NICU Tour & Contractions

Monday afternoon James and I took a tour of the NICU. They wanted us to know what to expect just in case. We had been in a NICU before when our friends had triplets but it was a totally different experience going in pregnant knowing we're here for preterm labor and our boys might come early and be taken there. The babies were so tiny. One baby was born at 29 weeks and was now 31 and weighing between 3-4 lbs. They said he was a twin so we assumed that meant one didn't make it and that was heartbreaking. One little girl was born at 24 weeks old. I couldn't see her, I was in a wheelchair, but James said she almost didn't look human and was the tiniest little thing. I was so glad I couldn't see her. They explained that there are no visiting hour limitations except during shift change and we'd both get bracelets to come and go. They do have a two person limit so James and I will have to take turns taking family members back one at a time. We just keep praying that we make it far enough along that they don't need to or are in there for such a short amount of time.

One thing I'm trying to do is learn what my contractions feel like. Sometimes I really don't feel anything and only know I'm having one because I'm on the monitor. Sometimes I feel like one of the babies is pushing up hard against my belly so it becomes harder and tighter than normal. Around dinner time I realized that my stomach was becoming hard and releasing in a pattern. I called the nurse and she put me on the monitor. Sure enough, I was contracting. I was glad I was able to recongize them but at the same time it sucks because I'm contracting. Of course it lead to me getting another shot of Tributiline to stop them. It's 11:15 and I'm starting to feel the tightening again, but they just gave me my Procardia pill to stop the contractions so I'm waiting to let it kick in and see if they stop. If not, I'm going back on the monitor. I have a feeling I'm going to get another one of those dreaded shots tonight.