Mommy's 25th Birthday

Yesterday was my 25th birthday and one I will not likely forget soon...

First, Sunday morning we awoke to find that our car had been stolen from our condo parking lot... Chris and I had planned on a fun afternoon with friends by the pool that day so after reporting the car stolen to the police and insurance company, we went on with those plans. There was nothing to do but wait and hope they found the car. We now know the importance of theft coverage on the insurance too little too late.

Luckily, around 4:00 we got a call from the police department that they had found the car... unfortunately, it was found without any wheels. The thieves dumped our car in Pinellas Park, taking with them all four wheels, the spare tire, the tire jack, my access badge from work and a large box of diapers for Hannah that we had bought Saturday night! They had also clearly rifled through our glove compartment. An information card with our bank account numbers and routing number was sitting on the passenger seat.

The next morning, we crammed into Chris' truck (not exactly a vehicle built for three) and Chris dropped me off at work and Hannah off at daycare before running around all over town to get new wheels for the car and change our bank account number.

Overall, my birthday was looking up later in the day. My co-workers decorated my cubicle at work, we had a large strawberry cake and ordered pizza for lunch. After work, my friend Lauren picked me up from work and Hannah up from daycare and we went to the mall to spend the gift card she had given me for Motherhood. Once we were all shopped out, we met Chris at Olive Garden for dinner. Chris had gotten the wheels and we had use of the car again.

Later last night, though, I started feeling sharp, uncomfortable tightness in the belly that was making it impossible to sleep. Chris insisted I call the midwife for advice. We've been seeing Gina Tregellis, head midwife at Countryside Birthing Place but are scheduled to meet Dr. Stephen Igel (OB/Gyn) and his head midwife, Robin, this Wednesday (tomorrow) at 3:00. I called Gina and she told me that we should go to the hospital just to be on the safe side. We woke Hannah up and headed for the hospital. I was afraid I might just be over-reacting and was depriving us all of sleep for nothing but when we got to Mease Countryside Hospital, they hooked me up to a contraction monitor and found that I was having small contractions. I almost felt relieved to hear it. At least I knew that I wasn't over-reacting to nothing.

The nurse gave me a shot of a medication called Terbutaline ("Terb") to relax the uterus. She gave me a small dose to see how I reacted and it was a good thing because my blood pressure shot up and my pulse slowed down and I got very light-headed. They decided to give me fluids via IV to hydrate me instead of giving me more Terb. I then waited for the ultrasound tech to arrive so that they could get an accurate heart rate on each of the twins. (The doppler had picked up a lot of noise from all their moving around but they could get a clear heart rate for either twin.)

The ultrasound tech was very patient with me while I kept having to roll onto my side because lying on my back made me light-headed and nauseous. Chris got to see the ultrasound this time and one baby was still being more aggressive. While one baby was curled up, the other rested his legs on top of his brother. I'm glad to report that both babies are still healthy and active with good heart rates.

Once I was hydrated with the IV and the contractions had stopped, they gave me the okay to leave but said that Dr. Igel's midwife, Robin, had ordered that I stay home and rest until the appointment on Wednesday as a precaution. At least the appointment's not far in the future. When we returned home, I fell right to sleep and had the most comfortable sleep I've had in weeks!

I hope to return to work on Thursday but my work says that I need a doctor's note stating that it's okay for me to return to work.

Keep us in your prayers... especially Wednesday.