Baby Glover (x 2): 25 Weeks

Well, this week had its ups and downs. The weekend was a little rough and I spent most of it lying in bed with an achy abdomen. I'm pretty sure at this point that it's my shunt tubing, and I don't know what to do about it. We all (both sets of parents, and Jeff and I) went out for breakfast on Saturday, but I was in so much pain that I could barely eat. This is starting to get to me. My mom and dad left Saturday afternoon and headed back to Redding.

On Sunday, we got some good news. My mom called and told me that their offer for a condo was accepted and that they would have a place to stay when the babies come. RELIEF!!! I have to say, that made me feel a lot better. At least I wouldn't have to worry about them being so far away.

The work week was pretty good. It went by quickly, as my parents came back to Sacramento on Tuesday to sign paperwork and we went to lunch after I got off work. It is really nice to spend time with them. I am going to enjoy having them closer periodically so that we can hang out. After lunch, they went shopping for furniture and I had another OB appointment. The girls are doing great, moving a lot and I am now measuring at about 30 weeks (for a typical pregnancy). She assured me that my skin WILL stretch and the babies won't tear it. That was good to hear.

By Thursday, I was having more belly pains. At work, I had to really take it easy and lie down a couple of times to try to relieve some of the pressure on the right side near my tubing. When I got home, I was in extreme pain. Jeff and I talked about possibly going in to Labor and Delivery, but I figured that they really couldn't do anything for me. So, we waited it out. By 1 a.m., I couldn't stand it anymore. I felt like my belly was going to burst. Labor and Delivery, here we come.

We arrived around 2, and they hooked me up to all sorts of monitors. I had 2 separate monitors for the babies heart rates, and one to monitor my contractions. YES, I was having contractions. That, of course, made me nervous. It's way too early to have these babies. They monitored that stuff for a while, and also did an exam to make sure my cervix was still closed and I wasn't in actual labor. Luckily, that was all fine. The dr. said it was about 3 cm thick still. That's good, but it was 4 about a month ago.

They did some blood work and hooked me up to an iv for fluids and pain medication. I seriously felt like a human pin cushion (and have the bruises to prove it). Jeff had a harder time watching me get stuck than I did actually getting stuck. I think he's had some bad experiences. It does't bother me much. After some morphine, the pains got better and the contractions were manageable.

Because of my shunt and the concerns about my pain, they sent me down to get an ultrasound. It was interesting. I saw my shunt tubing on an ultrasound several months ago, and it looked nothing like it did on this one. But, the tech seemed to know what he was doing. Luckily, there is nothing wrong with my shunt and the babies are just pushing it into the lining of my abdomen, causing the discomfort. Bad news is there's not much that can be done about it but pain management.

They kept me there for about 12 hours total for observation and to talk with neurosurgery about the shunt. The contractions eventually stopped and they sent us home. They did say that if I had them again for more than about an hour, to come back in. Everyone there was really nice. I even got 2 meals (one huge snack and lunch). The food wasn't bad. Jeff was a trooper and stayed there with me the entire time, even though he just had an uncomfortable chair to sit in.

The rest of the day was spent on the couch, sleeping. Jeff rented LINCOLN, but I just couldn't stay awake for it. I was exhausted!!!