Dayton Update (Can't Really Call It News)

Once again I'm submitting this from a hotel lobby and people are waiting for me to finish. I'm going to start by pasting in Sarah's email, which explains things better than I could (I might edit a little):

If you haven't check Scott's blog recently, the latest news on the twins is that they tried to make an early arrival on Friday. Geri came down with a stomach bug on Thursday night, which caused her to vomit great distress. This then brought on major contractions. We had an ultrasound appointment Friday morning and that's when we discovered that she was partially dilated and continuing to have major contractions. Geri is The babies are now 33 weeks -- they are a little too soon to be born.

The doctor sent her immediately to Kettering Memorial Hospital (near Dayton, OH) where they have a Level II nursery. They started her on magnesium sulfate (an anti-contraction medicine) (a very general muscle relaxant that can depress cardiovascular function in the mother, and as far as I know, the babies) to get her contractions under control. They also gave Geri two rounds of a steroid to mature the babies' lungs just in case they could not stop the contractions. Fortunately, the mag sulfate drug worked and she's still having contractions, but they are much less severe and farther apart.

They are going to take her off of the mag sulfate (unless they ask yet another doctor who has another opinion) and start another drug that will be administered through a pump that she can take home with her. This pump will be "installed" tomorrow and they want to monitor her for 24 hours (unless they ask yet another doctor who has another opinion) before they release her. We'll be here until she is released to go home, which will hopefully be on Monday.

So bottom line...no babies yet, Geri resting fairly comfortably, Grace and Harrison home with Grandma, and Scott and Sarah a little less stressed out for now.

So I guess I'll just a few things to that:

• We packed for ONE NIGHT, so we're out of clothes.
• The hotel is very nice. We spend most of our time in the hospital, of course, but at least we have a nice place to sleep.
• You're not likely to see the best of a hospital on a holiday. Kettering seems like a great hospital, but Geri was largely ignored today. Sarah and I have lots of questions for the doctor who is making the decisions (note I didn't say recommendations) about her care. But his orders are given by phone to the nursing staff, who has only been letting little bits of them get through to Geri. Given our history, Sarah and I like to be much more actively involved in medical decisions.
• I'm uneasy about pumping muscle-relaxing drugs into the twins, particularly when Geri is at home and unmonitored. Maybe somebody could calm my anxieties about that, but there isn't anybody around to even try.
• I miss the kids a lot already. They really did amazingly well with all the waiting around they had to do yesterday. I know, though, that they are a lot happier back home with Grandma than they would be here.
• It doesn't seem likely we'll make it to the 18th now, both because of the early labor and because of the fact that they are big for their "age" (the girl is 5lbs and the boy 6 lbs 3 oz).

Well, I've overstayed my turn at the keyboard so I should go. More to follow . . .