Last Monday was just like every other day for the exception of the girls being out of school on fall break. We had an uneventful day grocery shopping, cleaning up and my nurse came for my weekly shot. It was towards the evening at this point and Shawn and I were working together to get dinner made. I laid down on the couch and when I got up I had some clear fluid leaking. It wasn't much at all and we had the same exact scare at 16 weeks so initially I wasn't too sure whether to be concerned or not. I decided to take a shower, we ate dinner, relaxed and went to bed. I woke up about 1 AM with some very minor cramping. At about 5 AM I got up to use the restroom and when I wiped I noticed a pink tinge. I immediately knew we needed to go to the hospital yet again. We called for Shawn's Mom to come hang out with the girls. We left with just the basic necessities not knowing what exactly was happening. We got checked in quickly and they begun their assessment and tests. They tested for so many things one of which was if my water broke. Sure enough it did. Shawn and I looked at each other in disbelief. We both knew we weren't leaving the hospital until she was born but weren't exactly sure when she would come. The contractions were picking up (so they said I didn't feel them at all) they started my IV and quickly began steroid shots and Magnesium. We were shortly admitted. They gave me a large dose of Magnesium to stop the contractions. I wasn't responding the way they hoped so I was on a higher dose of Mag than most people and was also getting shots in my arm that would help to relax smooth muscles. Finally towards the evening they were able to get the contractions to slow down a lot. I was feeling much more comfortable and was cleared to eat something (it had been close to 12 hours since I had any food). The next day it was much of the same I would have maybe one contraction every hour. As the day progressed contractions started picking up again. They hit me hard with meds and I was given the next steroid shot. Our goal minimum was to make it past the 48 hour window so the steroid shots would help to develop Reece's lungs better. Reece shocked everyone! With the amount of meds I was on typically most babies heart rate will drop significantly, nope not my angel, she was very active and had really no changes at all in her heart rate. Towards the evening of the second day my body was starting to feel the effects of the heavy doses of meds I was given. My vision was very blurry and had some tightness and difficulty breathing. The magnesium relaxes the entire body even the lungs. My nurse decided to call my doctor. It was decided to turn the medication down some. My vision and breathing improved quickly and along with that came more contractions. I was at this point having contractions about every 10 minutes. They kept adjusting the medication in efforts to keep me pregnant. At about 2 AM I woke Shawn up because I couldn't handle the contractions alone any longer. They were doing everything possible to get them under control. Most of the contractions I was having were not picking up on the monitor but by the look on my face and gripping the bed rail it was obvious I was in pain. My nurse explained that preterm contractions are very low and wrap around to the lower back. That is exactly what I was experiencing so they are sometimes difficult to monitor. It was at the point I cried to my nurse begging for some kind of relief within 15 minutes my doctor was in the room. The pain I was having was at my incision from the last c-section so my doctor was concerned about what was going on inside and insisted surgery could not wait any longer. I was so nervous about getting a contraction during the spinal but everything went well. The staff was so great and talked me through everything. We missed the 48 hour goal mark by 3 hours (so thankful it wasn't any sooner). Surgery went well. I heard Reece cry and was overwhelmed with emotions. My nurse was laughing at the fact she was crying before her legs were completely out. Once they got her wrapped up and assessed and Shawn cut the cord they brought her to me. It was the most magical moment ever. I got to kiss her forehead and stare at her for a few minutes. Shawn went with Reece to the nursery while I got closed up. Just like that she was here!
We spent the following three days at the hospital recovering. It was kind of perfect timing that the girls were out of school and Shawn's Mom was able to take care of them. Otherwise I'm not sure what we would have done. The recovery process was so much better this time around. There were no complications at all and my blood pressure was perfect.
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