It's Time to Pump Up & Take Some Steroids

Day 5 of bed rest is quickly coming to a close and has brought some new changes into our little world in room 213. This morning around 2:30 am, I felt a weird cramp during one of my many nighttime jaunts to the restroom. It didn't really hurt, so I went right back to sleep. When the nurse came in to give me my 6 am pill, I told her and she put me on the Toco (the contractions monitor) and I was having lots of contractions. This sparked a flurry of activity including two shots of Turbulyene (I have no idea how to spell this medicine so this is my best shot). The turb made my heart race and got me out of breath, but it did slow down the contractions. Luckily, Bob was on his way to the hospital for our Tuesday scan, so he was able to come in and make everything better just by being here. At our scan, they measured my cervix and things aren't changing, so that's really great. On Friday, they are supposed to measure the boys again, & hopefully we can find out how big they are getting.

Bob and I are sure that Baylor is the right place for me and the boys to be, especially since I don't seem to feel contractions and something like this morning's incident would have gone unchecked for too long if I were at home. Being in the hospital has led to some interesting developments. First, I have become a steroid user. Bob is very concerned about me having lost my home run record, but I told him I made the sacrifice in honor of Barry Bonds. The steroids are to help the boys lungs in case they are born early, so that makes us feel better. The other big change is in the type of medicine I am getting to control contractions. Since this morning's little incident, I have been put on a turb pump. It's a little band-aid with a clear tube that sticks into your leg then hooks on to this tubing which is connected to a pump which delivers some medicine directly into my leg every four hours. The most positive thing I can think of to say about this is that at least they don't have to wake me up during the night to take procardia.



It's no secret that I don't really like needles. In fact, I am completely unable to watch a shot of any type without going faint. No see, no problem. See, slump over in the chair. So, now I've got this thing stuck in my leg all the time, and Bob and I have to manage it because it's administered through a home health agency rather than the hospital (this fact makes Bob pretty nuts - I have to change the sticker and medicine on my own). Thankfully, we only have to move the part that goes into my leg every five days, and that is officially the job of the father of my children. One strange side effect of the drug (besides the fact that my heart almost bursts from my chest) is that it has turned my normally peaceful boys into crack addicts looking for a fix. They are kicking around all over the place. The nurse said that they'll get used to the medicine & calm down, but I don't think it's going to be anytime soon as it appears to be flight club 2009 in my belly. Now it's time to try sleeping through this hurricane inside me, hopefully the soothing tones of Law & Order will send me straight to sleep.