Just as we thought things were settling down and we were coming home to rest and ride out the rest of my pregnancy, my water broke. At 26 weeks. It was January 4, 2019 and we were headed to Jeff’s grandparents’ house to celebrate Christmas a few weeks late. Everything was good and I was feeling great other than the few Braxton Hicks I was having here and there. We all sat around the table and enjoyed good food and good conversation before making our way to the living room to start opening gifts. Everyone claimed their seats and slowly presents started piling up in-front of each of us. One by one everyone opened a gift and ohh’d and ahh’d over what they received. Suddenly, as I was sitting in the chair opening my next gift, I felt a little trickle. I immediately got up and went to the bathroom and noticed a little (I’m talking really tiny) amount of fluid, about the size of a penny. I got a little nervous, but thought there was no way this could be my water breaking. It was not a lot, and I felt completely fine. A few minutes later, after returning to the living room, I felt it again. I went back to the bathroom and again there was a little more fluid. Now I was on high alert. I went to the bathroom four more times, each experiencing a little more fluid and at this point I was up to about a quarter sized amount. After returning to the living room I texted Jeff, who was right there in the room with me, and I told him I think my water may of broke. We were texting back and forth, as people continued to open presents. I texted my mom and he texted his mom, who was there with us as well, and after much collaboration we decided it would be best if I went to the hospital to be checked out. It was better to be safe than sorry.
Upon arriving at the ER I was immediately triaged and taken to the labor and delivery unit. Jeff and I checked in and waited in the lobby for a room to become available. After about 25 minutes of waiting we were escorted to a triage room where I slipped into a hospital gown and laid in the bed. Within minutes our nurse arrived to take my vitals and hooked me up to the monitors. Just after getting settled in a familiar face walks in. It was the doctor I had been seeing every Monday at our local MFM office. She just so happened to be the on-call doctor at the hospital that night, and boy was I thankful. She knew our story and knew we were affiliated with CHOP and was familiar with everything we had been through up until that point. In the moment I didn’t realize it, but it ended up being such a blessing that she was the on-call doctor that night. Fast-forward an hour or so and the nurse comes to collect a fluid sample to be sure it was in fact amniotic fluid. That test ended up coming back inconclusive and a more invasive test was performed.
After it was determined that the fluid was indeed amniotic fluid, I started to experience some contractions. They were mild, but I could definitely feel them. As the night progressed my contractions got worse and my pain soon became off the charts. They were coming more and more regular and each one was getting worse than the one before. I had back pain like nothing I had ever experienced in my life. When I was done contracting my back would tighten up and it was worse pain I have ever felt. Worse than the contractions. All the while Layne was such a tough little girl, most 26 weekers would not have been able to withstand the contractions, but she did amazing. Thank goodness for Jeff and my in-laws. Jeff held my hand the entire time and my mother-in-law talked me through all my contractions. At this point I was in so much pain and the monitors were picking up my contractions every 4-5 minutes apart and the doctors thought I was in active labor. They decided that they needed to do a manual check to see if I was dilated, and thank goodness I was not. This was great news. It meant that the contractions I was experiencing were not causing me to dilate, and therefore I was not in active labor (insert praise hands emoji). At this point I was in so much pain and the doctors were unsure if things were going to progress, so they decided to start me on a bolus of Magnesium for 30 minutes followed by a continuous flow. Magnesium, mag for short, is given to laboring women who are at risk of delivering premature as it coats the babies brain and helps prevent cerebral palsy and other brain injuries. It is also known to suppress contractions and slow down labor. Just as the nurse is getting my IV prepped for the bolus, and after almost 12 hours in the triage bed, we get word that a labor and delivery room has become available. We quickly get transferred and the nurses get the bolus running. They warned me, but boy I could not have prepared myself for the feeling of magnesium. It is the absolute worst. In the first 30 minutes you feel like you have been hit with the worst strain of the flu and like you’ve walked into a burning building and your entire body is on fire. It makes you feel very fatigued, flush, lightheaded, have a dry mouth, and very, very, very HOT. Like really hot. I should also mention that while on mag you cannot stand or walk, so I had to have a catheter placed, and you cannot eat or drink. Although magnesium is a wonderful drug and kept my contractions at bay that night, it can be very dangerous. The nurses and doctors monitored me very closely for mag toxicity. The nurse had to remain with me for the entire bolus to ensure my vitals remained stable. I also had ‘mag checks’ every hour, which included vital checks, reflex checks, urine output checks, muscle paralysis checks, and much more.
At this point it was early morning on January 5, 2019 and I successfully made it through the night without having a baby (insert praise hands emoji again). My contractions had completely subsided and I was feeling great. My water continued to leak, but very, very minimal. I had an ultrasound to check the levels of amniotic fluid and my deepest pockets were still in the 8’s, which was good. I was being monitored regularly and the goal was to just stay pregnant. As things started settling down and it was not so hectic it was decided that I really needed to get back to CHOP. We, and the doctors, both agreed that the best place for Layne to be born would be in Philly. Within hours our doctor came back into our room and informed us that she had spoken with my doctor at CHOP and she had spoken with Nightingale and everything was set for me to fly via helicopter to Philly that day. It would be an hour-and-a-half flight and unfortunately Jeff would not be allowed to join as there was just not enough room. And boy was he upset; he was so jealous I was going to get fly in a helicopter. Well just as soon as the idea of flying via helicopter to Philly came about it was squashed just as fast. At the last minute the pilot said Philly was going to be getting snow that night and it was not safe to fly. I was pretty bummed and all I wanted was to get to Philly. Our doctor then reached out to the transfer team and arranged for a jet to come from Charlotte, North Carolina to pick me up and take me to Philly. Within a few hours we got word that the jet was on its way and would be arriving at Norfolk International by 4 PM. The nurses began prepping me for discharge, they removed all my IV’s and stopped the magnesium, and at this point I am pretty much starved as it had been almost 24 hours with no food. No sooner after they got me all unhooked did two EMT’s walk in with a stretcher. They introduced themselves and started their prep work to get me hooked onto all their equipment. Everything was set to go, I had been loaded on the stretcher, and we were headed out the door when the on-call doctor came in and called the entire operation off. Since being admitted to the hospital the doctors had been sending all my monitoring readings to CHOP and at the very last minute it was determined it was no longer safe for me to travel. Apparently, I had been having contractions throughout the day that the monitor was picking up on. I never felt them, but nonetheless I was having them. I was completely heartbroken. I was so close to getting to CHOP I could taste it and it was ripped away from me. The only good thing that came out of that night was eating my first meal in well over 24 hours. A hospital grilled cheese, and my oh my was it good. Not as good as my grandmas, but pretty dag on close. The rest of the night we sat in our room and chatted the night away with my parents and Jeff’s parents. They truly got us through those hard times.
The following day, January 6th, was very uneventful. I was feeling great and Layne was doing great on the monitors. They even considered me to be ‘stable’ and moved me to the antepartum floor. This portion of the hospital is where they keep their pregnant moms pregnant. After being moved and getting settled in things were going great. Our parents came back to visit and we hung out with them until that evening. After they left we got tucked in for the night and was watching TV before eventually dosing off. At 3 AM I franticly woke to an overwhelming sense of feeling wet. I immediately freaked and woke Jeff and called for the nurse. I was so scared. My water bag had completely ruptured. The nurse and charge nurse come rushing in and when I get nervous, I ask questions. A million questions. I couldn’t stop, and they reassured me a million times that it was normal and I would be ok. Within about 10 minutes of my water breaking the contractions started, and they were intense. It was like being back in that triage room, but worse. Every 2-3 minutes I would get one and they were bad, like grab the rails on the bed and squeeze for dear life bad. Here we were again. After a few minutes of laboring the doctor came in and checked me to see if I was dilating and I had. I went from a finger-tip dilated to almost 2 cm’s. This was serious. This means I was in labor and we needed to stop it asap. No sooner was I being started on another bolus of Magnesium and being whisked back down to the labor and delivery floor in case we ended up delivering.
After getting settled into my new room and being on the Magnesium for an hour or so things started to calm down. I was feeling better and the contractions became further and further apart. As the doctors and residents completed their rounds that night it was discussed that I may be a candidate for a drug that has been known to stop contractions, but the on-call doctor wanted to run it by my doctors at CHOP before starting me on it. In the morning, after consulting with my doctors at CHOP, I was administered a drug called Nifedipine. Nifedipine is used for the treatment of high blood pressure, but has also been known to eliminate contractions in women. It was not a guarantee, but I was a ticking labor timebomb, and I was willing to try anything. Now since Nifedipine lowers blood pressure, and my blood pressure was always normal, I had to be closely monitored while taking it. They had to take my blood pressure before every dose, and if it was too low they would have to hold my medication. Thankfully that never happened, but I would get pretty lightheaded when standing/walking and was only allowed to get up and move with the help of Jeff or a nurse. Shout out to Jeff for being the real MVP and helping me do literally everything. I’ll spare you the details.
Now it is January 10, 2019 and the last few days were uneventful. I was stable and the monitors were not picking up on any contractions. The medication was working and my doctor from CHOP and I were in contact and discussing a transfer to Philly for the third time since being admitted to the hospital. It was determined that I was very stable and no longer needed to travel via plane or helicopter, so my doctor reached out to the transfer team and arranged for an ambulance to come pick me up and take me to CHOP. Within a few hours I was being strapped onto a stretcher and loaded into the ambulance. It was happening, after almost a week in the hospital. I was finally going to get to Philly and I was so happy. I was sad to leave my family, but thankful to be getting to where I needed to be to ride out the rest of my pregnancy.
Oh I feel like I was there.