Supermom Chronicles

Friday, September 29, 2006

All About Birthdays...


The theme for the day is birthdays. Today's mine:) My mom sent me these beautiful flowers today. It was such an unexpected surprise - totally made my day. I've also gotten phone calls, emails and cards from all kinds of friends and family. It's been really nice. Several people have asked if I'm doing anything special for my birthday, to which I reply, "Yes, I've taken off work. I think I'll sleep in, lay on the couch all day and be a vegetable - hee hee." I guess that makes everyday my birthday since June 16. My day started out awesome thanks to John. He woke me up with a quick, much needed massage. Then he had fresh donuts (which I've been craving this entire pregnancy) and decaf coffee ready for me downstairs. The weather felt so good with the recent cool front that I then took a book to read out on the front porch for awhile. I've been in a good mood all day, really all thanks to how John got it started for me:)

My doctor has been teasing that I could have a special delivery today, courtesy of Mother Nature. I have to admit, the thought of going into labor today is quite enticing. It would be cool to have a baby on my birthday. I am 36 weeks pregnant as of yesterday. Waiting until 37 weeks is ideal, but the preemie issues are pretty much behind us at this point. My doctor visit went well yesterday; still 4cm and the baby is up high. But the bad news is my doctor is leaving town!! He's leaving for New York next Friday (when I planned on getting up off bedrest) and won't be back until late Sunday night. He said if I really want him to deliver me, and at the hospital I want (Seton Southwest), then I better take it easy until he gets back. If we wait until he returns from New York, that's just 10 more days of rest. I can do that. After 105 days of bedrest, surely I can go another 10. And the next 10 don't have to be super-strict. I can get up a little more and start moving for short periods of time. I've also been given the green light to decrease my medicine frequency (no more getting up twice in the middle of the night to take it). I've already noticed an increase in the number of contractions today, presumably from the change in medicine. Today I was actually toying with the idea of getting up now and trying to have this baby this week. I'm just so ready to move on with life. But John informed me more than once last night that he needs all of the next 10 days to get mentally ready for this new addition. Are we ready for this roller coaster ride of newborn life again? No. But is anyone every really ready?

We had a great photo session with Paige on Tuesday. She did a really fantastic job. Anyboy who would like to view our photos can click here. It's going to be hard choosing which photos to print. I'm just really glad we were able to do this before I delivered. Definitely the best birthday present I could have gotten is to still be pregnant with a healthy baby. God is good.

during pregnancy
posted by Joey at 3:44 PM 4 comments

Saturday, September 23, 2006

I can see the finish line!

Well the nursery is just about finished. Above is the baby's side of the room, which will eventually have his name in big wooden letters above the bed, as well as some other artwork to spice up the top half of the room. As far as his name, I think we may have narrowed it down to Luke or Cade/Kade. We'll probably wait until after he's born to get a look at him and decide for sure. On my last post, I had mentioned that Ryan James was a choice. Then last week John turned to me out of the blue and said, "Ryan Bryant." We both laughed and realized that one was out. We had never bothered to say it with our last name! Below is Cole's side of the room. I have the letters of his name to hang above his bed, but that'll have to wait until I get off of bedrest.

Decorating the nursery on bedrest was a cinch! All I had to do was draw out how I wanted the room to look, pick the paint colors, and tell John to get to work! I was sprawled out in the La-Z-Boy in the center of the room while John did all the manual labor. I got to "supervise". That was definitely one of the easiest rooms I've ever decorated! Of course, I would have rather done more myself. I love decorating.

My doctor visit on Thursday went really well. I'm still 4cm, no change from my last visit. He said the baby is way up high, so surely I would make it at least another week if I stay off my feet. He said if I make it to 37 weeks I can jump up and down for all he cares - I said, "Don't think I won't!" In fact, when I make it to 37 weeks, I plan to get up and not sit down until the baby comes out - hee hee. This Thursday (9/28) I'll be 36 weeks along, so all the major lung maturation should be finished! Basically, we've just about reached the point where all the preemie scares are behind us. We're so relieved. Naturally, I want a healthy baby boy that can breathe and nurse and go home with us right away. My birthday is Friday, and my doc keeps joking that I might get a special delivery that day! I told him instead to have flowers waiting for me when I show up for my next visit:) I would rather wait until 37 weeks to have this baby if I have a say in it.

It's hard to stay lying down now that we've made it so far. I feel like celebrating, which makes me want to go out on the town, a last date with my hubby before life gets crazy again. That'll have to wait until 37 weeks. I do have something really exciting coming up next week, though. On Tuesday, my friend Paige is coming over to our house to take pregnancy photos. I'm so excited! She's really talented, and I can't wait to see how she captures my last pregnancy on film. I'm especially looking forward to some great pictures with my family. I'll let everyone know how it turns out. In preparation for the big shoot, I'm trying to get my sister-in-law to take me to get my eyebrows waxed today (it's amazing how hairy you get when you're preggo - TMI!). Surely a short trip out of the house for 30 minutes won't put me into labor...



posted by Joey at 12:13 PM 3 comments

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

They're so cute!

I figured it was time to post the obligatory cute kiddo picture! As many of you may know, since I've been on bedrest I can't care for Faith, 4, and Cole, 23 mos, while John is at work. Since he works 4 days/off 3 days, we send the kids to his parents house near Smithville 4 days/wk. Then they come home for 3 days and run around me, bounce on the couch and try so hard to play with me while I'm horizontal! I love it when they're home and miss them terribly when they're gone. Anyway, Faith has her own bedroom at the grandparents' house (affectionately known as Nana & Icky - John's dad wanted a unique name, and I think he accomplished that). Cole sleeps in a toddler bed in Nana & Icky's bedroom. One night last week, apparently he was missing his sis in the middle of the night. So he went down the hall and crawled into bed with her. Icky got this picture early in the morning before they woke up. How sweet is that?! Cole is such a lover.

Nana & Icky have created a grandkid wonderland out at their place. They live on 6 acres outside of Smithville. There's a huge tank, stocked of course, with a dock and a bridge. They have a paddle boat that the kids love to go out on to feed the fish. They've left the majority of the acreage natural (cleaned up a bit) for future camping and exploring. They have trails all through the place for walking or for a fun ride on their golf cart named "Katie Belle". They also have a swimming pool with a slide, which Cole has been bravely enjoying since he was about 17 months old. He is not afraid of anything. Faith is already an excellent swimmer considering her only "lessons" have been from us and the grandparents. Then there's the sandbox, hammock, swings from the giant oak trees...the list goes on and on. What kid wouldn't want to spend time out there? Both my kids love being outdoors, so the turmoil of this summer has been more manageable for them with all the fun activities. We're really blessed to have such loving, helpful grandparents nearby. This lifestyle is beginning to take its toll on the kids, though. You can tell they're getting more emotional and homesick as time goes on. We're trying to tell them it's only for a couple more weeks. Of course then their lives will be turned upside down with a new baby! But with all the love surrounding them, I think we'll all manage.
posted by Joey at 11:28 AM 2 comments

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Only 7 days 'til Grey's Anatomy!!


I feel that I have much to celebrate today. First and foremost, I have reached 34 weeks of pregnancy today! As my doctor says, "You're still pregnant, and that's our only goal now". He said we used to have goals related to dilation, number of contractions, etc. He said our goals have changed as this pregnancy has progressed, and now our goal is just to keep this baby inside for another 2 weeks. Yes, I have dilated a little more (he said I am officially 4cm now), but the baby is way up high and he seemed quite optimistic. So John & I left the office today feeling pretty darn happy.

I'm also celebrating because I have the most awesome husband. He called from work yesterday and said he was taking today off just to spend the day with me. He felt sorry for me lying here all alone all day everyday. Plus he thought it would be nice to take me to my appointment. Just having him here today has been wonderful. Granted, there's not a whole lot we can do together right now, but I sure have enjoyed his company. The one thing that we said we were going to do (pick out a baby name) still hasn't happened, and it's coming on 6pm. Something tells me it's not gonna happen today. We're so noncommittal. The only thing we're sure about is we would like his middle name to include a part of John's dad's name (James Robert). Right now, and this may change, our top choices are:

Ryan James
Benjamin Robert (call him Ben)
Kade Robert
Luke Robert
Mason James

Any input is welcome. It's important that his name sounds good with Faith and Cole. We've thrown out a lot of names because they didn't sound right with Cole. Weird how parents think. As if they will always be named together for the rest of their life! I originally also liked Zachary and Cameron, but John has adamantly vetoed both of them much to my dismay.

So the last thing I'm celebrating today is the final 7 day countdown to the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy!! All summer I've been watching crummy reruns while on bedrest. Now that life is about to get hectic, all the new shows are starting up! Oh, well. I'll just have to schedule breastfeeding accordingly!

My new pregnancy goal: make it to the 2nd episode of Grey's Anatomy!
posted by Joey at 4:54 PM 4 comments

Friday, September 08, 2006

Rollercoasters...

I woke up at 4am today and randomly started thinking about Astroworld. My mind is always quite active in the middle of the night when I can't sleep, and it's usually pretty random.

Our annual family visits to Astroworld are some of my favorite childhood memories. I'm so sad that they closed it down and sold it off just because the real estate location is so valuable. Good grief! My favorite rides, of course, were always the rollercoasters - Greased Lightnin', Texas Cyclone, Excalibur, XLR8...I remember the famous signs at the entry to each LONG line stating that you had to be so many inches tall to ride and that pregnant women should not ride. Never did it cross my mind then that pregnancy would actually be the prerequisite for the scariest rollercoaster ride I would ever experience.

The rollercoaster of emotions I have felt over the past 48 hours have prevented me from blogging. I pretty much shut down yesterday and refused to talk to anyone but John. Wednesday I had just spoken to my sister on the phone telling her how optimistic I felt about this pregnancy. I hadn't had any more clusters of contractions. I carried Cole to 38 weeks. I told her I was certain this baby would be fine and I would deliver somewhere around 37-38 weeks. We even looked at a calendar to plan when she should come to help out. That was Wednesday.

Yesterday (Thursday) I had my weekly OB checkup (I'm 33 weeks). What he found was very troubling. I have continued to progress. For the longest time he wouldn't tell me how dilated I am. He just kept saying, "The important thing is that you are still pregnant...the baby is still inside of you...that's our goal...how dilated you are doesn't make a difference now." To which I said, "Then why the heck did you check me?" He said he needed to know. I said, "Look, just tell me. I'm ok with it. I need to know." He never did give me a straightforward answer. He said that my inner os (part of my cervix closest to the baby) is a bit past 3cm and my outer os is "a lot looser". But he said the good news is I'm only 50% effaced, so my cervix still has some substance/thickness to it. I asked him if I kept dilating at this rate, how far will we make it. He said maybe to 36 weeks if I'm really lucky. It was obvious he was not very optimistic.

As I walked out of the exam room I spoke to Candace, his nurse and my personal friend. She always cuts through the BS and gives it to me straight. She said that as he walked out of the room he said to her, "If she just walked in off the street and I didn't know her history, I'd send her to the hospital because she's about to deliver." Then she said he was afraid to tell me I'm closer to 4cm dilated.

4 cm???!!! That's usually the definition of when "active labor" starts. So I went home feeling very defeated yesterday. It's a very helpless, hopeless feeling to realize there is basically nothing else I can do but wait. Last week my goal was to make it to 36 weeks. Now my goal is to make it to next week. We'll just take it 1 week at a time. At this point, each week makes a huge difference in terms of lung development and suckle reflex. If I were to deliver this week, odds are high he would go to the NICU for anywhere from 7 to 21 days, be on assisted ventilation of some sort, and likely would need a feeding tube because they usually don't suckle this young. Each week that I can keep him inside of me, the odds of the above decrease dramatically.

So that's the first problem. Yes, there is another pressing issue: there's a darn good chance we won't make it to the hospital. With Cole I never dilated past 3cm before actually going into true active labor. From when I felt the first contraction to when he joined us in this world was 3 hours. Since I had already been having contractions for weeks, that 1st hour I wasn't sure if it was real. I took a shower, John gathered our things, I ate a banana and a piece of bread and we headed to the hospital. We were coming from Kyle (just happened to be visiting his brother, thank God, otherwise we would have been coming from Smithville an hour away), so it was the same trek we'll be making with this baby. I delivered within an hour of arriving at the hospital. Since I'm further dilated this time, and since this is my 3rd delivery (Faith took 5 hours, Cole took 3), I fully expect to deliver within 1-2 hours. In order to make it to the hospital, I will have to be acutely aware of when labor begins - not so easy since I've already been having contractions, some of which are quite uncomfortable.

Surprisingly, I don't mind having a baby in the car. This isn't my first rodeo, I know what to expect, I barely got the epidural with Cole and it hadn't really taken much effect, so I'm not afraid of the pain. But I am afraid of having a preemie in the car. I'm trying really hard not to think about it.

So, pray for us. That's all we can do at this point. I feel better today. I just needed some time to come to grips with reality. Now I'll try to think positive again.
posted by Joey at 10:05 PM 6 comments

Monday, September 04, 2006

Ok, Ok...I'm finally blogging!

So on the not-so-subtle insistence of a few friends, I have finally joined the ever-popular world of blogging. I'll try not to make this too long of a post for fear of losing your interest the first time you log on. Plus, I'm not ready to post my entire life story on the internet!

I am now 32 weeks and 4 days into this pregnancy and 11-1/2 weeks on bedrest. For those of you who don't know, I was put on bedrest (read: home imprisonment, couch lockdown, solitary confinement) at 21 weeks due to preterm labor. I officially have an "irritable uterus" and a cervix that, according to my doctor, "just isn't any good after that first pregnancy". Gee, thanks. So most days, I try not to be as irritable as my uterus! I'm also on terbutaline, a lovely pill I take every 4-5 hours (yes, I have to set an alarm in the middle of the night) to slow down contractions. This medication makes your heart race and gives you the major shakes. So not only do I have to lie still all day long, I feel like I've had 3 Starbucks coffees most of the time. Not the best combination. Speaking of Starbucks, man that sounds good! I miss coffee & wine!

At my last checkup, my doctor found that I am now almost 3cm dilated and greater than 50% effaced. I stayed at a "fingertip" dilated for many weeks, then all of a sudden around 30 weeks things started giving way. I've had on average 1-2 contractions/hour since 24 weeks, but just recently I've had a few clusters of 6-8/hr for 2-4 hours. Most people would call these "Braxton-Hicks" contractions, except my cervix is responding to them unfortunately. I've been a little more progressed at each of my last 3 visits. I visit the doctor once weekly (usually on Thursdays) for the remainder of my pregnancy. So we'll see where I'm at in a couple more days. We've made it through many goals (24 weeks, then 28 weeks, then 32 weeks). Now our goal is 36 weeks. The greatest lung maturity happens between 32-36 weeks, so after 36 weeks the odds of him (yes, it's a boy) going to the NICU are slim to none.

I have to admit, I haven't been as strict with my bedrest this time as I was with Cole. His healthy full-term delivery has given me a somewhat false sense of security. I was put on bedrest & meds with him at 28 weeks (also preterm labor) and only had bathroom privileges. I ate all my meals lying on my side (not fun) and ended up with a skin rash on my hips (yuck, TMI sorry). With him, I dilated to 3cm and stayed there until I got up off bedrest at 38 weeks. He was born a little over 24 hours later. This time, I'm allowing myself to sit up to eat and I occasionally do a few light things around the house (like check the mail, get a snack, sit outside on the front porch occasionally in the evenings, sit up to read to the kids). Anyway, I think now that the baby has gotten bigger, even those few things I was allowing myself to do is enough to put downward pressure, give me contractions and make me dilate. I'm still refusing to eat lying down for now though. That will be the last thing to go and only if I continue to dilate. I'm really not trying to be selfish - I know this baby is the MOST important thing right now, but coping with 4 months of bedrest is a real struggle (physically and emotionally, but I'll probably get into that in another post).

I have plenty more to say (which surprises the heck out of me - I didn't think I could do this blogging thing), but I promised not to get too winded. I'll likely post regularly since I don't have anything else pressing to do, so keep an eye out. Oh, and if anyone knows how to personalize the background of this blog with my own wallpaper and maybe some cool sayings, let me know!
posted by Joey at 8:57 PM 12 comments