Week 24

Week 24...the week we have all been counting down to; and we made it!!!!Jeffrey woke me up to banana pancakes and welch's sparkling grape juice in a wine glass! CHEERS!!!!! This is by far the best celebration! How blessed I am to have gotten this far, despite the many complications. Thank you God! It is hard to imagine just six weeks ago when we were first admitted that we would ever see this day; with all of the lousy news and complications we encountered...but we did. And it would be wrong of me to say that, "We did it." I did not do anything, nor did Jeff...God did!

Beginning Saturday, I noticed that my contractions were getting a bit stronger; but at this point I was still uncertain as to which movement or tightening were to be considered a contraction. Needless to say; I ignored it. By the time Monday came I had noticed that I was feeling something different in my lady parts during a contraction that I had not felt before. I questioned all day as to whether or not I should go to the hospital or if I was overreacting. I decided to let Jeff make the call. At first he said what I wanted to hear and that was we were never satisfied with night time residents making decisions about our high risk pregnancy so we would wait it out until the morning. He went to work out as Judy (his mother) and I was watching our Monday night show, Dancing With the Stars (when all you have to do is lay; one becomes an avid show watcher!!!)! The began tracking the contractions and saw that they were fairly regular and I was still feeling them down below. Jeff came home and still we both tried to ignore it as we continued our nightly routines. It wasn't an hour later when we knew that we needed to go to the hospital.

When we arrived; the process we had encountered quite a few times began: checked in, hooked to the contraction monitor, vitals taken, and the wait for the Dr's examination. The monitor was picking up the regular contractions and the Dr. did his exam. My cervix was unchanged which was wonderful. We were told I would be admitted and they would put me on IV Magnesium to try and control the contractions. Although this is not what either Jeff nor I wanted to hear; we knew it was necessary. Being on this drug is a drag to say the least: the sweats, vomiting and nausea, having to have a catheter to ensure the output equals the input (Mag can cause fluid build up in the lungs and can cause the kidneys to not perform well). These are the frequently felt symptoms; the others are checked for every hour but are I guess less common. However; God gives strength and a mamma's love for her children in inconceivable...so this too would pass. After enduring a long night of unpleasant contractions and side effects, things seemed to calm down. It was a day later we suspected things were not critical as they moved our room away from the OR. This along with the news that our babies and my cervix were doing well; once again made it all worth it!

There is nothing fun or entertaining about a hospital and carrying quadruplets takes a toll on a pre pregnant 106 lb. body. The fact that we have made it through the 24th week and the meds seemed to be working brings an entire new meaning to the term fun!!!