Another Day in the Hospital

I was a little worried this morning because the baby slacked off on his daily “non-stress test” (this is the test where I get hooked up to a fetal monitor for 20-40 minutes, and the baby has to register a certain number of accelerations in heart rate that correlate with his movement).  He passed, but did not give a stellar performance that the nurses have come to expect from him.  The little guy is usually pretty active and aces the test in the first 20 minutes.  I guess today they got him during nap time or something.  He wasn’t in the mood for vigorous activity, so they monitored him for 40 minutes to make sure he was okay.  He gave the bare minimum effort to get a passing score, and then started kicking like crazy right after they took me of the monitor.  I think this guy has a sense of humor already. 

What else?  Fr. Michael, a priest from our church, came by to bless me and the baby.  Razvan and I are both really happy that he was able to visit us.  Also, both of Razvan’s brothers visited us today.  Calin, Razvan’s oldest brother, drove up from Rhode Island with his family, and Florin (the middle brother) came all the way from New York.

Oh, and guess what!  I negotiated some “wheelchair privileges” with my doc today!  I am now cleared to go for a ride on a wheelchair around the hospital, and can even go outside to a little garden located on the 6th floor next to the NICU.  I have not been outside for 10 days, so you can imagine that I’m really excited about this!  I can’t wait to get some wind in my hair tomorrow!  Praying for no unexpected changes overnight…

Crash Course on Prematurity

I am 31 weeks and 3 days into my pregnancy!  This is significantly further along developmentally from 29 weeks and 6 days, the point at which I got hospitalized.

Babies born between weeks 31-33 usually have difficulties breathing, feeding, and staying warm, but generally do quite well with the support of NICU.  After week 32 things generally get progressively easier, and after week 34 complications due to prematurity are typically minor. 

The standard of care for cases like mine (premature rupture of membranes) is to wait until week 34, and if labor does not occur on its own, deliver the baby (either by induction of labor or by C-section).  Apparently, after week 34 the risk of infection outweighs the risk of complications due to prematurity.  It’s highly likely that babies born before 36 weeks gestational age will spend some time in the NICU.  To graduate from NICU, the baby has to be able to breathe on his own, eat by mouth, and maintain normal body temperature…

Anyway, we’ll cross this bridge when we get to it.  For now, I’m happy with the way things are, and taking it one day at a time.

Tour of the NICU

Last night Razvan and I got a tour of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).  Brigham and Women’s really prides itself on educating patients about their options, so before this tour Razvan and I actually took a class about NICU to learn more about what it’s like, and got a chance to speak with a couple of pediatricians about all the things that our baby may need if he is born prematurely.  It’s comforting to know that this hospital has one of the best NICU’s in the world, and that they do everything possible to support the growth and well being of babies born as young as 23 weeks gestational age.  

A really nice nurse Amanda picked me up from my room in a wheelchair and showed us around.  NICU is conveniently located on the 6th floor of our building (two floors below where were are now, and one floor above the labor and delivery floor).  The place actually looks much nicer and cozier than I imagined.  I’ve never seen a premature baby before, so the nurse was nice enough to show us several babies that ranged in gestational age between 29 and 34 weeks.  Every baby was different, and required different equipment for his or her needs.  Some 29 weekers were breathing on their own; some older babies needed ventilators to help their lungs inflate and deflate.  I was comforted by the fact that the facility had pretty much everything for the needs of premature babies.  The babies we saw looked like tinier, skinnier versions of full term babies, and did not look scary at all.  They also looked pretty comfortable and cozy sleeping in their little incubators despite all the technology around them.

The nurses and doctors all agree that for the time being our baby is better off being inside his current organic little home, than in the tech-filled NICU. I’m glad we took the tour though.  It made me feel reassured about the prospect of NICU when the time comes.

Thank You!

Dear Friends and Family,

Thank you so much for your thoughts, encouragement, and support over the last week! Special thanks for the beautiful flower arrangements and delicious edible arrangement sent to our room by my colleagues in the Whitesides group and by our friends Emma and Cristian.  The flowers really brightened up the atmosphere in the room, and the baby got a kick (literally) out of me eating the edible arrangement, especially all chocolate covered fluit!!!

We had another nice day today.  The baby and I passed our daily “non-stress test”.  The test involves hooking me up to a monitor for 20-40 minutes that tracks the baby’s heart rate and any contractions that I may have.  To pass the test, the baby has to move a certain number of times and register accelerations in heart rate that correlate with movement; my uterus has to avoid contracting.  We did well.  Whoo hoo!

Beautiful flower arrangement from the Whitesides group

Yummy edible arrangement from the Whitesides group

Baby's first teddy bear and pretty flowers from Emma and Cristian

Dawn vs Twilight

The nurse woke me up today at 5:15am to listen to the baby’s heartbeat and to get my vital signs.  The baby woke up too, and tried to wiggle his way away from the monitor.  Everything sounds and looks good, and we are ready for another day.

In case you didn’t get to see it, the sunrise in Boston was at 6:49 am today, and it was beautiful!  Until now, my favorite time of day has always been twilight.  I was never awake enough on a regular basis to witness and enjoy dawn.  Now that I’m not running around, and my priority is resting, I’ve witnessed dawn and sunrise almost every single day (well, except that one really rainy day when I could care less).  I still love twilight, but it just might have to defend its number one place in my heart against dawn.

Today is the first day I am completely drug-free!  Until now, I was taking 1 g (4 x 250 mg) of erythromycin a day.  I guess a weekly course of antibiotics is a standard of care for someone with PROM (premature rupture of membranes).  The week is up, and the game of Kat vs bacteria begins!  Wish us luck!

Russian Lullabies

The baby has been super active tonight and caused some cramping and discomfort to my belly.  The nurse put me on a monitor to check out the baby's heart rate and to see if I was having any contractions.  The good news is that I wasn't having any contractions, and it was probably just the baby's movement that caused cramping :-)  Looks like we've made it through another day!

To prepare myself for calming the little guy I've been browsing youtube for some lullabies.  I wanted to see if I could find any of the songs that my parents sang to me and my sister when I was little (of course, this was all in Russian while growing up in the former USSR).  I was quite surprised by how many songs I found.  Here’s my all time favorite that my dad often sang to me under the accompaniment of his guitar:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUxPEfvPbuI&feature=related

Let me know if any of you have any thoughts, suggestions, or memories of your favorite lullabies :-)  Good night!

Adventures of the First Week in the Hospital

I can't believe it's been one week since I got hospitalized!  I am really happy that my condition has been stable and that things did not move too fast…  The first 24 hours in the hospital were terrifying.  I was hooked up to the IV immediately that infused me a lovely cocktail of saline (to keep me hydrated), magnesium sulfate (to protect baby’s neurons and stop premature labor), and penicillin (to prevent infection).  I also got a few oral doses of nifedipine to stop contractions and a shot of steroids in the bum to help baby’s lungs mature.  To top things off, I could only consume clear liquids and was extremely hungry.  Those of you that have known me for a while know that hungry Kat = very grumpy Kat.  I was also a wreck emotionally: the possibility of having a premature baby 1 day short of 30 weeks gestational age by C-section (the little guy got stuck in a breech position when the water broke and the vaginal delivery would be too risky) was not something I anticipated or was prepared for.  Razvan was a major calming force during this time, I’m so happy he was there for me and the baby.

That was a week ago, and I’m glad that premature labor has been prevented, and that I’ve had all this time to process the situation and to get my emotions under control.  I’ve upgraded to no IV, an unrestricted diet of solid foods, and “bed rest with bathroom privileges” (apparently the use of bathroom is a true privilege around here)!  The nurses check on me and the baby every 4 hours.  The best part about this is that I get to hear the baby’s heart rate on the monitor every 4 hours.  I think it’s the best sound in the world!  I’m still praying for the little guy to do a flip turn so I can avoid a C-section, but I have come to terms with the fact that it is not something I can control.

Today is a big milestone because the baby is 31 weeks!  With each passing week (and even each passing day) the risks of prematurity decrease, and the baby is getting bigger, stronger, and more prepared to face the outside world :-)  I really hope I can hang out like this for a few more weeks. 

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers!  Knowing that you are there for us really helps :-)

First day in the hospital.  Liquids-only diet.  "I'm hungry, can I have some solid food please?"