Wow I cannot believe I've made it this far! I have to have hope that we are going to make it lots further. I will admit that I've gotten a bit nervous because of my body changes. The doc and nurses say that my cervix is most likely changing and they want to keep a close eye on me. I asked the nurse about a c-section and the process and how it would all go. I just want to be prepared for whatever might happen. She let me know that in my situation labor can come on out of nowhere and progress quickly. She asked to keep them informed about any changes. I've continued to have contractions here and there, but nothing steady.
Dave came over with the boys and we had a good time. They played around and Oliver wanted to put stickers on himself. He would point, say "this one, me" and I'd ask him if he wanted that one on him and he would say yeah or mm-hmm and nod his head. I like when he names the stickers he wants: truck flower rainbow happy and more. Lincoln started peeling off some stickers and putting them on Oliver's back and then Oliver saw a heart sticker, says "heart Lincoln". I give it to him and he goes over and puts it on Lincoln. Then they had fun putting stickers, well mainly on Oliver. I love those guys.
After they left, Dave sent me a text later that night and he said as he was putting Lincoln to bed he was telling Lincoln how much I miss him and his response, "yeah, I know. I'm so glad you are here to take care of me...now scratch my leg it's really itchy." My silly boy. Reminds me of when we go on our walks and he says "wait up guys I have an itchy" and then stops to scratch his leg.
Thursday (6/12/14)
I continue to have contractions every now and then, but still nothing consistent. Dave has decided to check in with me every couple of hours. Well today I started to crochet. I pretty much spent the entire day watching pretty little liars and crocheting. I'm trying a new pattern so I hope it turns out. It's a blanket for Misty's daughter.
The boys came for a visit in the evening and we had fruit and some cheesecake. We went for a walk outside and I showed Lincoln how to play hopscotch. Oliver followed right after Lincoln doing and saying everything he does. They had some fun tackling Dave and then we had to go back upstairs. The boys played a little more and then they had to leave.
Friday (6/13/14)
Today is Friday the 13th. Yesterday Dave reminded me that things seem to
always happen on the weekend, so we just need to get through the
weekend and then we should be in the clear for another week. I have been enjoying my new café menu, but I think today was
just a bad food day. Breakfast was alright, I had my usual eggs, bacon and
sausage (I try to eat as much protein as possible) and fresh fruit. Lunch I
thought would be good, after all how difficult is it to make a good spaghetti,
but it was pretty bland. Dinner well not so good either. I ordered the steak
and it tasted a big gross. I guess you shouldn’t order steak when it’s cooked
in bulk.
Other than the food, today was an okay day. All of the
baby’s tracings went well with no major decelerations. I keep trying to get the
baby moving on video, but each time I try he stops. I guess he’s already camera
shy. I got some bill stuff done today and took a nap to pass some time. Dave laughed
when I told him and said I probably want to sleep to pass some weeks til the
baby can come out. If I could do that I totally would! I had to re-start the
blanket I was crocheting. I decided that I didn’t like the way it was turning
out so I started over and I like the way it looks now. I still have a long way
to go so it’s a good thing her Misty’s baby isn’t coming til October.
Dave took the boys to the Scottish festival today after
work. He told me that they tried hagus, Dave said one bite was enough for him,
but Lincoln actually liked it and kept eating it. Oliver, well he didn’t even
try it. Dave wanted to take a picture of them both trying their first hagus,
but Oliver didn’t even let Dave put it near his mouth. I guess he’s just not as
adventurous as his brother. They had fun from what Dave told me.
Dave called me after the boys went to bed to basically tell
on himself before Lincoln did! So he starts off by telling me that they were
driving and Lincoln says, “dad you just ran a red light”. Dave started to say
that he didn’t and Lincoln kept telling him that he did so Dave says that
everyone makes mistakes and that was a big one and apologized, even though Dave
insists that he didn’t and it was probably a red arrow and not the light.
Lincoln told him “I’m going to tell mommy when I see her that you ran a red
light” so Dave figured he would tell me first before Lincoln told me! Oh man,
my little guy is so funny. That story made my day for sure!
Saturday (6/14/14)
Dave took the boys to the Orem summerfest today. They had lots of fun, they went on a few of the carnival rides and enjoyed the other activities they had. They went home for their naps and then when they woke up Dave started getting them ready and Lincoln asked where they were going and Dave told them the Scottish festival. Lincoln told him, "but I don't wanna go to the Scottish festival, I took a nap so we could go see mommy at the hospibal". He called me and I let Lincoln know that he would come see me before the fireworks.
Jon and Jhana came to visit me today. They even brought me some of my favorite chocolate, fererro rocher! We talked for a couple of hours and then when Dave got here with the boys and Jhana's brother they left for the fireworks. Dave got here later than he expected so they only stayed for about 30 minutes before they had to leave. The fireworks started at 10pm and I saw them from my hospital window while lying in my bed. It was nice knowing that we were watching the same thing.
Pregnancy related update, I started having a few stronger contractions that I could feel and could definitely identify them as contractions. They put me on the monitor and I continued having them for a couple of hours, but the big ones stayed about 10-15 minutes apart. I had some smaller ones with cramping and irritability in between but I couldn't feel those. I let Dave know what was going on just in case he needed to come to the hospital. Luckily they stopped and I made it another day.
Sunday (6/15/14)
Today started off great! Dave came over late morning with the boys and we had a sort of father's day celebration. Dave opened his presents, or took them out of their packages is more like it. No wrapping this year. The boys played with their toys and kindle. Then we went for a father's day lunch. We got some food from the cafe and ate outside. The boys played and Dave joined them. Then when my time was almost done we walked around to the front of the hospital to take a look at the fountains. We went back to my room and all sat on t couch while the boys played with the kindles. They were both doing alphabet tracing and I was telling Dave that I want Lincoln to do more with a pencil so he can improve the way he writes and holds it. He got up and brought back a stylus for Lincoln. After using it for about 10 minutes, he turns to Dave and says in a very excited voice, "I love this pen". It was so cute. Now we will be getting the boys their own because it will definitely help with writing. They had to go home, so I gave them the cheesecake I had for them and as usual they ate all the strawberries first. They left and then I had to go on the monitor.
After being monitored I was laying down for a bit and then I felt a leak, but it felt different than normal. Turns out it was blood...just straight blood, not blood tinged fluid like I've had off and on. They decided to put me on the monitor for continuous monitoring to make sure nothing changes with the baby. I have to say the L&D experience is definitely different. You basically have to have no shame! Every day the nurses ask about bowel movements, how urination is going, and when you leak or bleed they always want to look at the pad. Sometimes they are in the bathroom with you, not usually unless something new or different is happening. Just a weird experience.
Dave sent me some pics of the boys eating their first strawberries from their very own plants! He said they were the best strawberries he's ever had! The boys want to bring me one tomorrow, so very thoughtful. It sounded like Dave had a good day, other than my news that I'm bleeding.
Okay so back to me again, I thought it was going to stop or at least slow down, it before I went to bed I had a little more. Still gave me hope because it was just a little. The nurse tucked me in and made sure the monitor was in a good place for me to sleep with and I went to sleep.
Monday (6/16/14)
I woke up in the middle of the night because I felt a small gush and I was hoping for fluid, but it was blood. The nurse came in and did her thing and then I fell back asleep. I woke up again at 6am to another several small gushes. My first thought was I just want to punch a wall or something! Somehow I found myself to blame and then had to remind myself that this is out of my hands and not my fault. It's not like I'm jumping around or doing things that I shouldn't. So I got up, went to the bathroom and there was more than in the middle of the night. Still not huge amounts, but they are now weighing my pads. The nurse said they are watching me for placental abruption, which can cause the baby to go into distress. I knew that's what they were watching for because of my support board group that is really helpful with all things pPROM. The nurse said they will get me in today to see the MFM and also let me know they will be starting an IV and drawing blood, to check for levels of different things. I think I'm going to try to get off the monitor long enough to take a shower one last time before I have to go back to my dreaded one handed IV showers. Those were not fun...and how am I supposed to get dressed with an IV! Oh no, does this mean I have to go back to the hospital gown...grrr. I guess I will have to just wait and see, I must say I hate those words...wait and see, I feel like that's been my life for the past 7+ weeks and it's still continuing.
The new nurse came in and I asked her about the IV and she said it really just depends on the bleeding. I also asked her if I did have to get on the monitor would I need to go back to wearing a hospital gown and she said I could keep wearing my clothes. I took a shower and then got back on the monitor while I waited for the doc. He told the nurse that I could go back to every 4 hours being monitored because baby looked good and I wasn't contracting. The rest of the day I felt a little weird, like sick or tired or just different. Luckily the bleeding stopped. Dave and the boys came over for a little bit after going to a viewing and they all looked so handsome in their suits. They brought me a wonderful surprise...two strawberries from their very own strawberry plants! They were very sweet and delicious, of course I only had one bite because Lincoln ate one and then I shared the other with Oliver. We played a little and then Dave changed them into their jammies. We did a Book of Mormon heroes story time for FHE and then they had to leave. I didn't stay up much later because I was exhausted!
Tuesday (6/17/14)
Today felt like the longest day ever! The doc woke me up at 7:30am and then I had breakfast and was monitored and then I took a two hour nap. I could've slept lots longer, but I figured I'd better get up and shower. The rest of the day passed super slow...I crocheted and watched some shows. The monitoring went well and other than a little leaking not much happened.
After work and dinner Dave called me and said he was taking the boys to Lowe's, he wanted to get them out of the house because they had been inside all day. He asked me if I needed anything and I told him no. Out of nowhere he mentions something about a triple berry pie and how that sounds delicious, well of course I agreed, when does that not sound delicious! He had to go and take care of the boys so I told him I'd see him later. When he came over that night he had a plate in his hand that he gave to me...it was a piece of triple berry pie! He said instead of going to Lowe's they went and bought the pie and then he baked it before he came. What a thoughtful husband! I let him know that we were going to be taking a tour of the NICU today so he let the nurse know that he was here.
The nurse came in with a wheelchair and took us over to the NICU. I think I have been preparing myself because I know it can be overwhelming. I had a list of questions that I wanted to ask, but I also had the mindset that this was a more clinical thing and not a personal thing which helped alleviate some of my anxiety (and probably the feeling of wanting to cry). It was really interesting to see everything and even a few babies. We saw a baby that was born at about 24 weeks and was now about 26 weeks. He was super tiny! They had a hand and footprint thing on his isolette from father's day and his little prints were about 1 1/2 inches. The most amazing part about seeing that little guys was knowing that my baby inside of me is at the same stage as the little baby we were looking at! We went through all the areas of the NICU and asked tons of questions. The boys will get to meet him and they have sibling time every weekend for 5 minutes each, which I think will be plenty to start with. They also have a parent support group each week, which I'm sure I will be taking part of. It was a good experience, although I think Dave was a little overwhelmed.
When we were done we went back to my room and I enjoyed my pie! We discussed our thoughts about the NICU tour and then we watched a few episodes of Veronica Mars. I was nice to be able to sit and relax with him, I definitely miss that!
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