33 week update

Well, we have made good progress since the last blog update.  The doctors have been pleased with everything and had a meeting yesterday morning and made the decision to let me go home about 3:00 after my last hour of monitoring.  I hadn't had any bleeding in 3 days and all of the times of monitoring showed no concerns with the baby or my contractions.  So very thankful to sleep in my own bed!  Poor Mitch has been sleeping on a fold out chair next to my bed since last Tuesday when we were admitted. What a good daddy and husband to want to stay close even when it's uncomfortable.  Our family has been great about taking turns spending time with me in the hospital so that Mitch could keep working.  I will be on bedrest at home with permission to leave the house for Drs appts.  At least I will be at home where I can boss people around and still get the nursery ready :) The doctors don't want me to return to work, which is difficult for me to wrap my mind around.  I have been at Huerter Ortho for almost 17 years and had planned to work up until the baby arrived, then quit to stay home with him.  But, it seems that I'm going to be done even sooner.  I had pictured my last day at work, after so many years, being different than the way it was!  It will be an adjustment for sure!

We are so grateful for the care we received while at the hospital and thanks again for all of the texts, emails, visits, prayers  and food from friends and family.  It encouraged us so much!  Here are a few pictures from our last week at OPR.  So thankful to have made it to 33 weeks with this little guy content to still be inside!!

I had planned on having lunch with my mom and sisters last Friday to celebrate Mother's Day.  So, they decided to bring lunch to me so we could still have our celebration.  They picked up Fazoli's and we ate and exchanged presents.  Mother's Day has gotten harder for me each year of our infertility.  It was so wonderful to be able to really celebrate it this year!

 On Mother's Day the nurses and doctors were all very sweet to wish me a Happy Mother's Day.  My parents had taken Mary Lu to lunch and stopped by for a quick visit after lunch.  Mitch went to church and then had lunch with his mom at Panera.

For dinner Mitch let me pick a restaurant and I called in an order to Bo Ling's.  He came back with dinner, a flameless candle and a card that of course made me cry!  It was a special time for me and a nice treat to have a candle lit dinner.

I'm already so thankful to be this little guy's mommy!

This is a picture of our last dinner at the hospital.  We knew the doctors were planning to make a plan Wednesday morning and Mitch was allowed 1 complimentary meal during our stay.  We decided tonight was the night.  We both ordered the KC Strip dinner and it was a really good steak, considering it came from a hospital cafeteria :)

 This is the progress I've made on the baby blanket since my crochet lesson on Friday.

 Here's a picture of monitor that I've been hooked up to during my stay.  We were able to watch his heart rate in the blue section and the yellow line was tracking any contractions.  He didn't like the monitors being hooked up.  He doesn't like sharing his space.  So, he spent alot of the time kicking the monitors which got his heart rate going for sure!

32 week update

Well, we had some unexpected things  come up this week, which is why my 32 week belly picture was taken from my hospital bed yesterday. Tuesday as my work day was coming to an end, I started bleeding quite a bit.  I called the doctor's office, knowing this was not a good sign.  They suggested I go right to the ER at Overland Park Regional.  I called Mitch and he came to pick me up and we headed to the ER to find out what was going on.  They sent us up to the baby unit and took us to triage where they hooked me up to a monitor and we heard the baby's heartbeat!  Huge relief just hearing that sound!  They called in the specialists and our OB.  We got moved to a room in the antepartum department of the Labor & Delivery floor.  The perinatologist that we see on a regular basis came in to do internal and external sonograms because the monitor was showing I was having contractions every 2-3 minutes. There was a flurry of activity as they got me hooked up to the IV and started figuring out our situation.  The sono showed that there was a slight abruption where the placenta had pulled away from the uterus. The uterus was contracting to get rid of the blood the abruption caused.  So, the contractions were not causing the cervix to change.  This made everyone feel better that I was not trying to go into preterm labor.  They decided to monitor me over the coming days to see what happened.  I started taking antibiotics, magnesium sulphate and steroid injections.  All of this was in case I would go into labor early. They wanted the baby to be as prepared as possible.  Wednesday, I continued to bleed less and they were pleased with the progress.  I continued to be on all the same drugs and had visits with a great team of doctors and specialists.  Everyone at OPR has been wonderful!  I had very few side affects from the medication which the medical team kept mentioning. I told them I had alot of people praying for me!  We had the opportunity to share our story with with several of the doctors and nurses.  As they would read our chart, they would see part of the infertility story and several asked to hear more.  It was fun to share our miraculous story.  It also built confidence in us to tell the story because it was a great reminder that in these days of the unknown, we could be at peace because from Day 1 He has orchestrated this baby's life and would continue to do so. Thursday was a calm day as well.  We hit the 32 week mark today.  I was able to be taken off of the magnesium and got to take a shower! It's the little things that get you excited when you're on bed rest!  They had to watch me pretty closely while on the magnesium, which meant a 20 minute routine every 2 hours night and day.  At 5 that morning I was laying in bed, unable to sleep and realized that in the midst of everything that was happening to me and my body I was grinning from ear to ear, because I was laying there listening to the beautiful sound of the baby's heart beat on the monitor next to me.  It was strong and steady and has quickly become my favorite sound.  The baby continues to respond wonderfully and for that we are so grateful.  Today was a little harder because after 15 hours of no bleeding,  it started up again and they aren't sure why.  I didn't have to restart any medications, they are just keeping me on the monitors constantly and observing me.  So, I will be staying at the hospital for now. 

Thanks so much to all our friends and family for the visits, texts, emails, food, flowers and prayers most of all.  All these things have been such an encouragement to us.  

 32 week belly shot

Here's a picture of the finished crib project.  We did this a couple weekends ago.  So, the nursery is starting to come together.