First Time in Flight

Friday, April 11
(Part 2)

When I got to the hospital, I got checked in, and they checked me out. The fluid was, indeed, amniotic fluid. I was already dilated to 4. They put an IV in me, drew some blood, asked me a million questions (allergies, medical history, family medical history, etc) and gave me some magnesium (though the IV) to slow the contractions. That stuff made my whole body feel really hot & just plain uncomfortable. I was going to have to get used to uncomfortable.
They decided to load me up in a helicopter, and send me to Little Rock. Our hospital isn't equipped for babies born before their 36th week. I was only 33 weeks and 2 days. There wasn't enough room for another passenger, so my husband had to take our car.

I had to squeeze onto a narrow gurney, to fit in the helicopter. In order to do that, I had to lay sort of on my side. At least I got to look out of the window, on the ride.
At one point, I began to feel very sick. They dosed me with nausea meds, via the IV, and upped the magnesium, since my contractions were still frequent.

I can't say it was exactly a pleasant ride, but I was glad to have a quick trip!
When I finally arrived at the LR hospital, maybe 4 am, I was out-of-town. When they wheeled me into the delivery room, and shifted me to the delivery bed, the first thing I requested was for someone to call my husband. They called him to let him know I had arrived and was safe.

Waiting for him to arrive, seemed like forever. I was so relieved to see him when he finally made it to my room.
Everything else seemed like a blur, until the high dosage of magnesium began to wear off. 

I know they gave me a steroid shot, to help Henry's lungs start to develop, more quickly. They wanted to wait a full 48 hours before giving me the second shot, but they would do 24 hours, if it seemed necessary. The ultrasound indicated that I was right about Henry's due date. It was, indeed, a week earlier than my doctor had guessed. Our goal was to keep Henry inside me, until we reached 34 weeks.

The whole day passed by, and my contractions weren't getting any more frequent, though they stayed at about 15 minutes apart. They weren't very strong, and they didn't last very long. Henry's heart rate stayed strong and steady, but would slow, during my contractions. That was normal, they said, since my uterus was squeezing him.
He was turned the right way, head down toward his exit, but his face was facing up, toward my belly button. That was okay, though not exactly as good as if he was facing my back.
My contractions began to get a bit stronger, by that afternoon, but still no closer together. They weren't too painful. Maybe 6 out of 10, on the pain scale. Everything was looking good, still.
That night, as I rested (not a whole lot of sleep), my contractions slowed way down. They were strong enough to wake me up, but I think I only had a few, the whole night. It looked at though we might actually make it to Wednesday. Just 6 days.

Sleeping a little, & trying to keep Henry in my uterus. :P