On Tueday, March 21st I went in for my regular, twice weekly ultrasound at the Maternal Fetal Medicine Clinic for the perinatalogists to check the Little One's growth and fluid. Unfortunately the fluid levels had dropped and I was told to check into the hospital in two hours! I had planned a morning out to do errands! My friend was watching the girls for me and I needed to get groceries! No! Our baby wasn't supposed to be here for another five and a half weeks!
Well, since the baby's health was more important than my grocery trip I checked into the Rogue Valley Medical Center for continuous monitoring of the Little One's heart rate and a plan for another ultrasound in the morning. And with the most beautiful and timely bunch of my favorite roses that my husband has ever given me. They stayed fresh and gorgeous the whole time I was in the hospital.
If the fluid levels continued to drop then there would be no protection for the baby, placenta, and umbilical cord and thus a greater risk to the baby if anything was damaged. At the hospital the nurses promptly put me on "bed rest," got an IV started (after two tries! I HATE needles!!! and I think needles hate me too!) to put a total of three liters of fluid into my system, and told me to drink as much water as I could to try to increase the fluid level as much as possible. Unfortunately the fluid level was mostly up to the baby's urine output, so it made sense that with only one functioning kidney, our Little One was having trouble producing enough.
The girls handled my sudden departure fairly well. We had just told Elsa that the new baby may be "sick," so she understood why the doctors needed to be careful and watch the baby closely at the hospital. Even so it was very good when they came to visit the next day. Elsa got to help the nurses monitor the baby's heart rate and they both thought my bed was absolutely exciting with all the buttons. My bed was like a carnival ride!
Over the next few days we kept monitoring the baby's heart rate, watching for "d-cells," or decelerations, the perinatologists came about every other day to check the fluid levels via ultrasound. The baby's heart rate was mostly strong and stable, but the fluids kept dropping each time they checked so we kept waiting and I kept resting (or trying to!), drinking tons of water, and ordering whatever I wanted from the hospital menu.
These days were so very strange to me. I had never been admitted to the hospital before except when I was in labor, and then we were busy the whole time until we went home the next day! At first the prospect of day after day in bed in the hospital with nothing wrong with me was very challenging, but I began to count my gifts again and realized that this was an incredible, unexpected blessing. God knew just what I needed before the baby came: a forced time of rest, with my husband at my side, with no dishes to cook or clean, no toys to pick up, no laundry to fold, and all with complete confidence that my girls were being cared for. Plus, this is what I could "do" for my baby. I couldn't really do anything to help my Little One's condition, but I could rest and work with the doctors and nurses to be prepared.
I will be forever thankful for the friends that changed their daily plans to care for our children at our home, and for the sweet spirited nurses who took turns caring for me. God sent some of the most perfect women to watch over me during these days. They encouraged me, told me their own stories of challenging but blessed childbirths and caring for special children, and patiently answered all my many, many questions. Also my mother was able to get a last minute plane ticket to come and help us. She arrived late Thursday night, and we were all so happy to have her join us.
We also had several visits from dear friends during our days of waiting and they were so encouraging to us. As the reality of the situation for our baby continued to sink in for me as the days passed I definitely found myself emotionally struggling through all the possibilities, but it was amazing how God kept providing just the perfect, strengthening and affirming scriptures, visitors, and phone calls.
On Saturday my family took me out for my first ever wheel chair ride! I got to watch the girls play on the hospital playground, and we all had a wonderful time in the brisk early spring morning.
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