On Monday night, when my OB told me he was going to give me a large dose (bolus) of magnesium "the mag" to stop my labor contractions followed by a maintenance dose to allow the steroid shots to start working on baby girls lungs, he compared what I was about to experience to "the forgotten weekend". Apparently, that's the term for the first dry weekend an alcoholic faces when they're trying to get sober...and it's miserable.
He wasn't far off...I would be okay if I forgot the last 36 hours....they were indeed miserable (thus no update) I won't bore you with details, you can google the side effects of magnesium sulfate...they're telling the truth! (as my mom put it, I looked "like death warmed over") BUT on the other side of it...with my mag sitting at a comfy rate per hour, and my body acclimated to many of the side effects, I have MUCH to be thankful for:
~As far as we can tell, my labor has stopped and my contractions are under control.
~The baby is blissfully unaware of, and seemingly unaffected by, all the drama
~In the midst of some really gnarly side effects of the mag, I did NOT throw up! Yay!
~Matt's mom got off and home safely & my mom arrived safely ~Thanks to many friends, we have groceries, clean laundry, warm dinners, and are feeling so loved.
This morning I looked good enough that they're going to introduce my oral meds for contraction control and wean me off the mag tonight. When we arrived, my OB said to plan to be here for at least a week...it may be shorter, but that gives me something to wrap my head around. Our home and children are in good, capable hands and I'm free to try to get rest here, which has been rather elusive to this point.
We're still praying baby girl stays put for a LONG time, but if she's born in the next 3 weeks, she'll have the benefit of steroids to help her. We simply don't know what the future holds. I could bounce back from this, defy the statistics and have a full term baby (what we're praying for!!) or deliver any day that my body decides it wants to...we are truly not in control. But we have great peace, because we know God IS. We are clinging to His goodness, faithfulness and sovereignty every minute. I think often on the verse from Daniel 3 when Shadrach and his friends said to the king, "Our God, whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire!"....but if he doesn't we'll still worship HIM and not your statue! (my interpretation) We know God is at work. We feel His mercy and in the absence of the feelings, are trusting in His character which does not change...so that leaves us in a pretty peaceful place, despite the craziness we see when we look around us.This morning I looked good enough that they're going to introduce my oral meds for contraction control and wean me off the mag tonight. When we arrived, my OB said to plan to be here for at least a week...it may be shorter, but that gives me something to wrap my head around. Our home and children are in good, capable hands and I'm free to try to get rest here, which has been rather elusive to this point.
Thank you for your prayers and emails, phone calls, texts and offers to help...you're a tremendous blessing to our little clan.
Love,
Sara
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