection" before.)
9: hours a day I'm supposed to spend in bed, light activity and 1 short outing a day permitted in between 3 hour blocks of time in bed.
3/3: Days Ken has been home with me while I've been on bed rest
22: Hours my mom spent with me while I was in the hospital/first morning at home
5: Meals my mom made or bought for us while she was here (thanks, Mom!)
0: Amount of money Virgin America Airlines charged me to cancel my flight to California when I told them I couldn't fly because I'd been put on bed rest
259: Amont of money they credited my account (the full price of the ticket I couldn't use)
1: New huge fan of Virgin America Airlines
18: Contractions I had Wednesday (1st day on bed rest)
19: Contractions I had on Thursday
5: Contractions I've had so far today
1: Contraction I'm currently experiencing
100: Percentage I'm ready to be done with this contraction/bed rest business
5: Meals Kenneth has brought me in bed or on the couch (Lunch yesterday: Black bean burgers with cheddar-- yum! Breakfast this morning: Waffles with cinnamon butter, veggie sausage, and eggs)
2: Times each day he brings me a new, cold, full water bottle
1: Fantastic husband taking over household -- everything-- while I'm on bed rest
1: Lucky wife (me)
Trying to look on the bright side of things:
1. Even if I'm on bed rest until I get to term, that's only 7 more weeks (and I know women who have been on bed rest for most of their pregnancies). We'll need a game plan, but even in worst case scenario 7 wks seems do-able
2. Worst case scenario-- if pre-term labor can't be stopped, we're far enough along that while there would be a long stay in the NICU and other unpleasant things, X has an excellent chance of surviving and thriving.
3. X is incredibly healthy and handling this well. He's a big, healthy, active little guy and that's a really good thing for now.
4. I'm starting to figure out what the contraction triggers are: stress--even incredibly mild amounts, and any movement that uses stomach muscles-- like going from laying down to sitting up, sitting up to standing up, etc.
5. We find out today if it's just an infection, and if that's the case, this will all blow over as soon as the infection clears up. Then I'll be back to a normal, low-risk pregnancy. Cross your fingers that's the case!
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