Thursday, February 24, 2011

Confession Number 88: God Dishes Out Interruptions

My mom has been going to a lady's Bible study at her church where they are discussing the little interruptions God sometimes sends to our lives.  She and I have talked candidly about her study the last few weeks, but we got a real-life lesson in these interruptions the last few days. 

As you all know, I'm very pregnant with our second baby, Baby Brother Cole and the pregnancy has been great.  A tad different from the one I experienced with Miss KJ, but it has been relatively easy and I haven't had much to complain about.  Minus a scare with gestational diabetes that I wrote about here, there really haven't been any issues.  I did, however, start having Braxton Hicks contractions rather early this time around, about 22 weeks.  My doctor wasn't overly concerned about them as long as there was no consistency, which there hadn't been until my regular appointment on Tuesday.

I know a lot of you have been keeping up with bits and pieces of our story since then on Facebook, but that is about all I had time to post, bits and pieces.  I wanted to make sure you had the whole story, so here it goes. 
Wednesday started off very well.  I enjoyed a relaxing morning watching Disney Junior with KJ in our bed until I needed to get around to head back to the hospital for a second round of monitoring and the second steroid shot just in case Cole decided he wasn't satisfied with the accommodations of Hotel Mommy.  The monitoring went great and the nurse came in to tell us that we were free to go home, she just needed to complete our discharge papers just as I had a contraction.  After not returning for about 15 minutes, she called to let us know that during that contraction Cole's heart rate had dropped below their comfort level and that she was waiting for a call back from my Dr., but that they were going to monitor us for awhile longer.  About 30 more minutes, another contraction and another heart dip later my Dr. was in my room to let us know that we would be staying for a few days.  She hoped it would only last 3 or 4 days, but told us to prepare for a week or so of hospital bed rest.  She ordered a whole slew of tests and kept me constantly on the fetal monitor.

3:30 rolled around and she returned.  I had had roughly six contractions during this time (not horrible), but in five of them Cole's heart rate had dropped.  He obviously wasn't tolerating the contractions well and with no NICU in our rural hospital she suggested we transfer to St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa, where, if needed, they could handle a preemie born at 33 weeks.  Unfortunately, this meant getting me there as quickly as possible, which was by chopper.  Dustin, KJ and my mom hopped into their vehicles and got a head start and shortly thereafter I was in the air with EagleMed, on my way.  Talk about traveling in style!

Upon our arrival at St. Francis, they reviewed my test results from Grove and ordered more tests.  At this point I had been poked and prodded about all I could stand in one day.  While my contractions were actually more frequent once we got there, Cole's heart rate had stabilized and he was tolerating them much better.  By 11:00 they were pretty pleased with what they were seeing, gave me the most amazing sleeping pill ever, and let us finally rest.  By 9am this morning we were dismissed to come back home, where I once again find myself confined to my own, comfy, fluffy bed. 

We aren't out of the woods, yet.  We still have a long way to go, but the fear of a C-section and having a 33 week old preemie is behind us, we think.  Tomorrow I will return to Grove General for another non-stress test and will, hopefully, be able to return to my own comfy bed.  Although, I have to say, knowing that Cole's heart rate is stable with each and every contraction by being hooked up to the monitor is somewhat comforting.  We are thankful for each day that Cole continues his stay with Hotel Mommy, but we are really hoping to get to 35 weeks, which is 11 more days. 

To say that we have been overwhelmed by all of your well wishes and prayers is the understatement of the year.  I know, without a doubt, that we are literally being prayed for by hundreds of people and those prayers are what made our little boy make a turn for the better last night.  Please, please continue to pray for us and his safe delivery once he is ready.  While going through this "interruption" or little trial, has been stressful, we have felt immense blessings.  Thank you all so much!  We wouldn't have gotten this far without all of you. 

5 comments:

  1. Continued prayers for my good friend and her precious cargo!! Love you, Chuck!

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  2. Robyn (Barnes) LittleFebruary 24, 2011 at 9:07 PM

    God Bless! Maybe this is just an early warning that he's going to add tons of excitement to your house in years to come (boys are definitely different than girls in my experience!)

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  3. Your "dad gum" (as my son says thanks to Mater's Tall Tales) blogs always bring tears to my eyes! Love you, hootie momma! I am praying for safe arrival for Baby Cole and safe delivery for mommy...IN 11 PLUS DAYS! Hugs!

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  4. Thanks for the full update! We are praying blessings for the whole Matthews clan.
    ~Jess

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  5. So glad to hear the whole story and that things r on the up n up! Call me if you need anything. We'll keep prayin'
    Love and hugs,
    Stacy
    _

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