WEEK 25 HIGHLIGHTS

Wednesday (6/4/14)
WOOHOO!! I can't believe I made it to week 25! I think it's safe to say that the doctors never thought I would get here and I am totally proving them wrong! I thank Heavenly Father each day for allowing me to keep this baby growing another day. His monitoring continues to look great and things have been stable. I've had a few days without leaking, but today I had a little leak although nothing to be worried about. I spend a good amount of my day looking for a job for Dave. I read some and watched a bit of TV.

This evening my boys came for a visit! As usual when I know they are coming I ordered a fruit plate for them to have when they get here. They ate it up as soon as they saw it! They played with their new craft/toy I made them and loved it. They took me on a walk around the hospital grounds and it was really nice. At one point we got to some sprinklers and Dave ran past them first. He tried to get Lincoln to go, but he was hesitant. I asked Oliver if he wanted to go and he happily obliged. He climbed down from the wheel chair and then ran through them straight to Dave. After that we were able to get Lincoln to go through and then they all ran back together. We finished our walk by playing red light green light and then Dave told me that Oliver won a game of red light/green light in his sunbeams class at church and won a candy bar! Way to go little buddy! He definitely learns a lot from his big brother. When we got back up to my room we had a little bit of ice cream while Dave folded and put my laundry away (he is such an awesome husband) and then they packed up and had to head home for bed.

My hospital stay has been manageable. I know why I am here and I know it is best for our little baby. Knowing that the boys are happy definitely makes it easier and being able to see them definitely makes me happy! I will finish today's post with something I posted on Facebook today about baby movements: Feeling/watching baby move around is so different when there is no fluid to cushion those movements. You can see my belly jump around with each movement and sometimes I'll run my hand along where I see him and I can easily feel his whole limb! Very weird, yet pretty cool!

Thursday (6/5/14)
Today was a pretty boring day for me. Dave had a bit of a crazy day. He had to get up and get the boys to his sister's house before work and then pick them up after work. It was a bit of a drive so by the time he got them home and fed them and his grandma it was just about bed time so they didn't make it out to see me. I expected it though so it wasn't a disappointment. To pass the time today I had a Harry Potter marathon and colored a counting book that I'm getting ready for the boys.

Friday (6/6/14)
Today was a better day because I knew the boys were coming. They brought dinner and we are together. They also brought cupcakes for us to decorate! Dave helped the boys make them last night. They also brought several packages!! Some were my amazon order of toys and books for the boys and then they also brought 6 caramel apples that Misty sent for all of us to enjoy and my pajamas that Misty sent me. We are very spoiled.

The other big news for me is that I graduated to a new menu. It's the cafe menu and they have a new menu each day! Yes it's exciting because I've already had everything on my regular menu at least two times. Today I also got some beautiful flowers from my sis-in-law Krystal and her family. It was very thoughtful and not only brightened my day, but my room as well.

Okay so back to the visit. We had fun decorating some cupcakes and then the boys played. Dave always asks how the baby and I are doing and well things have been pretty good. Once they start to get restless then it's time for them to go home.

Saturday (6/7/14)
The boys came in the morning and brought donuts. I saved them my fruit and a bagel to have later. When Lincoln comes in the room I always get a hug and usually some sort of surprise and then he asks "mommy what did you save us?" because he knows I always save them a dessert or their favorite my fresh fruit plate. Oliver always goes for the oranges and grapes and Lincoln goes for the melon. They both love the strawberries and I eat the pineapple. It works well!

I gave them the magnetic fishing set and one of their favorite books, Little Blue Truck. They enjoyed both. After playing for a while Dave gave Lincoln some of the bagel and as he was eating it he kept saying, "this is sooo good". He really enjoyed it. We went on a walk outside before they had to leave. The boys were excited to see the fountains on and Lincoln asked Dave, "can we take mommy on a walk to see the water towers?" He was very excited! They enjoyed running around and playing and I enjoyed watching them. After that they had to get ready to leave. Dave was taking them to Utah lake to play for a while.

CeCelia, Mike and Easton came to see me in the evening and they brought me a snow cone. It was delicious! In Nebraska they are not the same, the ice is so chunky and hard and just not as good. They also brought me a bunch of shows to watch! That was exciting because the internet isn't that great here so streaming shows can get frustrating sometimes. It was good talking to them.

Overall it was a great day. Our little guys continues to do well and things with me remain the same so that's good news.

Sunday (6/8/14)
Dave and the boys came over Sunday late morning. We watched a church movie and I gave them some Jake and the Neverland Pirates puzzles. They also wanted to play with their fishing poles. We went for a walk to the fountains and the boys ran around and tried to get the water. It was pretty windy so the must kept getting them and they would run away...It became a very exciting game. Sometimes the mist would blow on me, but I couldn't run away. After a while Dave moved me to another part of the fountain and at one point the water blew on me, not a mist, so I stood up and stepped to the side. Dave came over immediately and moved the chair for me, after laughing a little and saying I needed a good experience. It was funny. Dave had me take a picture with the boys in front of the hospital sign and then we were ready to go back upstairs. On our way back as we passed the fountains the whole spout switched to our direction and we both got soaked! He tried to go as fast as he could while pushing my wheelchair on the grass. It was pretty hilarious! We were both laughing. It was a bit chilly because it was windy so as soon as we got to my room he had me change. We can't take the chance that I get sick or a fever because that would mean immediate c-section. After I changed I read the boys a book while Dave cleaned up the toys. Then he packed up the boys  and they went home for lunch and naps.

Kevin and Hayleigh came for a visit in the evening. I got to meet their new baby Grayson. He's so tiny! He's six weeks old (about 7.5lbs and 20.5in) and I told them that we've never had a baby that small! For some reason we make big babies, which is crazy looking at me and Dave. This baby will be our first small baby and he's going to be tiny! It was really good talking with them and catching up. We have such great friends who are not only here to support me,  it Dave and the boys as well. We are definitely loved and we appreciate all the support!

Monday (6/9/14)
Today I learned how to make survival bracelets out of paracord. It was Dave's project that he started, but since he hasn't had time to work on it he decided to bring it to me because I have lots of time! I found some tutorials on pinterest and I was ready. I made a red one and a bright green one that had a hand chain saw weaved into it. Dave loves survival stuff so he had all the supplies ready to go. It was pretty fun so now I'm ready to get more creative with multiple colors and new designs. The nurse was very interested in what I was doing and thought it was really cool.

While I was working on the bracelets there was a knock on the door, I figured it was housekeeping or something, but it was an old classmate from my BYU MSW days. Jesse works here at the hospital and came to visit. It was nice to talk with him. I realize I am now able to tell my story without getting overly emotional. It's still difficult, but I can hold back the tears lol. Sometimes I think if I start to cry I'm not going to stop so I stay focused on the positives of the situation.

Later in the evening the boys came by. Knowing they were coming I ordered a fruit plate at every meal and saved it for them. I know how much they like fruit! Lincoln did his normal, came in I got my hugs and then he went to my side table and asked what I saved him. He was excited and so was Oliver! They devoured it all! After that Oliver kept giving me big hugs over and over and over. It was very sweet, so I enjoyed every hug and gave him big hugs right back. We hugged and smiled and laughed. He played with the fishing set and I worked with him on his colors and numbers. I love the fishing set because it's more than just a toy, it's a learning toy.

when he was done he went over to the abc stickers on the window. Dave went to play with him and then Lincoln brought Buzz to the bed. He sat with me and played with Buzz asking me all kinds of questions and engaging me in his play. I enjoyed having special time with each of them. It was really special and I hope it made them feel special too. We had a simple FHE and then they got ready to go home. I read them Too Many Dinosaurs, which h they love. Both of the boys know the book so it's fun for me to read and the  stop randomly and let them finish the sentence or word. When they left Lincoln reminded me that he was supposed to get the station for the trains so Dave pulled it out of the closet and gave it to them. As he was leaving Lincoln says, "that is so cool, I can't even open my eyes until someone gives me that bridge". He says the cutest and silliest things.

Dave told me later that he told the boys that they should leave the bridge at the hospital and Lincoln told him, "but mommy promised that we could take it home with us", can't argue with that!

So later that night I'm not sure what happened to me. I've been so strong, but I all of a sudden had an overwhelming feeling of how much I missed my family. It was the first time in the 2 1/2 weeks that I've been here that I actually cried. It was just a little, but I think I had my first mini breakdown. I prayed for the strength to continue this journey and then I went to bed.

So a quick update on baby and me. I've noticed some changes happening and I hope it's not getting close to delivering baby. He needs more time. I've had a few contractions and more leaking. I've been feeling more pressure, but nurses say it's most likely that baby is growing and of course with lack of fluid gravity is just weighing him down. I've also had some lower back pain off and on. His heart rate continues to look good and the docs/nurses don't seem to be concerned. They just want to keep an eye on all the changes. I'm not worried, but I can feel things changing so I'm just more aware.

Tuesday (6/10/14)
Hmmm...what happened today? Not much with the baby, he continues to do well. I keep hearing how amazing his heart rate tracing is and how he looks like an almost full term baby. We've definitely got a little fighter on our hands! He's a strong baby and we love him so much already.

Nativa called me and we talked for over an hour. She mentioned how even though it's been a while we can just pick up where we left off. I had the same thought. She's going to be moving to California because her husband is finishing his residency in the LA area, now maybe I'll be able to see her when we get out there.

Tamera, Tim and their boys stopped by for a visit. It's always nice talking with them. I had some catching up to do, I can't believe their little guy Theo is already 2 weeks old. Time sure does fly! Now if I can make it in here for two more weeks that would be amazing! Willie had fun playing with the toys and he got some cookies too. That made him happy

Dave came over after putting the boys to bed. We were supposed to take a tour of the NICU but they needed to stabilize a baby so we had to postpone. Instead we went on a mini datw. Dave wheeled me down to the cafe and we got some fries. We went outside to eat them and talked about our days. After a while we went back up to my room and watched veronica mars. While we were watching I had my last monitor of the night and then after that I felt some contractions. I guess this is when I felt things starting to change. Well here's to another week!