Back at Baylor...

Well friends, it seems like my days of home bed rest have come to an end.  It seems that the pesky "stomach flu" that I came down with on Thursday night may actually be something else entirely...maybe gallstones? We don't know yet, but after two days of feeling fine and eating normally after the first episode, my symptoms returned with a vengeance yesterday afternoon and triggered a nice bout of painful contractions as well. By the time we got to Labor and Delivery last night, my contractions were 1.5-2 minutes apart, and boy were they painful!  Luckily, the staff here wasted no time hooking me up to an IV and getting some fluids and anti-nausea meds into my system, so I began feeling better almost immediately.  Tomorrow morning I will be taken down for a gallbladder sonogram to check for any potential problems, so until then I'm just holding tight, enjoying my clear liquid diet. Jello for breakfast (and lunch, and dinner)? You betcha!

Unfortunately, the results from other testing done last night are not quite so promising.  My doctor ordered a fetal fibronectin (fFN) test, which for those of you not well-versed in complicated pregnancy lingo, is a test that can predict the likelihood of a woman to give birth prematurely.  A negative result means that a woman is highly unlikely to give birth within the next two weeks, while a positive result means that a woman is at high risk for giving birth prematurely. Until now, my fFN tests have all been negative, but last night's test came back positive.  Translation: I will be here until I either have the babies, I get a negative result on a repeat fFN test, or until I reach the 34-week mark, after which they will not try to stop my labor.  However, I will be 32 weeks along tomorrow, so that is just two weeks away. After all we have been through with this pregnancy, two more weeks still seems manageable!

Well folks, that's all for now.  If you need me, you kind find me at Baylor Grapevine, where I will be engaging in one of the following activities:

a)  eating orange jello
b)  eating green jello
c)  shuddering at the thought of jello
d)  taking a nap in order to avoid the food people

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas filled with real food!