A Complicated Road...

Well I originally thought my next blog post would be an update from my recent vacations, but stories of dolphin encounters and baby's first souvenir (which is adorable by the way) are unfortunately on hold. We have had a pretty scary couple of days, and our road to meeting our Little Miss got a bit more complicated this week.

It has been a crazy 48 hours, but here is what has unfolded...

Wednesday afternoon I had a routine doctor's visit scheduled, and I was a little concerned as I had some light spotting. After discussing my symptoms and having the doctor examine me, he too was concerned, and sent me to the hospital to be monitored with an "oh, and and I think you may be diabetic" warning as I headed out of the office. Cue Angela freaking out here! After a couple of hours at the hospital, the nurses checked me again, and informed me I was dilated to 3 cm. At this point I knew I wasn't going to be sent home for "just a little bed rest," and this was really serious. Immediately everyone flew into action to try and stop my labor, and they decided to transfer me to Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas, where they have a NICU better equipped to handle a 26 week preemie. When they eventually ran my blood sugar, they discovered it had spiked to over 600, which apparently means that instead of having a casual lunch at Jason's Deli that morning, I should have been in the ICU. Wednesday night was a terrifying night in Labor and Delivery as they closely monitored my contractions and worked to bring my blood sugar down. More than one nurse referred to me as a "Ticking Time Bomb" since I am apparently one of those lucky women who can dilate to what was now 5 cm and have absolutely NO idea!!! This made it extremely difficult for them to determine if the efforts to stop preterm labor had been successful, so they kept me on magnesium and gave me steroids through Thursday, the safest plan of action for the baby if I was to deliver.

This morning the doctors felt confident enough that my labor had stopped for now, and this afternoon I was sent upstairs to a high risk floor where I will most likely stay until I
deliver. The doctors have determined that the preterm labor was probably caused by undiagnosed Type 1 Diabetes, that I have likely been masking symptoms of for quite some time. For now they will continue to work on controlling my blood sugar through insulin, and I will continue to be educated with a whole new diabetic lingo and diet(for my fellow Big Brother fans, from what I understand it is pretty much like being handed a lifetime slop pass...goodbye ice cream and pop tart cravings!)

The next milestone is to make it to 28 weeks, when the risk for many of our baby girl's complications decrease. Our hope is that she will hold on even longer, and continue to grow stronger every day.

Brian and I sincerely want to say thank you to everyone who has been praying for us over the last couple days and we ask that you continue to keep us in your prayers throughout the tough road ahead. Your love and support continue to lift us up in this difficult time.