by Jessica on December 22, 2009
How far along? 33 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: I think 25ish?
Maternity clothes?Obviously, although at the moment it’s just maternity yoga pants and a giant t-shirt since I don’t leave the house.
Sleep: Great since I’ve been home from the hospital, although I woke up several times last night
Best moment this week: Coming home
Movement: A whole lot… he’s happy to be home, too!
Food cravings: Milk and sweets.
Gender: A sweet little man.
Labor Signs: 1 cm dilated and 50 % effaced. Hence the bed rest. Let’s hope that there is no further action!
Belly Button in or out? Even more out, if that’s possible. Trevor likes to poke it.
Stretchmarks? Dark purple squiggles on my BOOBS. Not on my ginormous belly, mind you, but on my boobs that have barely grown at all. Makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it? Oh well, at least they can be covered up, right?
What I am looking forward to: Reaching full term… only 4 more weeks!!!
Weekly Wisdom: Just say no to Google.
Milestones: Bed rest. Not that it’s a good milestone, but I guess it’s a milestone nonetheless.
I am so glad to go to the doctor tomorrow. I am very uneasy with all of this. It’s hard not to freak out that things are progressing or that I may end up back in L&D. It’s all just very scary. The doctor told me that I am allowed to run short errands, as long as I’m not on my feet for more than an hour and as long as I spend 8 to 10 hours of my waking time horizontal. But I am scared to do anything. I pretty much only get up to pee or take a shower. I did do a load of baby laundry yesterday and have another in today, but I am terrified that I will do something to mess things up. I think I’ll feel better if I go in tomorrow and nothing has changed.
On a lighter note, my husband has been so amazing through all of this. He is definitely having to take on things outside of his comfort zone, but he’s trying his very best (and doing a great job). Sunday, he attempted to go grocery shopping. I made a very basic shopping list, considering there is no way Mr. Trevor will be allowing me to stand up long enough to cook anything (let’s just say we’ll be eating really healthily for the rest of the pregnancy… or not). Trevor left, and within 20 minutes was back. I asked what happened and he said “I am never going back to Publix again!” Poor guy, he got traumatized with all the insane women shopping for their Christmas supplies. He apparently made it down about an aisle and a half before abandoning his cart and fleeing the store.
Last night’s attempt was much better. He came home with everything on the list and was very proud of himself. He told me about things he almost forgot or what he added to the list, it was very cute. He told me that he has never been grocery shopping by himself before. Not “real” shopping with a cart. Men don’t use carts, he said. LOL. He has been to the store on many occasions to pick up milk or a few necessities, but I think he was very proud that he did ALL of the shopping himself. It was so sweet. He has been there to hug me when I cry from the stress of everything and to reassure me that it’s all going to be okay. He talks to Knox and tells him to stay put and how much we love him, and it makes me want to cry from the sweetness of it. I feel so blessed to have him as my husband.
Here’s a bed rest belly pic for you:
by Jessica on December 21, 2009
Here I thought there would be nothing for me to write about since I’m on bed rest. Ha! I shouldn’t have worried. I went to the bathroom a minute ago, and [You should recognize by this point that TMI is about to occur] I am pretty sure I lost part of my mucus plug. It looked like a chunk of white, gooey mucus. Very booger-ish. There wasn’t a tinge of blood or anything to it, so I wasn’t sure if it was the plug or just some kind of weird pregnancy thing. I called the doctor’s office to be sure and they said it could be part of the plug, but even if it is, it doesn’t mean I’m going into labor. We already know I’m 1 cm dilated, so it wouldn’t exactly be a shock to lose part of it, now. They just said to keep an eye on it and the contractions, which are the bigger concern at this point.
My next appointment is on Wednesday at 11, so let’s all hope that NOTHING has changed by that point!
So, here I lay. I have taken a shower today, and I think that’s pretty much the extent of my activities for the duration of the evening.
by Jessica on December 20, 2009
I was officially released from the hospital at 8 this morning. I cannot even begin to describe how happy I was to get out of there and walk into our house again. The doctor checked my cervix and said that I was still at 1 cm and having about two contractions an hour, which is normal for this stage of the game. Honestly, I am fairly sure the majority of the contractions were brought on by moving around so much during the night. Hospital beds SUCK worse that you can even know, especially the L&D beds which are made for “working” not sleeping. I got a total of about 6 hours of sleep in the three days I was there. No matter how many pillows I piled up, nothing helped. I just cried a million times and was so ready to leave this morning. I was especially excited to have that darn IV removed. I swear, that thing was HORRIBLE and burned like fire. I went through at least 20 ice packs while I was there.
The first thing I did when we got home was crash on the couch, although I still haven’t gotten more than a few hours of sleep at a time. It was very unnerving that Knox hadn’t moved since I went off the mag sulfate, so I was getting a little worried. Luckily, he seems to have gotten some rest, too, and is moving more, now. I hope he is feeling okay in there, he’s had a rough few days. I know all this was for him, but it’s hard to feel comfortable with having your body pumped full of medicines when you’ve been conditioning yourself to take as little medication as possible in pregnancy.
I am on Brethine, now, only as needed. I took one this evening because my stomach was so tight whenever I moved. It felt more like BH than the real ones I was experiencing the other day, but it seemed to help. The bed rest is modified, so I can do some things, but the majority of my waking hours (at least 8 to 10) are to be spent laying down. I can spend no more than one hour on my feet, so no working for the duration. The doc gave me the clear to go to our family Christmas celebrations, but I will definitely be a couch potato at each one! It’s hard to lay around and have other people help me, I am so used to being in control and doing everything myself. Trevor has been wonderful, refilling my water, making sure I am comfortable and getting rest. I just love him so much. Our parents and my siblings have been visiting us since we got admitted, and MIL brought us a few groceries this morning and my mom is bringing a chicken pot pie for dinner tomorrow. Our best friends have been there for us, visiting each day since all this started. Lindsey even brought me dinner and a bag of bed rest goodies including my favorite ice cream, a Cosmo magazine and doughnuts for Trevor, she is the best! Everyone already cares so much about Knox, and it is so sweet of them all to help us out. Let’s hope the bed rest goes well and Knox is in there for at LEAST five more weeks.
I’ll be going back to the doctor next week to get checked out, as well as the following week. Let’s hope we make no further progress until it’s actually time for Knox to come. At least we got both steroid shots for his lungs in case he were to come early, but I would prefer that he wait, of course. Thanks for keeping up with all of this drama, it means a lot to us that so many people have been thinking about and praying for us. Ya’ll are great!
In the midst of all of our preterm labor craziness, some friends of ours had their baby girl, Reese, today and she is just gorgeous. Congrats Trey and Casey! I hate that I can’t visit tomorrow, but I am sure she is just as precious as her picture shows!
by Jessica on December 18, 2009
The doctor just came in a while ago to check me and said that I have NOT (Thank you, God!) dilated anymore, and that I am still at a tight 1 cm and have not further effaced. They went ahead and took me off of the magnesium sulfate which has really worked getting rid of contractions (even though it has made me feel like I’m going to burst into flames at any moment and made Knox completely still), so I am very thankful for that. They are watching me until the morning to make sure the contractions don’t pick back up. If they don’t, I will be sent home on Brethine/ Terbutaline as needed by mouth and be put on modified bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy (I am assuming until Knox reaches full term).
I cannot begin to say how relieved I am at this moment that our little guy is still inside where he should be. I thank each and everyone of you for your thoughts and prayers over the past few days, I am sure they have made all the difference. We have had so many phone calls, emails and visitors to our hospital room, and we appreciate it more than I can say.
Right now, I am awaiting Knox’s movements picking back up, it is bizarre to go from feeling him every few minutes to not at all, and it’s pretty freaky. The mag sulfate is a muscle relaxer and it makes you very hot and very lethargic, which can carry over to the baby. His heart rate did stay up pretty close to normal the whole time, it dropped to about 120-130 bpm this morning, but is now right back at 150.
I am still on IV fluids, but free from the antibiotics and magnesium. I am so looking forward to going home and going to bed. I was up a straight 42 hours before getting about four hours of sleep this morning, so I am a totally exhausted mess. Though the sleeplessness is a small price to pay for keeping our guy in for longer! I am sure bed rest will be rough, but it is FAR preferable to having to stay in the hospital. I am so, so thankful. I’ll update tomorrow to let you guys know how it’s all going.
by Jessica on December 17, 2009
First off, thank you all so much for your kind comments, it means so much to us that people are thinking about and praying for us and Knox!
Well, after a sleepless (literally) night on Procardia, the doctor came into to see me this morning. Basically, it was not working to stop the contractions, I will still getting them every five minutes this morning. So, they switched me over to Magnesium Sulfate through an IV. I can honestly say, that it was horrendous stuff. Right when they put it in, my hand where the IV is started to burn so bad I thought my vein would explode. I was instantaneously hot and felt horrible. I just cried, it’s so overwhelming to get pumped full of all of this medicine, have it not work, and worry about your baby all day long.
Luckily, the mag sulf. seems to be working, now. They are allowing me six contractions per hour, and I don’t think I’m having that many. I generally have them when my bladder is full or when I move too much. They are planning to give me another steroidal shot for Knox’s lungs this evening, then I have to stay in the hospital for another 24 hours. Hopefully, I will be out of here tomorrow if the contractions subside and my cervix hasn’t changed any more. They won’t check me again until the morning for fear of causing more contractions. I am unsure of where we’ll go from there, but I am sure bedrest would be in the picture for a while. I am praying so hard that my cervix hasn’t dilated any more because then I honestly don’t know what we’d have to do, other than staying in the hospital.
Right now, all I am hoping for is that Knox stays an inside baby for at least several more weeks!
