Hi all,
This is actually Liz's brother Gary writing for her. Liz is lying next to me here in a very nice hospital in San Francisco.
She started having contractions this morning, and when she realized they were coming every 10 minutes, she called the doctor. The doctor said better safe than sorry and to come on into the hospital to be checked out.
Luckily, they were then expecting her (thanks to her doctor calling in in advance), and she was whisked up to a room. She was indeed having pretty strong contractions, roughly every 10 minutes or so. We had a parade of doctors coming in, and they decided to give her the steroids. For those who are unfamiliar with all of the details (I’ve gotten a crash course on it this afternoon), steroids help speed up baby development if you deliver within 2 weeks of receiving the injections. In addition, she is also receiving magnesium to try and calm the contractions. Unfortunately, magnesium has all sorts of crazy side effects: really hot, dizzy, light headed, and just generally crappy feeling, to quote my sis.
The magnesium was calming them a little, but she was still having some contractions, so they also gave her a shot of treb, which is medical shorthand for some long unpronounceable drug. That stuff just adds to her general unease, particularly in accelerating her heart rate. Eating dinner was a challenge in that her hands were so jittery it was hard to keep the fork from shaking.
After about 4 hours now in the hospital, she’s still having the occasional contraction, is wearing the contraction monitor and has an I.V. going. Nothing is impending at this point, we’re all just kind of waiting and hoping that things settle down and the contractions stop. They tell her she’s been admitted to the hospital, which essentially means she’ll be here until she delivers. We’re all hoping that that’s not going to be for month or so, but we’ll just play it day by day. Tonight’s menu selection was the penne pasta with chicken, which she said was pretty good, but she advises against the fruit tart. More menu reviews to come.
1 comment:
Hey Liz,
Sorry to hear you had to go in the hospital after all! But it sounds like you are in the best place getting the best possible care, and how great that your brother is with you. I hope the mag and terb help calm your uterus down and I will be praying for you! Would you like a phone call? Just send me the number and I'll check in on you for a chat whenever you want.
I look forward to many more postings from the hospital!
~Meredith
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