Day 22 was overly eventful... in a bad way.

Evening of day 21, I went on the fetal/contraction monitor for an hour as usual. The nurse didn't say anything when she took me off so I assumed everything was a-okay. I go to bed as usual, oblivious to what was about to happen...

Day 22, 1:30 a.m., nurse comes in wanting to put me on the contraction monitor... I was very annoyed. It's 1:30 a.m., and it's not normal to wake me up for this... so why now? She didn't say. I let her put me on without question and I went back to sleep.

2:30 a.m., nurse comes back... I had 6 contractions in 20 minutes... in my sleep... "Are you sure?" I asked. She called the doctor who was equally as confused as to WHY she was being woken up for this... WHY wasn't she told earlier that there was an issue and that I'd need put back on the monitor. Someone messed up... apparently she didn't read my contractions earlier in the evening, someone else noticed a heavy pattern and called her out on it in the middle of the night. *sigh*

So anyway, 3:00 a.m. they decide to start an IV and I was bummed. Really bummed. But I knew it was a possibility at any moment, so at least I enjoyed my freedom while I had it. This is what sucked... the screw-up nurse was the first to start my IV and of course, she blew the vein in my right hand. I started shaking and crying... it really hurt. She goes to get another nurse, who was too scared to try because apparently I have small veins. *sigh again* So they go get some old guy who is apparently the pro at IVs... they switch hands and he blew the vein in my left hand. Now I was really in tears and could not stop shaking. He decides to go into the wrist, and it hurt more than I could have imagined, but he finally got it right. Third time's a charm, I guess.

Once that event was over, the nurse asks if I need anything else... um, yeah, I do! Tylenol! "Where is the pain?" She asks.... really? lol... all I can do now is laugh... "Both my hands!" What did she think? Really? They felt like they were on fire! So she brought me Tylenol and a first dose of a contraction-stopping med. They kept me on the monitor...

7 a.m., my favorite nurse came in and I was SO RELIEVED that she'd be taking care of me during the day. She tells me the first dose of the med didn't work, so she was going to double it, but I wouldn't really notice any side effects. She was right, I didn't notice a thing, and dose #2 didn't work either...

9 a.m. she came back in... "I have some bad news. I'll have to put you on a magnesium sulfate drip. You're not responding to the meds." By this point, the contractions actually started to hurt and I was horribly uncomfortable. Before they were nothing... just a lot of pressure I could handle... I wouldn't call it pain. I've had cysts rupture that hurt worse! But by 9 I was hurting and she didn't want me hurting, so they started a blast of magnesium sulfate for 30 minutes.

During that 30 minutes, I did really well... it just made me feel like I had the flu, but I never got nauseated. My heart rate got dangerously high though, so that is when they decided to pull it back to half the dose. The good news is IT WORKED. The contractions slowed drastically, although it still took a few hours... but now I maybe have 2 in an hour, or none for several hours. This is good news, but also bad that I have to be on this stuff until delivery. It gives me headaches a lot and sometimes I feel really weak... like, I can only shower for so long... but otherwise, I'm okay!

Let me just say, showering is WEIRD with an IV hanging out. I've enjoyed the last 3 weeks free of help, but now I can't even undress/dress myself without a nurse present to weed the IV through my clothes. Boo. It's okay though... I feel higher in spirits again today. Yesterday was rough... so far, day 22 was the worse day here... but I'm back to a happy place. The only thing I'm really bummed about is the limitations with my right hand... and I'm right handed. But it hurts because of the IV's placement in my wrist... yesterday I couldn't even type, so it has gotten better, but I can't finish Zoey's blanket now. Glenn went ahead and packed up a lot of my entertainment... the Wii, because I can't use my wrist well enough to use the controller... the blanket-making stuff because I can't hold it properly to loom... oh well.

Zoey is still strong; none of this has phased her in the least bit. My doctor-of-the-week was shocked I hadn't gotten a consult with the NICU before asking for it. She was very apologetic... I guess that was supposed to happen as soon as I got checked in here. So hopefully soon I'll have some answers and it looks like we'll be delivering here next week. Hopefully my OB can do it! :) If not, I'm okay with it... I just want Zoey to arrive safely right now.