The doctor that came in to talk to me explained that while he wasn't totally sold on the studies about magnesium protecting the brain.  He was going to give it to me anyway because if it works, it would protect the brain from Cerebral Palsy.  I have also read that it can stop labor as well, but I guess there are no definite studies on that either.  They hook me up to the IV of Magnesium and antibiotics because they do help keep the labor away.  Anyway remember THE DEVIL!  I cannot remember a lot about the next couple of days. Magnesium feels like fire going into your veins.  I can not focus.  Looking at the wall is hard.  I cannot sleep. I am miserable.  It has a tendency to give people flu like symptoms, and it can make people really nauseated at the beginning because they do a higher dose at the beginning.  I know people come to see me.  I know I eat.  I just remember I having to leave my arm in a certain position, or the fire feeling would get more intense.  I am monitored continuously and JT is monitored continuously because of the mag.  I have a blood pressure cuff that cuts into my arm every 15 minutes.  My O2 saturation gets low, and I have to wear a cannula for oxygen.  When the nurse comes in to take me off of the Devil, I thank her!  Thank you so much!  The next day I am feeling like a different person.  I can finally focus on something. 

The next several days run together.  Anytime I need to go to the bathroom, I have to unhook cables and drag my IV with me.  I become a pro at getting JT back on the monitor, so I don't have to constantly bug the nurses.  I have the luxurious task of keeping up with my input and output.  Peeing into a top hat is fabulous.  I have to make sure my discharge is not green.  I am constantly leaking.  I am thankful that the water replenishes itself, but it is gross to have a constant drip every time I move.  People come to visit.  Jack comes every other day.  My mom and dad come to see me.  Jack's mom sends a gift. Chris, Melinda, and Hailey.  Melinda brings me snacks to help me keep my sanity food wise.  Jill, Mario, and Rio.  Jill brings me Sonic.  Katie comes to see me several times and brings an awesome gift of hospital essentials.  I get several compliments on the socks from the nurses.  Jess comes with Katie one day.  Other than people visiting I just sit there.  I watch TV constantly and the channel selections are no good.  I watch tons of House Hunters, Storage Wars, whatever.  Everyone I talk to basically says, "Oh this must suck."  I don't think so.  I am sure that if I sit here long enough that it will begin to suck, but right now I do not have to work.  I have a free pass after working tons of hours to do absolutely nothing and have nurses basically wait on me.  They will get me anything I want.  Water, ice cream, juice, food, a soft drink...If I drop something on the floor, they will retrieve it for me.  My only job is to lie in a bed and do absolutely nothing but stay pregnant.  I even have a doctor that comes in and says, "You're still pregnant." and checks JT's heartrate print out at least once a day.  There is only so much information that they can give you, unless I want him to repeat it daily.  The nurses and doctors tell me that JT's heartrate is amazing for his gestational age.  It is like he is exercising in there with all of his rate increases.  I learn the times that the nurses come to my room.  It is every 4 hours like clockwork.  I know I can sleep inbetween these times.

Every day I tell JT to please just stay put a few more days.  I will sit here for a month if I have to.  It is ok.  Please just don't come earlier than 32 weeks.  That is the goal.

They take me off of the antibiotics.  They take me off of my IV.  I finally feel free for a day.  I can get out of the bed without having to drag something with me to the bathroom.  I can take a shower!  It is an amazing shower too.  They stop constantly monitoring me.  I am only monitored once every so many hours.  JT hates those monitors!  He kicks them off of him all of the time.  I am having random contractions of varying strengths, but they aren't anything that I can't handle. 

On around the 5th night of being in the hospital, I begin to have contractions that I can no longer ignore.  I start to time them.  They are really close together.  They hurt, but they are still nothing that I cannot handle.  I tell the nurse.  She tells me to let her know if they get worse throughout the night.  They do.  She calls the doctor who prescribes Procardia.  It is a blood pressure pill, but it also helps to stop labor.  They tell me that if I am in active labor that nothing with stop it, so they hope the Procardia will help keep the contractions away.  The next morning my day nurse and the doctor come in.  My nurse is concerned that I am in labor because she believes that I have all of the signs.  They check me.  I am 2 cm and 90% effaced.  I am told that I can only have ice chips, and they are going to hook me back up to fluids just in case I am in labor and have to have an emergency c section.  I just take the information in.  It doesn't scare the hell out of me.  Whatever I need to do to keep my baby safe, I will do.  I will go back on that damn Magnesium if I have to.  I don't care.  Thankfully the Procardia and fluid help with the contractions (so much so that I ask them to turn up my fluids).  They were not completely gone, but they were bearable.  I can finally get some much needed sleep.  I doze in and out throughout the day.  That night, the same thing happens.  My contractions get increasingly worse.  I am breathing through them.  The Procardia helps a little bit, but they are still not completely gone.  People come see me the next day.  I am having to breathe through my contractions in front of them.  Oh and don't talk to me while I am having a contraction because I may rip your head off.  They aren't frequent enough for it to be active labor though, but any sudden movement will bring them on.  I have to brace myself to get up to go to the bathroom because I know the moment I sit up, I am going to have one.  Walk to the bathroom, sit down, have another.  It is killer.  This happens the next several days.  The nights are always the worst.  The night of the 1/13 they are so close that I am keeping up with them on my phone.  If I don't document it somewhere, I forget what time the last one started and how long it was.  They are very close together, but not consistent.  Sometimes I will go ten minutes without one sometimes only 3 minutes.  I let my nurse know.  She gives me a button to push.  It will tell them when I am having a contraction.  She tells me to lie on my left side.  It doesn't help.  I have already tried this at some point it makes the contractions worse.  They start to monitor JT.  The monitor belt on my stomach makes me have contractions.  Every time I contract I feel like I need to pee.  I went to the bathroom so many times.  It gets to the point where I feel like JT's head is about to fall out of me.  I cannot comfortable walk to the bathroom anymore.  The nurse talks to the doctor who comes in to see me.  The nurse checks me.  She can feel his head when she checks me.  I am at a 4.  They are going to move me to L&D, and they tell me to call anyone I need to or that they will do it if I like.  I call Jack and I call my mom.  Jack just got to sleep and has to get back up.  My mom is about to leave for work when I call her.  It is around 7.  She cancels her job and heads straight to the hospital.