We spent a short time in the hospital trying to make sure that Nicholas didn't come visit us too soon...

April 8, 1999

We have had quite a few doctor visits since the bed rest situation began. On Thursday, April 8, we went to see the doctor and she told us that we were slightly dilated. She sent us over to the main hospital where they put us on a machine that measures for contractions. We found that she was having them all over the place and they promptly admitted us to the hospital. She has been put on magnesium sulfate to stop the contractions. We have to stay in the hospital at least 48 hours but we may be here until our 34th week. That would be three weeks.

April 10, 1999

We have been informed that we will be here until at least Monday the 12th. Mui has received four steroid shots to help the baby's lungs develop in case of an early delivery. She has been given anti-biotics to help prevent some sort of diseases she could give the baby during delivery. However, the magnesium sulfate will hopefully be making that irrelevant right now as it seems to have stopped most of her contractions. They tell us that they will be reducing her magnesium dosage tomorrow, see if her contractions stay at a minimum, and try a pill form that she can take in place of the tubes sticking out of her arm. If all goes well, and boy, do we hope so, we will be out of here on Monday. Mui would like to make it known that she hates this and that the medicine make her very hot. She chooses to use the term 'frying'.

April 11, 1999

No good news today. The doctor told us that we are going to be here until her 34th week. Mui didn't take that too well. She really wants to go home. Speaking with the doctor later, I found out why he wanted to keep her here. He said that it was because Mui couldn't feel her contractions and that she wouldn't be able tell if she was contracting at home. I corrected him and told him that Mui could feel her contractions and that she had told them initially that she couldn't because she just didn't know what they were. She was under the impression that contractions hurt. She can feel her contractions but they don't hurt. So the doctor said that he would discuss this with our regular doctor on Tuesday (she isn't in until then) and they may change their minds. However, while this does offer us some hope, Mui has started to get a few more contractions lately. She was down to about one an hour. She has been experiencing three or four an hour for the last few hours. So we may still end up being here for the next two and a half weeks.

April 18, 1999

We had some problems with the server so this update is a tad late. Well, we are out of the hospital. On Thursday, the doctors stopped the magnesium and put us on nifedipine. After 24 hours of monitoring her on this, they decided to let us go. She has to take this stuff every four hours at the maximum dosage. This, of course, does not go well with her as she experiences dizziness. But it is far better than the magnesium. We have another appointment tomorrow so the doctor can see how she is doing. We are still having contractions but not that many and not nearly as strong. We are supposed to return to the hospital if we experience six or more contractions within an hour. So far, we are enthusiastic about the results of the new medicine as it seems to work really well. We are also very optimistic that little Nicholas will not be born premature now.

We got out of the hospital soon after.

About 10 days before Nicholas came, we went back to the hospital...

We are at 38 weeks now. Mui started having contractions every five minutes or so, yesterday, for about an hour or so. She gave the hospital a call and they told us to come on in. We went in and they put her on the monitor. Of course, at that time, the contractions stopped. They told us to walk around for about half an hour then come back and get checked. She had contractions while we walked but they stopped once we returned. We walked around for another half an hour and got rechecked. Mui ended up with about nine strong contractions during the walks but when they rechecked her, her cervix was still at the same size ( about 4-5 cm dilated). They ended up sending us home.

They basically told us that we can have about nine to ten strong contractions an hour and it would still be okay. They somewhat gave us a guideline on when to go back there. One was if Mui's contractions were about two minutes apart and much stronger than what she was feeling already. Another was if her water breaks. (This one is pretty obvious.) Also, if the baby's movements decreases dramatically. They said that if this happens, they would induce Mui since Nicky is old enough to come out. The final one is if Mui has a very strong urge of pushing. Today, the contractions have eased up and Nicky does not seem to want to come out anymore. Perhaps it will be the due date after all.