Enough Chicken Tenders Already!

If you have read my last post you know I had an ultrasound last Tuesday. Well, things did not really go as planned. They started to measure my cervix, and I noticed right away that something didn't look right in there. My cervix was barley there, and there was this "U" shaped thing pressing down against it. Turns out that the "U" shaped thing was Nora's amniotic sac. They told me immediately that I needed to go to Fort Sanders hospital. I knew then that I would be going to see Dr. Roussis for an incompetent cervix.

I got to the hospital, and it took me a long time to figure out where I needed to be. When I finally figured out that I needed to be on the labor and delievry floor, I was tired and not feeling right. They got me into a room right after they talked to Dr. Roussis, hooked up the IVs and all the other stuff that they needed. I was so hungry when they finally got done with all their stuff, however the caffatiera was closed so we ordered pizza. I was so nervous and scared that I wasn't able to eat very much. When they told me at midnight I couldn't have anything else by mouth, I was thinking I should have ate more.

The next morning we went down to the Perinatal Center for another ultrasound. The first lady that done the ultrasound, seemed like she was in a rush to get things done, and she was not very good either. She done the test on my cervix, and I could already tell that it was smaller than it was the day before, and it just looked wrong. The lady took some pictures and printed them off. Then she went to do some measurements on Nora, and this is where she started to hurt me. She was pressing so hard on my tummy that I thought she was just going to push Nora out. She wouldn't talk to us either about what she was seeing, and Michael and I didn't like that. Then another ultrasound tech came in to review the pictures and realized that none of the pictures saved on the computer, and the person that took the pictures didn't print them off. So we had to start the process all over again, but this ultrasound tech was much better.

We finally got back to my room upstairs, and Dr. Roussis came into the room to talk to us. He said that my cervix was shorter and the amniotic sac was actually coming through the cervix. He then looked at his nurse, told her to put everything else on hold, because I had to get into surgery now. That totally freaked me out, and I started to panic. The nurses would not let me sit up in bed, and started giving me drugs to stop contractions that might happen during the surgery. They came in a few minutes later and wheeled my bed down the hall and into surgery.

When I got into surgery they had me move over to the surgery table, then they let me sit up for a a little while so that they could inject some numbing medication into my back so I wouldn't feel them doing the surgery or stitching my cervix closed. I will spare you all the rest of the details of the surgery since it is rather graphic.

When I got back to the room, I couldn't feel my legs, hips or belly. That was so strange not to be able to feel or move my legs. The doctor came in and told me that everything went well, and they were able to stop my dilation (I didn't even know I was doing that), get my amniotic sac back up into where it needed to be, and stitch everything shut. Michael and I were very happy to hear that. The nurses came in soon after that to start my antibiotics.

It was late that night before they let me eat, almost 7pm. It had been almost 24 hours since I had anything to eat. The nurse came in and asked me what I wanted, and I ordered chicken tenders. I kept texting Momma telling her how awesome they were. I think I was just so hungry anything would have been awesome.

On Thursday I had another ultrasound, and my cervix looked awesome. At 33mm it looked perfect. The cerclage (the stitch in my cervix) looked good, and it was holding. We were so happy. The ultrasound tech decided that she would try to check Nora's gender since we have not gotten a good view and still don't know 100% that she is a girl. Nora would not cooperate again, and crossed her legs.

When I got back to the room they still would not let me walk or move around much, but I did get to take a shower. Breakfast was nice to have, and then for lunch I had more chicken tenders. I also had to have another IV because the one in my hand started putting medication under my skin (SubQ) instead of in my vein. The only place that they could find the put the IV was in my left arm right where my elbow bends. That meant I could not move or bend my elbow.

So when Friday came around, my left arm was very stiff, I was tried of being in the bed, and wanted to go home. Dr. Roussis came in and told me to start increasing my activity, and that I could downstairs and outside in a wheelchair. Another thing was, they told me that I could put on my clothes again. Let me tell you, hospital gowns are not fun. So it was nice to take a shower and get into my own clothes.

Michael went home to spend some time with Evie and to get some things done around the house, and Linda and Sarah came to stay with me while he was gone. Later he called and asked me to come downstairs because he needed some help with some things. I told him that I couldn't go because I had just been hooked up to the IV for more antibiotics. Then he told me that he brought Evie by to see me and she was outside with him. So Sarah asked the nurses if I could go, and they said yes, that I would just have to be in a wheelchair and take my IV poll with me. Seemed reasonable to me. After a little stress with the elevators, Sarah and I finally made it down to the garage to see Evie and Michael. I was so happy to see her that I started crying, and when Evie saw me she started crying too. I couldn't hold her or pick her up, so Michael held her in front of me so that I could love on her. It was great getting to see her. She looked so stressed and tried, and I felt so bad that I couldn't be home with her. We soon had to go back up stairs to my room, and Evie had to go home. Michael said that she slept most of the way home, and was such a good girl for him. That made me feel so much better.

When I got back upstairs supper was waiting on me, and guess what it was. CHICKEN TENDERS AGAIN!!!!!

Saturday was nice. Jamie and Ben came by then a little latter Jane dropped Abbie off and she came up too. It was so nice to be able to really visit with them. While they were there, Michael left then and went home to take care of things, and we visited and watched the last of the UT football game. They brought my supper while they were there, and you will never guess what I had.... CHICKEN TENDERS!!! I was thinking, ok the first day they were pretty good, but now they are getting old.

After the game, Jamie, Ben, and Abbie went home, and Linda and Michael were on their way to the hospital. Traffic was terrible, and Linda called from outside of the hospital, and said that she wasn't going to be able to make it because she could not even get in the parking garage. I felt so bad that she had driven all the way out there, and couldn't even find somewhere to park or anything. Jamie text me a little while later and said that they were stuck in front of Children's Hospital. I looked at the clock and they had been gone an hour and Children's is not too far from where I was. Another hour later, Linda just decided to go home, Michael decided to stop and do some shopping to let traffic clear out, and Jamie and Ben where finally on their way home.

Sunday brought no chicken tenders for the first time since I had been there. They decided to take out my IV in my left arm for a little while because it was getting old, so I was able to go a few hours without one. I took a nice LONG shower, and got to move my left arm like I normally do. It was so stiff I could barley move it at first. However, when they went to replace it, they had trouble finding another vein to put it in. It ended up almost in the same place on my right arm.

Monday, I thought I was going to have an ultrasound, but Dr. Rousiss decided to wait until Tuesday. Also, no chicken tenders, however there was a lot of waiting.

Tuesday, I finally got my ultrasound. My cervix was 25mm this time, and I was about to freak out. The tech also measured the fluid around Nora, and all of that seemed normal. Nora once again would not open her legs for us to take a peek. At about 11 or 11:30 Dr. Rousiss came in told me not to freak out about the cervix, and he would be back in a little while to talk things over with me. 3:00 came around and he still had not come, and Michael and Linda both needed to leave. About 4:20 or 4:30 Dr. Rousiss came back in and said that everything looked great, and that the little bit of shorting from last week's ultrasound to that ultrasound was completely normal and he expected to see that. The he told me I could go home. I was thinking great, I have no one to take me home now. Luckily, I had just been hooked up to antibiotics that took an hour to go in, so they had to wait for me to finish that before they could send me home. I called Momma, and asked her if she would mind to come and get me when she got off from work. That worked out perfectly. When she got there, they were taking out my IV, and getting my discharge papers together. Then about 5:30 they let me out of there!!!

It has been a long week with a lot of scares and tears, but Nora and I are doing well for the time. The doctors are hopeful for the future, and think that Nora will be fine. We need to at least keep her in there for another 8 weeks, but if I make it to my estimated due date I would be very happy.

Thank you all for all the prayers, thoughts, and visits. You don't know how much it meant to Michael and me. We are very great full to have such wonderful family and friends. Please continue to pray for us, as we have a while to go before Nora will be even close to ready to meet us face to face.