Already Beaten The Odds

I have discovered the secret recipe to sleeping in a hospital.  It's the 3 E's- ear plugs, eye mask and elevation.  I slept last night.  woo hoo!  then after a quick breakfast and morning monitoring, I went back to sleep til almost noon.  It was great.

I had a visit from a neonatalogist this afternoon to give me some info on preemies.  For the most part it was sad and very, how can I put this, detached protocol.  For instance, there is no skin to skin contact with the mother if they are delivered before 34 weeks.  According to her, the babies just get cold-stressed.  Huh.  Really?  sometimes it is so hard for me to bite my tongue and not say anything about some of these "beliefs".  There was a story in the news last year about a baby that was born before 30 weeks and the doctor told the couple that the baby would not last more than a few minutes.  The mother requested to hold her baby and finally the doctors relented.  She put the naked baby on her chest, carressed her baby and talked to her and within 2 hours had normal stats and went on to grow healthy and strong.  Had that baby been placed alone in an incubator, would the end result have been the same?  I highly doubt it. 

Anyway, I will spare all the depressing protocols and possible negative outcomes.  I know that that is what doctors are trained for and how they think- the worst possible outcome.  But I just cannot get into that mindset.  I don't want to and that is not who I am, especially about childbirth.  She said 35 weeks is the cutoff for NICU.  If they are born before that, they will go straight there, have antibiotics, be fed with a tube and will not be allowed in my room.   They will stay there until their stats reach normal then they can be moved to the normal nursery and allowed in to live with mama. 

She was talking to me like I was going to go into labor at any moment which I found strange.  she said that most women with ruptured membranes go into labor within a week.  I kind of chuckled and said it's already been over a week and I am fine.  She was surprised and said that I have already beaten the odds then.  And I am sure that the babies will beat all the predicted odds when they are born too. 
So now my new goal is to keep them in til 35 weeks.  Which would be about Oct 10- perfect!  Our fifth year anniversary.  Dr. Royek might be willing to be a bit flexible on the dates and the protocol if they are born a few days before that and pass all their tests with flying colors.  I just want to avoid any situation that is going to keep me from instantly bonding and feeding and holding my babies.  I want them on my chest as soon as they are born and I would gladly hold them for 2 days straight if I was allowed.  I know the power in that bonding, especially skin to skin.  But I know that whenever they come into this world, they will be healthy and normal and everyone will be amazed at how strong and healthy they are.  And we will be home before we know it.