Preterm labor/pregnancy update

Monday, January 28th started out as just a normal day. I was out my daily afternoon walk with Trixie and stopped to get the mail on our way home. I took one more step and a pain just shot through my pelvic area and lower abdomen. It had me almost doubled over in pain and i couldn't move! I had NEVER had that kind of pain before so I knew something was wrong. I was still 1/2 a block away from home though so Trixie and I just walked really really slow back home taking little baby steps and pretty much just shuffling my feet till we got there. I called the doctor and told them what had happened and they started asking me questions like "Are you bleeding? Have you felt the baby move?" Which I wasn't and they said I needed to go straight to the hospital to labor and delivery. So I called Sean right away, trying to stay calm. He answered the phone and I asked if he was busy. He said no so I told him I was out on a walk with Trixie, and then I just started crying. He was thinking Trixie had been hit by a car or something cause that was all I was able to get out for a few seconds. I was finally able to tell him what had happened and that I needed to go to the hospital and he rushed home! Luckily he only works about 7 minutes away so he made it home really quick. I of course start imagining the worst and just bawl my eyes out till he got here. He almost had to carry me to the car cause it was so painful to try and walk.
The closest hospital is in Chandler, which is about 30 minutes away. However, with Sean driving...we made it there in just over 15 minutes. We get to to hospital about 2:30. They did little tests on me, got all my information in the computers and then finally took me back to Triage and got me in a bed. The nurse said it sounded like I had just pulled a muscle since it only hurt when I tried to move, but didn't bother me when I was holding still. Luckily my doctor happened to be at the hospital, so she told the nurse to do some other test, just in case. Turns out I was dilated to a 1.5 and already 50% effaced. I'm so glad my doctor didn't let the nurse just send me home! We had to wait FOREVER in triage before they admitted me...which wasn't until 8:30. By then we were both starving and really thirsty, but the cafeteria had already closed for the night. Luckily Sean was able to call his brother and he brought us food on his way home from work around 9. By then I was all hooked up to monitors and had an IV in. Luckily, the baby's heart beat was fine and he was perfectly healthy.
The first night I hardly slept and was having a bunch of contractions, which they monitored, so they added a magnesium drip to my IV to help stop them. That just made me REALLY relaxed. They checked my cervix and said most women who are only 27 weeks along like me, with their first baby usually have a cervix about 6cm long...mine was only 1.6cm which had them really worried. So then I had to get 2 steroid shots (In my BUTT) 24 hours apart to help the baby grow quicker and help his lungs develop quicker so he has a better chance of breathing on his own if he does come early. And MAN do those shots hurt!! But it made us feel so much better after having those. They also did a FFN(?) test which if it is positive means there is a 60% chance the baby WILL come in the next 2 weeks, but if it's negative there is a 99% chance he WON'T come in the next 2 weeks. Luckily that test came back negative! Which also made us feel a lot better.
The second night was much better having the magnesium AND a sleeping pill :) I barely even woke up when they came in the middle of the night to do more tests! I felt bad for Sean though, he slept in the hospital on one of those little pull out chairs in my room both nights and I knew he wasn't getting that much sleep. And every time I had to get up to pee (Which was about every hour because the magnesium made me feel dehydrated so I was drinking a TON of water), He would get up and unhook the monitor on my belly and unhook the compression sleeve things on my legs and then help me walk into the bathroom. Luckily we only had to stay two nights and were able to go home Wednesday afternoon. They said I need to be on strict bedrest (Only getting up to shower or pee, no cooking or cleaning or lifting anything that weighs more than a frying pan) and weekly visits to the doctor.
Last week the doctors appointment went pretty well. My cervix is now at a 2 instead of a 1.6. But I was still having a lot of contractions (16+ a day) so they said I need to either be checked back into the hospital to be monitored 24/7 or we could try some blood pressure medicine to help stop them. Obviously I opted for the meds first! I am not going back to the hospital unless I have to! Bed rest is so much better at home. So now I have to take the blood pressure medicine every 6 hours along with the progesterone suppository I have to take every night. I also had to go and do my 28 week lab tests. 2 days later they call me with the results with my blood work and said my blood sugar is extremely high (Anything over 130 is high and mine was at 175!) So I had to go back on Monday and do a 3 HOUR glucose test to see if I have gestational diabetes and get my blood drawn 4 different times...on an empty stomach mind you! NEVER make a pregnant woman skip breakfast! And to top that off, the lady went THROUGH my vein in one arm so i got a huge swollen lump and a big bruise. Apparenly I was having much too easy a pregnancy up until 27 weeks and had to have everything thrown at me at once!
Wednesday this week I went back to the doctors for another appointment. Good news, I don't have diabetes! They said everything looked perfectly normal with my blood results. Baby still sounds healthy but I was still having a ton of contractions, so they had to up my dosage on the blood pressure medicine to every 4 hours instead of every 6. Which is actually helping quite a bit! Just get a little more dizzy and headaches more often. But oh well...I am 29 weeks pregnant...And STILL pregnant! Woohoo! And the doctor said since everything else looks normal I may be able to get off bedrest at 34 weeks! I am sooo excited!

So happy to not be in the hospital and not wearing these anymore!