Round two . . . a bit more dramatic (part II)

"Jackson is at school, I'm at the hospital talking with the on-duty nurse and waiting for Ross.

The monitors are showing that BITB is just fine with the contractions, acting appropriately, and that the contractions are coming closer together, approaching 6-7 min apart. I am also feeling them a lot more. Eventually they aren't just in my lower uterus, but start to climb up towards my navel with lots of tightening!

I am given a medication that relaxes the uterus and it begins to work almost immediately (which is a good sign). However when the nurse checks my dilation again she informs us that I'm almost 5 cm! That's half way there! Ahhhhhhhh.

I am most definitely staying the night and they administer a steroid shot to help mature the baby's lungs. This is at 3 p.m. Tuesday, December 23. Ross and I start going over our baby name choices just in case BITB decides to arrive that day or the next.

We hoped for the next because that would at least put me at 34 weeks and BITB would be even stronger and more matured (the second steroid dose would come at 3 a.m. and then we cross our fingers for 24 to 48 hours to pass--thus allowing the medicine to complete their work in maturing BITBs lungs). . . and then we would start hoping for every day after that (though maybe skipping over the 25th because I wasn't too keen on having a Christmas baby).

The night was a bit boring BUT we made it to 34 weeks . . . and while we were in the hospital, babycenter.com ironically sent me this update:

'Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which she'll need to regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.'

I didn't get to see this until today (when I was able to get to a computer again) and had a good chuckle. . . the preterm labor link had this to say:

'If you start having regular contractions that cause your cervix to begin to open (dilate) or thin out (efface) before you reach 37 weeks of pregnancy, you're in preterm labor, also known as premature labor. If you deliver your baby before 37 weeks, it's called a preterm birth and your baby is considered premature. . . .About a quarter of all preterm births are intentional. . . .The rest are known as spontaneous preterm births. . . .About 12 percent of babies in the United States are born prematurely. . . .Premature babies born between 34 and 37 weeks generally do very well. If you go into labor before 34 weeks, your medical team may be able to delay your labor for a few days so your baby can be given corticosteroids to help his lungs develop faster, which increases his chance of survival. . .'

Thanks."
--Clare