Eventful day followed by just the opposite...

Friday Robyn went in for a doctor's appointment and an NST. During the NST he had a variable deceleration that was pretty severe, so they did an ultrasound. Something they saw on the ultrasound made them want to keep the baby on the monitor for a couple of hours. All this time Robyn was having pretty regular, strong contractions (remember, she stopped taking the terbutaline the night before) so we thought this baby was a-comin' any minute now. And if during those two hours there had been ANY sign on fetal distress, they would have induced labor or gotten him here right away somehow. Well during those two hours he looked like the little all-star we know he is and is going to be, so they ended up sending Robyn home. We thought we'd be heading back soon thereafter, with the hard, regular contractions she'd been having. Well here it is, Sunday afternoon, and we haven't gone back. The contractions have lessened a bit in intesity and frequency, and although she's still having them, they're not really doing anything. We're ready for this kid to come, but now he's deciding to hang out and come when he darn well pleases. It's kind of ironic, it seems, that we were taking this drug all this time to keep him from coming, and then we decide not to take it anymore and he decides he's not coming at the moment anyway. We really want to have him in July, and we've only got 32 hours of July left!!

It just goes to show, I guess, that we have a lot less control over this situtation than we had thought!

We've had enough!

Robyn has decided that 35 weeks is pretty good, and she's sick of the side effects of the terbutaline. So this weekend she's going to stop taking it, and we're just going to let the baby come. With any luck, he'll arrive on Saturday or Sunday. Babies who have been "stressed" by early labor often develop faster, and he's been measuring big anyway by about 2 weeks, and he's had the betamethasone shot in him for over 2 months, so we're pretty sure he's going to be just fine. Stay tuned, we're on the home stretch!!

Adventures

So Robyn's taking terbutaline, as has already been posted, which is supposed to stop her contractions and keep labor stayed for a little while longer. Well Sunday morning and early afternoon it wasn't working, so we went into the Labor and Delivery area at St. Mark's Hospital (odd to have a hospital named after a Catholic saint here in Mormonville, isn't it?) where they hooked her up and started watching the contractions. They varied in intesity and frequency, between 2-3 minutes apart to as far as 10 minutes apart. A shot of a higher dosage or terbutaline quited them down, and we came home after being there about 2.5 hours. Baby is handling everything just super.

Today we went in for another NST, and the baby's doing well too. A couple of contractions came and went during the NST, and the baby handled them with flying colors. Makes me very hopeful that he's going to tolerate a vaginal birth with no trouble at all. He still has some variable decelerations, which look like this...

But since that's just what he does, they're not too worried about it. Not like irregular heart beat patterns aren't a pattern in our family or anything....

And he's STILL doing well...

We went in for another NST today and the baby was looking great. He even held his own through a couple of minor contractions, meaning his heart rate held up and all that. We don't know yet how he's going to handle actual labor, but if he does as well as he's been doing, there's a chance that he won't need to be taken via c-section. Of course, a regular birth would be better.

We asked the doc what would happen if the baby was born today at 33 weeks 1 day, and he told us that babies born at 33 weeks have a 99%+ chance of survival, and a 95% or so chance of being completely normal. He said that he'd probably stay in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) for as much as 3 weeks to watch his growth and make sure he's okay. At 35-36 weeks, there's a really good chance that the baby would just come home after 2 days. So that's what we're shooting for... 2 to 3 more weeks.

We've temporarily given up on naming the poor kid at this point. We'll just have to wait and see.

Still doing well

We went in for another NST today, and the baby is looking great. His heart rate was behaving and everything. Robyn is getting sick of the terbutaline and its side effects, and we're 2 days from 33 weeks... so we're looking at 35 or so before we decide to stop taking the drug and just let the baby come. We're pretty sure he's going to be just fine, if a little small, if he's born at 35 weeks. He's had the betamethazone shot for 2 months now, so he's got a head start already. Plus, the nurse at the Maternal Fetal Medicine place (MFM) says that babies that are stressed by premature labor that is stopped have a tendency to mature faster. So, while he'll be another 5 lb-or-so baby, we're sure he's going to be just fine. Look out world, the 5th Jacob is on his way! :)

Lookin' good!

Robyn went in for another NST today, and the baby looked great. From all appearances he's doing really really well. I know everyone's faith and prayers are playing no small part in that, and for those we are all eternally grateful!

No call backs on job interviews yet, but I've had at least 2 different places end the interview with "You're exactly what we're looking for," so hopefully something will fall in place really quick. Keep your fingers crossed (and knees bent!)

Our bouncing baby boy-to-be

I just realized I left off some information when I was talking about the boy's ultrasound results from yesterday. They're estimating his weight at 4 lbs 1 oz. The good doctor mentioned that if they hadn't been able to stop the labor last weekend and he'd come, he'd most likely be just fine. Especially as he's had the betamethasone in there for 6 weeks or so now. That's the shot that helps his lungs develop, along with the rest of his organs. It's a kind of steroid -- SHHH... don't tell Barry Bonds. :)

On the job-hunt front, I've had a couple interviews that have gone really well. So far the most promising prospect is a company in Springville called "in the Paint" that makes marketing promotional items, like stress balls and t-shirts and pens with various companies' logo(s) on them, as necessary. It looks like it'd be a fun job, but it doesn't pay as well as I'd like, probably... especially considering we'd most likely have to relocate. I don't know that I want to commute from Sandy to Springville every day. I've got more interviews this week, so hopefully something will pan out very shortly.

Home sweet home

Good news! I was thinking that Robyn would be in the hospital for a minimum of several days, if not weeks. Turns out she got to come home today. I went to go visit this morning about 11 a.m., and after getting her a salad from the nearby Marie Calendar's, she had an ultrasound and another non-stress test. Both tests came out great, with the baby looking really good and the contractions non-existant. So come this evening, Robyn got to come home to bedrest.

Bedrest is an interesting thing. The doctor at the maternal fetal medicine place was discussing the controversies around pre-term labor treatments (specifically the drug Robyn's on -- terbutaline) and the subject of bedrest came up. It turns out that they put you on bedrest, not so much to keep pressure off your cervix, which is what I had thought, but more to keep your activity minimalized so you don't dehydrate, because dehydration can cause contractions which may or may not mean labor.

We found out some interesting things, too. There's a test they do for something called fetal fibronectin (FFN), which is a protein secreted by the uterus (I think) when labor is imminent. If the test comes back negative, there's a 99.2% chance you won't go into real labor within 2 weeks. When Robyn went in on Friday evening, and we found out she'd dialated, we figured "This is the real thing, labor-wise," but it turns out the FFN test was negative. We also found out that terbutaline doesn't work if you're "really" in labor. The contractions that one often has that CAUSE preterm labor can be slowed or stopped with terbutaline, but once you're in full blown, ready-to-dialate-and-deliver labor, the terbutaline doesn't work. Interesting stuff.

Anyway, she's home. That's the good news.

By the way, the original due date is 8-31, but the baby's measuring big, today they estimated a due date of 8-18. So, LMP-wise we're at 30 weeks 4 days, but measuring-wise it's 33 weeks 1 day. Just so y'all know.

We got more ultrasound pictures today, but they're not as clear as some others we've had, so I'm not going to post them. :P

Da baby

Here's a recent pic of the baby-to-be. Unless something changes, he'll be Luke Charles Jacob.

Stop that kid!

As some already know, Robyn went to the hospital on Friday, June 23. She had had a Non-stress test (NST) earlier that day, and came home with lower back pain and tightening around her tummy. We went in and they got her hooked up to the monitors, and sure enough, she was contracting. After a shot of terbutaline, the contractions stopped, but not until she'd started dialating. She's dialated 2-3 cm and is 70% effaced. As of now, Sunday the 25th, Robyn's still in the hospital (St Mark's women's center, room 226 in case anyone wants to visit!) and probably will be for a while. So far, they've been able to keep the contractions stopped with an oral form of terbutaline, which is good, since she can take that at home.

The better news is that the baby's been handling all this with flying colors, so much so that Robyn is off the monitor now and up in a post-partum room as opposed to a labor and delivery room. I'm sure she'll still be monitored on a near-daily basis. I will post updates to this blog as I get them, hopefully on a daily basis or so.

And who knows, maybe one day this will turn into a family journal of sorts instead of a "Keep-tabs-on-Robyn's-hospital-ordeals" site. :)