We'd made it through another night with no issues. Baby girl was still moving a lot and had a strong heartbeat. Getting up to go to the bathroom was going fine. I wasn't bleeding or leaking. My temp had stayed normal and I was showing no signs of infection. It was looking more and more like I might go home. I had a lot of mixed feelings about this. My regular OBGYN seemed surprised the high risk doctor wanted to send me home. There is an antenatal unit at Central Baptist that we had thought at one point I might move to. That unit is specifically for women who are having complications during their pregnancy that need to stay pregnant (my situation to a T). Staying in the hospital under constant supervision sounded good because if anything seemed remotely wrong there would be someone there to do something. However, the thought of staying in the hospital for the rest of my pregnancy (which we were hoping would still be a while) sounded kind of miserable. The thought of sleeping in my own bed sounded wonderful. Plus we really don't live far away from the hospital (less than 10 minutes) so if something happened we could get there quickly. Needless to say I was a bundle of emotions about the prospect of going home (as were Adam and our family members). A lot hinged on how my exam went this morning.
The high risk doctor came in to take a physical look at my cervix. I knew it wasn't going to be comfortable and I was nervous about how it might affect the cerclage or my risk for infection, but it had to be done. I again put my bottom on an upside down bed pan and waited to hear the report (after we waited for someone to find a flashlight so he could really see . . . again technology). He told us that he saw pretty much what he expected. The cerclage was holding, but a tiny bit of the amniotic sac was coming out into my vagina. He said that for women who had already had a child and were a bit further along, this was pretty normal and they wouldn't be concerned. He wasn't feeling quite that way with me, but he also said it was in general OK. Basically things were going a lot better than he had expected (he never actually said that out loud, but we knew from his comments and expressions that's what he thought). He wanted to continue my current level of activity and as long as things still looked good by Sunday, I would go home on bed rest. I would come to his office once a week for an exam but that would be the extent of my extreme activity. I would be on fairly strict bed rest. I could get up to go to the restroom and move to the couch for part of the day, but overall keep to being flat as often as possible (try not to put excess stress on my cervix).
I had another shower that day and it still tired me out, but not as badly as the one the day before. I still needed help because of the plastic sleeve on my arm, but I did a lot more myself. They continued checking my temperature often and I was still holding steady at normal. My CBC was still showing a normal white blood cell count. I had no tenderness in my belly. All of this pointed to no infection. Our baby was also still doing well. She was active and had a strong heartbeat each time they checked. All of this together meant I was most likely going home Sunday if nothing changed on Saturday.
This led to a lot of prep work by my family. They made sure I had a shower chair so I could sit down while showering. They got me one of those bed pillows so you can sit up in bed. They brought some trays to eat in bed or on the couch. Mom made a Sam's run for food (and giant hand sanitizer . . . no infection in our house!). My father in law installed new shower heads that are on hoses so I could shower easier sitting down. They made sure the house was clean and did all the laundry (my mother in law especially, she loves to clean). I felt bad that they were doing so much (especially my mother in law cleaning our bathroom . . . it was a sight that's for sure), but I really appreciated it. I knew I wouldn't be able to do it and was glad I didn't have to worry about it. I have an amazing family.
The rest of the day was pretty good. Another family member stopped in for a quick visit and it was nice to see her. I chatted with friends and family throughout the day and watched some bad TV. If you want to know about the new Shark vacuum cleaner or the workout that gives you great abs by dancing (a couple of the many infomercials I saw throughout my stay in the hospital) I'm your lady. We were in a holding pattern/wait and see mode until Sunday. I was still a bundle of emotions about going home. I hoped that if they were letting me go home things must be really good and they were pretty confident about me keeping her in for a while still. But on the other hand maybe they were letting me go home because they thought there was nothing else they could do in the hospital so may as well send me home even if they weren't confident. I was a bundle of emotions and that would be the way I would stay.
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