32 Weeks + 3 Days -- Things not so great...

I started to write this post last night but a lot has changed since then. I didn't get to finish the post because I was contracting too much (again) & had to be put back on monitors. I had a rough day with contractions on Monday as well but this was much worse. The shots of Tributelene that I get to slow them down if my oral medication isn't cutting it can be given in a series of up to 3 shots, 15 minutes apart. In the past, one has knocked the contractions out. Then I started needing two. Last night, for the first time, I needed three. Unfortunately, that still didn't work so I had to get my IV put back in and get a loading dose of Magnesium Sulfate (the nasty drug). I guess my body has just gotten used to the oral meds & the shots. We knew this would happen; just thought we had more time. The Magnesium was as horrible as I remember.

On top of everything else, I was diagnosed with a liver condition called "Obstetric cholestasis". I started getting really itchy over the weekend, the worse on the bottoms of my feet & palms of my hands. Benedryl didn't even touch it. Dr. Adam ordered some blood work the other night & this is what it came back as. It's something that will go away when I deliver but unfortunately will come back with subsequent pregnancies & if I take an oral contraceptives. The itchiness is not the problem, just the symptom. The cholestasis can cause problems with the babies & even stillbirth. Luckily, because of everything else going on, the babies are being monitored so often that we'll be able to watch them for any signs of distress. But basically, even when I'm not pregnant with twins, I'll always have premature babies & I'll always have high risk pregnancies. I guess I'm sticking with Dr. Adam!

You know, I am so grateful for the guidence I've had from my Heavenly Father through this pregnancy. He has helped me make good decisions. A lot of people, I think, questioned my reasoning for switching to a high risk doctor since so many twin moms are fine with regular OB/GYN's. But I felt really strongly that I would need one & thank goodness I found the best. Dr. Adam has known just what to do in every situation & considering everything, I really owe her a lot. Thank goodness for good doctors who sacrifice so much in their lives to be there for their patients.

To sum everything up, I have 4 strikes against me. First, the kidney stones which have not returned (thank goodness) & hopefully behave until I can get them taken care of after I deliver. The second is the preterm labor which is directly related to the third: aging placentas. Now a fourth thing, the liver issue, which will also be hard on my placentas. With all of these things, I think we can expect these babies soon!

Here are my 32 week pictures... The chart is a picture of the computer when I'm being monitored. The top is the babies' heart rates and the bottom is my contractions. You can see I was having them pretty good when Sam took this picture!