Premature Labor at 27 weeks

On June 2nd, I walked through my house having some particularly strong Braxton Hicks contractions. Every once and a while I would have to stop talking and focus on breathing through them. "Hmmm this isnt good." I thought to myself. So I filled up my water jug with ice and water and plopped myself on the couch laying on my side. I stayed that way for a good 2 hours, before i had to admit to my husband Jason that these felt like the real deal, and we need to go in.

I called my aunt to come watch the kids who were already settled into bed, and braced myself against the door frame while I breathed through a contraction. At that point I was still telling myself that we would get checked out at the hospital, and I'd get a shot to calm the Braxton hicks and then probably be home around 4 in the morning. But I was wrong...

We got to the hospital and checked in with Labor and Delivery where they showed me to a room. My cervix was checked, and I was at 2cm dilated. The Dr. explained that women who have had multiple births can sometimes just be 2cm dilated normally, without being in labor. So we were going to wait another hour and check me again to see if I was dilated further. I was hooked up to monitors, and Jason and I sat in the temporary L&D room watching infomercials on the TV while I started to stress. After an hour, the Dr came back in and checked me. I had gone from 2cm dilated to 3cm dilated. "This isn't good." my Dr said. She started me on magnesium sulfate to slow my contractions, and gave me a steroid injection to help the babies's lungs to develop in case we needed to deliver them. I started to cry. "This is my fault, why isn't my body working properly for these babies...IF1 and IF2 trust me to keep them safe and I feel like I'm failing!" Both Jason and the Dr were extremely understanding and supportive and kind to me while I struggled with that guilt and fear. They reassured me that sometimes women with multiples just have early labor and then with some magnesium it's successfully stopped! I prayed desperately that I was one of those women whose labor could be stopped. I was admitted to the hospital, and for 2 days I remained on the magnesium drip. They also gave me anti-biotics, which my body did NOT like. My head and neck got fire red and itchy and my lips tingled and itched. The magnesium was really hard on my body as well. I was dizzy, had a headache, and woozy. I wasn't allowed to drink anything for risk of my lungs filling with fluid. So I could only have one ounce per hour, and a tiny bit of ice chips. I had dreams of being trapped in house fires, and of floating glasses of ice water. I kid you not.

After 48 hours on magnesium, I was allowed to come off the drip at 2am. My nurse woke me to give me the good news and promptly handed me a  huge jug of ice water. Haha bless that woman...

The Dr's responsible for my care wanted me to wait another 48 hours in the hospital to be sure that my contractions were truly gone. Luckily they were and my dilation had even closed up a bit. Thank God. My IFs were in Finland on vacation when all of this started..after speaking with my Dr and the NICU Dr on speaker phone when I was being admitted, they decided to come home. They hopped the soonest flight they could get, and were home by Saturday. The literally drove from the airport, to their house to drop stuff off and then came to be with me. I can't even explain how many emotions went through me...guilt was a big one that's for sure. I felt awful that their trip was cut short, love for these soon to be dad's was another big emotion I felt. I already knew they were ready to be parents, but their sacrifice and willingness to drop everything because their babies needed them left no doubt in my heart or mind that these guys would make amazing Dads. They stayed with me that first night until I was ready to sleep, and came back the next evening as well. Jason (bless his amazing heart) brought my babies to visit me every day. Seeing them really helped. Jason took on a lot while I was in the hospital, and on top of everything he STILL managed to get a 100% on his math test he took that Tuesday after I came home. I am so incredibly proud of him. He is truly amazing and I know exactly how lucky I am.

On June 6th I was released from the hospital. No bed rest, just told to take it easy. I will be 30 weeks this June 20th! I'm so happy everything is looking great so far. I have been back for another ultrasound where they told us that Baby A (Boy) is 2lbs 11oz and Baby B (Girl) is 3lbs 5 oz. These are great weights! So now I am just trying to do all I can to relax and keep these little ones baking as long as I possibly can. I take each day one at a time, rest, and get help from family and friends as needed.

Thats the update for now! :)