33 weeks

Today we are 33 weeks along, which is 1 week away from what that neonatologist told us was "the edge of viability" and 4 weeks away from full-term. And I am feeling pretty good about our prospects of making it to full-term, or at least pretty close. I went to a work dinner last night, and the husband of one of my co-workers predicted that the baby would come on November 30th at 10:30 p.m. I'd be plenty happy with that, although my dad might be a bit miffed...his b'day is December 1st and he's been rooting for a 12/1 birth all along!

This was supposed to be a rare week with no medical appointments, but apparently that was not fated to be. On Sunday morning, Iggy woke up with a fever and was feeling pretty out of it. He seemed to get a little bit better on Monday (which is a good thing, because our basement flooded and he had to clean up and move a bunch of stuff out of the water), but by Monday night, his fever was 103F, which is when I started to worry that it might be the flu. This article about a formerly healthy pregnant woman who contracted H1N1 and subsequently spent 5 weeks in a coma and lost her baby didn't do much to ease my mind, either. I had a seasonal flu shot last month, but the H1N1 vaccine still isn't here.

So on Tuesday morning, I spoke with the advice nurse at my OB office. She spoke with both an obstetrician and a perinatologist (a high-risk OB) and both recommended that in addition to avoiding all physical contact with my ailing husband, I fill a prescription for Tamiflu. The OB suggested that I wait to see if I developed symptoms before taking the Tamiflu, whereas the perinatologist said I should take it immediately as a prophylaxis. I knew that Tamiflu hasn't been tested in pregnant women (though it has been tested in pregnant animals) but given the severity of H1N1, the CDC is recommending that pregnant women take it if they think they've been exposed to the flu. I was still on the fence, though, so yesterday, I filled the prescription but I didn't take it.

Then, before I went to bed last night, I took Iggy's temperature and it was up to 104.2F. I made him take some Tylenol and was hoping he'd feel better this morning, but his temperature was still 104.2 and he was having very bad asthma symptoms, so off we went to the ER. To make a long story somewhat more concise, the doctors there determined that he probably has the flu, told me that I definitely should take the Tamiflu, and sent us off with some steroids for his asthma and antibiotics in case he also has pneumonia. They also prescribed Tamiflu for him, though they said it's probably too late now to do any good. Reassuringly, his fever has come down a lot, and I'm hoping he'll be on the mend soon, and of course that I don't get sick, too. The "what ifs" are a little scary, but at the same time, I know that most pregnant women who do get H1N1 end up being fine.

So, here's hoping that week 34 will be a little less exciting.