how many trips has it been?

so, is it bad when you loose track if how many times you have been to the hospital? i think it has been 5 now. once for dehydration, 3 times for spotting and 2 times for contractions.

yeah- i am in the hospital again. my doctors appointment is every wednesday for my non-stress test and ultrasound. yesterday i went in for my appointment, and the ultrasound went great- again! thank goodness! the girls are looking amazing! they only do measurements every other week, so we did not get any this time. they are probably over 4 pounds we are guessing from their weights last week. so, going into the non-stress test, i had a feeling that i was contracting. i couldn't feel it literally, but i just knew. sure enough, i was contracting. i was then checked out in the office to see if i was dialated and the male doctor (who has a larger finger) said no, but i was 90% effaced. it mattered this time because i was close to being fully effaced- that means that my cervix is getting thin and has to do with being dialated. they all work together, though it is super confusing.

luckily, after our experience the week before, matt insisted i take my mom with me, since he was in the middle of refinishing thewood floors in the bedroom and nursery. so, i had someone to go directly with me to the hospital and be with me! smart boy! i wasn't feeling the contractions until after i was waiting to have my cervix checked. i started questioning all the movements i have been having. it turned out, when i was hooked up on the monitor at the hospital, that they were in fact contractions. they felt like the girls stretching- not like my stomach was contracting. however, they quickly stood out to me and became very uncomfortable. at the worst, they were on the verge of painful. matt arrived as quickly as he could- with packing the 500 things i wanted from home! apparently, he learned from last time! what a great guy!

the contractions got super close together- up to 2 minutes apart at times. it was crazy! they ended up hooking me up to an iv and giving me magnesium to stop the contractions. this is the worst of all the options- i was told my my hilarious nurse! she kept me laughing and that was good! so, i got the crash dose of magnisium, which makes you so hot you want to rip your clothes off and run around--- literally! it is INSANE! so, i made it through that, and then i had to get the steriod shot in my butt to help get the girls lungs a little help. the magnisium was slowing the contractions a little bit, but not enough. they ended up increasing the dosage then. the contractions started to slow down then and through the night.

around midnight, they came in and checked my cervix again, and i was dialated between 0-1. i forgot to mention that another person had measured it at 1 when i first arrived at the hospital. however, they use their fingers, and someone with a bigger finger may not feel what one with a smaller finger feels. hence, the difference. this all means that i may have been dialated at the doctors office where the man with the larger finger measured me, but we will never know. after they checked my cervix and saw the contractions settling down, i was FINALLY able to eat for the first time since before noon!!! i ate like one of those starving people in the movies... i am so glad i was alone! i had a loose turkey sandwich that was the best sandwich of my life-- and i hate tuekey!!! i was like a monster.

i got about 2 hours of sleep that night because the girls are on constant monitoring for their heart rates when i am in the hospital. between me moving and them moving, we were constantly loosing their heart rates! they put these round things on my stomach that are probably as big of round as a pop can. they use one for each baby and then another for contractions. they put gel to help conduct the scientific stuff i cant explain right now, so they can be a little slippery. oh and they use belts around your waist to try to help keep them steady. needless to say, it is a constant battle to keep these girls monitored!

i am a little drugged up and super tired here, so i hope i make sense! throughout the day today, my contractions decreased to 1-2 an hour!!! yipeeee!!! i felt horrible though. the magnesium has horrible side effects like weirdo vision (i felt like i was cross eyed and had trouble focusing) and headaches. also, i am not allowed to drink hardly any water or something bad will happen. (i sound like a little kid, but i can't remember what happens- i just know i dont want that to happen.) i also feel a little like a wet noodle, so getting up and going to the bathroom is not always the easiest. i was lucky because grandpa joe, our neighbor sarah, and my mom and paul all came to visit in the afternoon. they were one right after another, so time flew by! yes, matt was there too! he stayed all day and evening. i feel bad for him because it has to be boring!

so, right now i am waiting for them to do this test that tells if my body is producing something it only produces when it is going to go into labor. it is only 1% inaccurate at determining that a woman will not go into labor within the next 7-10 days. it does not determine that she will for sure and when. so, we will get that back somewhere in the night... let us pray for negative!!! we need at least 3 more weeks!!!