A Saint Patrick's Day baby. . . maybe

I went to the doctor this morning and was placed on the schedule for March 17th at noon. That is three weeks from yesterday - yikes! I still have alot to do and I better get to doing it as the doctor feels I will likely go before then. Since I'm typing it and saying it out loud, I hope that means it doesn't happen (going early).

Jack goes to the Doctor with me

My doctor appointment was changed to the afternoon, so I had to take Jack with me. He was well prepared for the outing with books, some toys, coloring books and crayons. In the waiting room, he was just dying for this lady in the waiting room to talk to him. She didn't speak English (as I heard her on her phone). He was doing everything in his power to get her attention. She never reciprocated (what is wrong with people?).

So I drilled it in his head that he has to do exactly what I say and must be quiet when the doctor is talking to and examining me. The first thing I have to do is pee in a cup for them to check my urine. He goes with me and takes a pee as well. He's fascinated by my peeing in a cup. He says,

"Maybe when I go to the doctor next time, I can pee in a cup!"

Then, after being an angel, so good and sitting in his chair after it's all over, he says:

"Mommy, when I'm a big boy and have a baby in my belly, maybe you can come to the doctor with me and sit in the chair quietly." The doctor, nurse and a med student got a big kick out of it. Dr. Peterson told Jack that he could come back anytime he wants to.

Holy Moly

Holy Cow! is more like it. It's been a while since taking any photos of my stomach. While on bed rest, mom got the biggest kick out of how big my belly was, she insisted on taking a picture. I look pale and unhappy but that is because I thought she was cropping my face out of the picture. I would have given a little smile...

This is mom and I on her last night here. She is chewing a cracker and will hate this picture of herself. She didn't want to pose for it in the first place. She is irreplaceable! We love her
See story below for why I was on bed rest.

What a scare!

On February 1st I was walking into church and fell on the ice. The temperatures were above freezing, the sidewalks and roads were shoveled, but lucky girl that I am, hit a patch of black ice on the sidewalk. Instead of my feet going out in front of me, they went backward - resulting in a fall on my belly. I must have hit my left knee on the way down based on the bruises, but I don't recall. I had been holding hands with Jack as we walked and the boy was in hysterics. He was screaming so loud for mommy to get up and be happy, pulling on my hand to get off the ground (God love his precious heart). The door greeter and another man helped me in the van and Sam of course took me straight home. Jack kept crying, "I want to go to church!". I'm not so sure he really wanted to go to church as much as he wanted everything to be "normal", i.e., mommy not hurt. When I get home, I make a call to the doctor. I was having a dull, constant pain in my lower abdomen, but no contractions. . . yet. The Dr. said that I needed to go in and be monitored for six hours based on how far along I am and falling on my belly. So, I'm thinking, we'll take Jack, he and Sam can eat in the cafeteria and then head home for Jack's nap, come back and get me after nap. It didn't quite go that way.

I'm hooked up in the Women's Evaluation unit and Jack once again goes ballistic. He doesn't like the little bed I'm in. He doesn't like the wires and especially the sound of the "baby growling" (the sound of the heartbeat on the monitor). He later told Sam that he didn't want to visit mommy if she was going to be in that little room with the curtain and the baby growling. Hilarious. As I'm laying there and Jack and Sam have left to go home, I start having strong contractions one minute apart. Yes, that is one minute apart. Prior to that, they had told me they were going to admit me based on my uterus being "very irritable". Then blood work revealed that my blood cells and the baby's blood cells were mixed in my bloodstream (indicating an abruption). They started me on magnesium (the worst thing in my pregnancy) and another med to help my uterus relax. The best way to describe the side effects of magnesium is it feels like a bad sunburn from the inside out. It makes your muscles like jello and you can't stand unassisted. I also received two shots, in the butt, of steroids to help mature the baby's lungs - just in case he decided to be born. The contractions slowed to every five minutes, then eventually further apart. I know this is alot of detail. But, if you're reading this, you know me and you know that is the only way I tell a story.

Bottom line: I stay for two nights and three days leaving the hospital with minimal contractions. I am placed on 75% bed rest. Memom the great comes to the rescue once again and takes care of me and Jack for a week and a half (so that Sam can return to work). When I get home from the hospital, my contractions pick up quite a bit, always worse in the evenings. We've been back to the Women's evaluation unit once for monitoring, but the contractions weren't causing anymore progression. I visited the doctor yesterday and she has lifted my restrictions, allowing basic everyday duties, sit-down activities with Jack, cooking. I am not allowed to clean or grocery shop. I am supposed to take it easy. Easier said than done. Today was my first day without my mom (who needed to get back to her life) and it's been tiring. I am sore from doing all the things that she has been doing. Getting Jack up, breakfast, on the bus, off the bus, lunch, etc. Again, I can't put into words how grateful Sam and I are to Memom. The Dr. says that when I reach 37 weeks, I can do whatever I want. I'll be full-term and it'll be fine to go into labor by then.