Sunday, March 23, 2008

Sunday Night Update


It's 10pm and we just got back from the hospital.

First of all, we were happy to see an email from Emily with more good news about Claire. It sounds like she is making remarkable progress.

Geri made considerable progress today, too. They took her off the magnesium sulfate. It turns out that does have an effect on the whole cardiovascular system of both Geri and the babies. In fact, we were told today that when babies are born within hours of coming off the mag sulfate their breathing and heart rate are often suppressed enough that they need assistance until it wears off. There was never any mention before that it would have any effect on the babies. Supposedly it just worked on the uterus.

To replace the magnesium sulfate, Geri was put on a Terbutaline pump. That is a little gadget that pumps a small amount of -- you guessed it -- Terbutaline into a tiny tube that goes into her leg subcutaneously. That is supposed to prevent the labor from starting again. It does have some side effects. I asked specifically about arrhythmia, for example, and was told there was no danger. Now that I'm reading about it I see that arrhythmia is on the list of rare side effects.

In general, it hasn't been a good weekend for informed consent.

Geri is currently feeling extremely jittery and anxious. The Terbutaline "pusher" who hooked her up said that was normal at first and she shouldn't worry about it.

Sarah and I are going to go camp out at the hospital early tomorrow morning in the hope of being there when the doctor comes to see Geri. The word we got tonight was that she will be discharged tomorrow, possibly early tomorrow. We'll see. Sarah has to work tomorrow. I don't have to go to work but I do have to be at a (real) computer and available to work for an important report. We've also got a long list of things to do in case the Terbutaline doesn't do the trick.

The kids are home with Grandma right now. They had a good Easter without us. It helped a lot that Aunt Amy was there. It's a real treat for both of them to see Aunt Amy.

More to follow, but I most likely won't get a chance for another update until after we're (fingers crossed) home tomorrow.

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