A good nurse is always learning...

Can the fetal fibronectin test really tell me whether I'm in preterm labor?

They measure the amount of fetal fibronectin (fFN), a protein produced by the fetal membranes. This protein serves as the "glue" that attaches the fetal sac to the uterine lining. It's normally found in increased amounts in your vagina during the first half of pregnancy and again late in pregnancy as you near labor. But if fFN leaks from the uterus and more than a small amount shows up in the vagina too early (between 22 and 34 weeks), it may mean that the glue is disintegrating ahead of schedule because of contractions or an injury to the membranes.If this happens, your risk of going into labor and giving birth prematurely is significantly higher. More important, if no fetal fibronectin is found in your sample, it means your risk of giving birth in the next two weeks is very small. You should expect to see test results within a day or two, or within several hours if you're taking the rapid version of the test.

What will the results tell me about my risk of delivering early?

That depends on whether you're already having symptoms or are at high risk for preterm labor for other reasons. If you're having symptoms of preterm labor between 24 and 34 weeks, you have a 4 percent chance of delivering within the next two weeks. If you receive a negative fFN result, you have a less than 1 percent chance of delivering in the next two weeks. A positive result means that your risk of delivering sometime before you reach 35 weeks is higher, and your chance of giving birth in the next week is about 16 percent.

Good bye London hello AZ heat

Although Matt, Michelle and Adie aren't happy that Mom has jumped back to the other side of the pond I sure am!

Welcome home Mama Bear!!

So happy to have you home again!

Follow up appointment

Rob and I had our follow up appointment today with the OB doctor. And we got a good report card! The FFN was negative (PHEW) and my cervix although soft is actually closed!! YIPPIE!!! We have our next appointment in two weeks. No changes have been made in my level of activity but our good report makes it all worth while. It helps to know that what you are doing is actually working!

I also was allowed a short outing today. Rob and I went over to his parents house to help celebrate his grandmas 90th birthday. Nearly his whole family was in town for the fun event. It was so nice to get to see everyone not to mention get out of the house!

Mission Acomplished

A quick update on our project list! Luke's crib is finished!! Papa Schneider called on Sunday with the great news that he had finished the crib. Rob went right over to pick it up and came home and put it together. It made me cry I was so happy.

We hit the 26 week mark!!

And the tummy keeps growing!

Pug snuggling!

Here is a picture of me and my snugly pug Macy. Sakai was a little lower in the picture. They spend nearly all day in bed with me...along with Katie and Rob! Thank goodness we have a king sized bed!

Rob and I had a follow up appointment with our OB doctor on Friday. Nothing new to report. She plans on doing another FFN this coming up Friday. If it comes back positive we will be re-admitted to the hospital for continuous monitoring to make sure things are as quiet as we need them to be. My monitoring sessions are improving with an average of two contractions an hour. Much better compared to the five I was having when we first got home.

Rob and I have had so many people helping out. Starting with my sister Katie. I'm contemplating calling US Air and canceling her flight home!! I don't want her to leave. She has been an amazing help. Fetching drinks, breakfast, lunch, going grocery shopping, doing insane amounts of laundry and simply keeping me company! I don't know what I'd do with out her.

A variety of other people have been helping feed us as well. Aunt Cathi brought a yummy lunch, Dad~Kelly~Ben~Colin~Patrick brought a series of yummy dinners and Carole and Tom Minor brought an amazing Mexican dinner.

Everyone has been so helpful and caring. Thank you all!!

L&D Room 2

We look so happy because we just got discharged!
This is the communication board. I used it mostly to jot down positive information as it came to us.
This is Rob's little bed. It didn't look very comfortable but he caught many z's in it!
My beautiful flowers from the Schneider's.
My sunflowers picked fresh from Laila's garden.

A day in the life of a bedrester

We have officially survived our first week on bed rest! I can't say it's been horrible but I can say it hasn't been terribly exciting either. I'm pretty much in bed 95% of the day. I'm able to get up to the bathroom and take a shower. We pretty much pass the time watching TV, playing on the internet, sleeping and talking on the phone.

Twice a day I hook up to my home contraction monitor for one hour. When my hour is up I send the information over the phone like a fax. Within 15 minutes or so the home health company calls me back and lets me know how many contractions I've had and if there is anything I need to be doing. I average 2-5 contractions an hour with pretty constant uterine irritability. My threshold for an intervention is 6 contractions in an hour.

Other than that I have to change my medication in my pump when it runs low. Today is the first day I have to change the site....should be interesting. Thank goodness the pump comes with a picture guide for dummies! So that's about it!

Thanks for those of you that follow the blog and leave comments. A small request if you leave a comment leave your name. All the anonymous comments are killing me!!

Love and Support

I can't even begin to thank everyone for all of their love, support and help this past week. It's so nice to have so many people to help Rob and I with nearly everything! A few special thanks...

Rob: You are amazing. I couldn't do any of this without you. I thought I had it rough spending one night with you in the hospital...you spent 4 1/2! And you haven't left my side except to fetch me various snacks and drinks.

To all my nurses: Marlene, Katie, Paula, Sarah, Diane, Martie, Letti, Vicky and Kathy thank you so much for putting me at ease and taking such good care of all three of us!

April: Your cookies were amazing! You need to open a bakery!!

Deanna: Thank you for the fan!

Aunt Cathy: Thank you for all the snacks and phone calls.

Aunt Lizzie: Thank you for answering the phone at 12:30 in the morning when I couldn't reach my mom. Thank you for being the voice of reason when I couldn't hear my own. And thank you for playing operator and keeping me connected with my Mom.

Becky: A huge thanks for all of your help with the dogs. It was such a relief to not have to worry about them. And so nice to come home to totally exhausted dogs!! I think Sakai misses his new friends.

Suzanne: Thank you for the drinks and all the hot gossip mags!

Nana and Papa Schneider: Where to start! Thank you for the beautiful flowers, for visiting us in the hospital, for carting Rob around, for the mini fridge, for moving furniture (along with bringing us some new), and for helping keep the fridge stocked!

Pops and Kelly: Thank you for the company this week, along with all of the delicious dinners!

Matt, Michelle and Mom: Thank you for all the phone calls from the other side of the pond! It almost feels like you aren't THAT far away.

And to everyone else who has called, emailed, text messaged, stopped by and prayed for us!

Pre Term Labor

As many of you already know little Luke and I were admitted to the hospital early Wednesday morning for pre term labor. What a shock! I had been having what I thought were Braxton Hicks contractions for a little while. Nothing I thought was anything to worry about until Wed night when the cramping started and the back pain kicked in. A phone call to my doctor later and we were on our way to OB Triage to be evaluated. I have to admit I thought they were going to laugh at me and send me home...stories of oh Anne thought she was in labor it was so funny to be spread around work that weekend. I was in total shock when my nurse said we are going to admit you to L&D and start you on Magnesium Sulfate, PCN and get your steroids going for the babies lungs. This was about the time when the tears started flowing and the freaking out really started.

The IV was started blood was drawn and I was walked over to the high risk area of my own department. It was very strange to be a patient at my hospital on my floor! But it was VERY nice to have friendly, familiar faces all around. My magnesium bolus was started promptly as were the hot flashes. I was a little nervous for the Mag to start and the steroid shots. I'd given both several times to my own patients and watched them cry and moan through the whole process. Knowing myself I was worried about looking like a HUGH baby through this whole process. But I have to say (with a pat on my back) I did great. Nothing was as bad as I thought it would be, in fact it wasn't bad at all. The mag makes you warm but so does being pregnant and the steroid shot was over before I even knew she gave it to me!

In between all the other things that were going on I was given several Terbutaline shots sub q to help stop the contractions. I counted something like a total of 16+ shots!! Fortunately my body responded really well to the terb and my uterus calmed down with each shot. Along with all the shots I had the pleasure of having my cervix checked. Naughty little cervix was opened to 1cm at the external os and closed at the internal os. However my cervix was soft which wasn't what we wanted. It was fortunately long which was good.

We were also scheduled for a formal ultrasound to see how big Luke was getting. Not a shock to Rob and I but he was huge! He measured two weeks and two days ahead of what he should be weight wise. He weighed 2 lbs 5 ounces or 1050 grams. Most everybody was shocked at how big he was. I guess all that ice cream he's been demanding is paying off! I think that pretty much sums up our first day.

Day 2
More of the same. We had a FFN (Fetal fibronectin) test done. Fetal fibronectin is used to test pregnant women who are between 22 weeks and 34 weeks of gestation and are having symptoms of premature labor. The test helps predict the likelihood of premature delivery. Thankfully ours came back negative. Another check of my cervix showed no further changes. It was starting to feel like things were headed in the right direction.

Day 3
Still more of the same. The magnesium remained at 2grams/hour and I got more terb shots throughout the day. Discussion started of sending me home on a terb pump. This was actually comforting to me. Some people get sent home on oral medications. I just felt really comfortable with the sub q terb because it had been working so well already. I was a little nervous to try something new. The pump was ordered and talks of going home Sat were in the works.

Day 4
More of the same until the RN came to educated me on my terb pump. Once the pump was in and running the magnesium was stopped! Can I get an AMEN! I really never felt that badly or deprived of anything. It was just something I had to do for Luke. And I was ok with all of it. Once they started to remove things I wanted it all gone! The mag went and then the IV was hep locked, then I could go to the bathroom without measuring my urine. All of it was like winning the lotto. Did I mention the simple pleasure of taking a shower? Amazing. The terb pump was up and running around 3:30pm. My doctor was in and said she wanted to watch me over night to make sure things were ok and then home in the morning! Such good news....my own bed I couldn't wait. (Although I was growing some what attached to the abilities of my hospital bed.) Am I too young to wish for a craft matic adjustable bed?

Day 5
I've been given my walking papers! Well I was told to go home and walk to my own bed. Let the bed rest at home begin. I have to say I was really nervous to go home even though it's what I really wanted. There was just something really comforting about having everyone so close by in case something went wrong. A few tears were shed and several comforting nurses and family members reassured me that everything was ok. It wasn't like I didn't have resources if something went astray at home. I just needed to be reminded of them I guess. We were home around noon and I've been in bed ever since!

And the tummy grows

22 weeks