No labor on labor day!

Bedrest Chronicles Day 34

Well another labor day has passed without any true labor on my part. Considering my position, I'll consider that a major achievement!

Current weight: +12 which means I lost a pound this week. No, I was not trying to do this. However, hospital food combined with me running out of fun-size milky ways did the trick. I am now restocked with peanut m&ms. Yum.

Baby status: getting gold stars on his non-stress tests (NSTs) and bio-physical profiles (BFP) this week AND he breathed everyday without making me suffer for thirty minutes on the blasted table. What a good boy! He has also reached the next milestone of 32 weeks which is a HUGE difference in premie world. My doc admitted to me that the night she saw me, she never thought we would make it this far. I'm so grateful for this!!!

Best foods of the week: peanut butter and jelly sandwich and cheetos! Having no chips for a month made the cheetos extra delicious.

Crying jags: One.

Activity of the week: hitting the balloon next to my bed over and over again.

Coolest things my hubby did: went to Target and bought a bunch of diapers since they are having a sale. My vision of him standing in the diaper aisle made me giggle. He also washed all of the baby clothes, sorted them, and started putting them away. :)

Score of the week: finding my video baby monitor 20% off at the above store. :)

Moment I'm not so proud of: getting irrationally angry after reading a post from a woman who did one IVF and got three kids (twins and singleton) out of fresh and frozen embryos--then complained about having to do IVF again to have her fourth. I hardly ever feel flat out pissed off because of my circumstances or those of others, but for some reason this time I wanted to kick her a@! (from my bedside of course).

Refreshing moment: hubby briefly mentioned to a work acquaintance (that he reconnected with up here) that I was in the hospital. He and his wife came to visit me with flowers, balloon, chocolate, and comfy socks. Even though we were strangers, it was nice to have someone go out of their way since I don't know anyone up here yet. My hubby said it "refreshed his faith in humanity" that someone would do something so unexpectedly nice.

Biggest news: my dad is feeling much better and is booked to come up to Anchorage on Saturday. This means I might break out of this joint in five days! I'm crossing my fingers on this!

xoxo

Bedrest: The beauty of...TMI alert!

Really, this is a TMI alert for you. Seriously. You have been warned.

So I've mentioned before that this bedrest is complete, as in you never get out of bed. This means I literally have the nurses at my beck and call to fetch me water, meds, and even my toothbrush while managing to change my sheets, wash my hair, and wipe my ass. No really, wiping my buttox free from unsightly specimen is part of the job.  Well I don't know about you, but having my brown gunk wiped by another person is something I was hoping to not endure until I about eighty! The life of luxury here is missing just a few things--my frothy pina colada, a sunny pool and my dignity!

Most of my self consciousness about exposing my girly parts was eradicated by the repeated wandings and probings that occurred during my infertility treatments. For example, the twice daily "peri" care for the catheter insert didn't really phase me. I do wonder though, how many people have now seen my girly parts in the last year. I bet the number would now rival any working girl! :) lol However, I realized there was a new level of consciousness when it came to my backside. 

So this being said, I must tell you that the title of this blog refers to: The beauty of bathroom privileges!!!!! As of Wednesday night, I have been granted bathroom privileges which I promise feels as wonderous as driving a car for the first time or turning twenty-one! It seems like life has just gotten so much better with the return of a little autonomy. One of the really nice benefits of being able to stand up once in awhile is that I  don't ache as bad from lying down so much. Sigh. Relief. 

When my hubby first heard of my release from the catheter, I swear he turned a little green with worry. This is unlike my husband as he is usually rock solid with any news. Yet, I think with all of the craziness that has been had until this point, he would like to tuck me away, preferably into a coma, until baby E can emerge safely. I think I love him a little more for showing his worry for me. :)  

Despite the new freedoms, my lack of contractions has stayed consistent which makes everybody happy. My doctor even mentioned today that she is contemplating when I might get to go home! I didn't expect that until at least 32 weeks, so we'll see. 

Hope all is well with you. 

xoxo

Bedrest: care package!!

Today my day was made when my favorite nurse, M, walked in with a box for me. Care package, people! I literally took like an hour in opening it because, well let's face it, my days are pretty wide open! My sister with help from my dear friend E picked all sorts of items to keep my spirits up. Let me share with you:

Skittles, Starburst, wipes, hair clips, Olay facial cleansers, one use toothbrushes, Tootsie pop drops, some Paul F socks, Southern Living mag....

Bare.Minerals sun-kissed pack, a complete set of everything needed for a pedicure including mini nail polishes of my fave brand...

A whole travel case to hang from my bed stocked with all the essentials to make my lips, face, hair, and nails look fabulous dah-ling...

Do I not have the best sister and friend? They completely made my day.

xoxo

Bedrest: tidbits

The Bedrest Chronicles:

Bedrest Type: Complete. May raise bed up to 30 degrees to aid digestion during meals. No bathroom privileges (yes, this means a catheter and bedpans).

Food: Whatever I want. Including afternoon and midnight snacks such as cheesecake, fresh fruit or shakes. Best food items so far: fresh grapes and pineapple, turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, cereal, and the pizza we ordered in.

Necessary Items: iphone, computer, books, lip junk, facial wipes (so you don't have to wait to clean your face in the morning), breath mints (so you can kiss your hubby without knocking him over), your own pillow, a pen (for luxuriously choosing your hospital oh-so-delicious meals and snacks in the morning), a huge cup for water, TV series on DVD (my choice today - Alias Season I), family and friends ready to text, call, and facebook, a complete lack of dignity and modesty, and a sense of humor.

Items Still Lusting After From Afar: Kindle (dammit they just came out with a new one but it won't be ready for delivery until September), an air mattress bed (mine is far too uncomfortable--might I mention there are only two in the prenatal ward--hello going too be here for a loooong time!)

Activity of the Week: shooting trash across the room at the bin and completely missing many times until there is a little pile of garbage on the floor.

Favorite Moment: having pizza and movie with hubby yesterday

Least Favorite Moment: breaking out into contractions during pizza date and requiring anti-nausea and anti-contraction meds. Thankfully it only took one shot to get them under control.

Move Status: We closed on our house Monday before I came to the hospital. Now my fantastic hubby has unpacked 75% of the house along with a huge list of things required when you move into new construction such as ordering blinds, arranging for landscaping, etc.

Work Status: I called my scheduler and quit all of my online classes as soon as this happened. I don't want any stress!

What I miss: my dog.

Attitude Status: I no longer cry when my hubby leaves after visiting. Pretty mellow for the rest of the day. Not angry. Not sad this happened. Just taking one moment and day at a time. Happy that we reached 28 weeks.

That's it!
xoxo

Dereliction of a Blogger and a Cervix

For many days now I have been wanting to blog but either too busy or too tired to write anything! First I didn't want to write to complain about the 60 days we've spent traveling or living in an on post hotel (because it can get old after awhile). Then I was way too busy partying like a pregnant woman (ie eating and providing old friends with copious amounts of alcohol) in California! Hitting the ground running when I landed back in Alaska, I've been busy closing on our new house. More on all of these fun fantastic events later as they definitely deserve their own posts.

Last night I surpassed my dereliction of duty as blogger and added an MIA cervix to boot. Yes, just when I thought everything was okay and I was ready to start preparing for this baby....my incompetent cervix hit.

On Friday, my husband and I shared a little loving which has been far and few between with our mutual fear of somehow hurting baby E. Later that night I noticed the mucus I had been discharging for about a week was tinged with blood which made me a little nervous. When I called L & D to check with the nurse, she indicated that it was probably something coming loose from earlier in the day. So I continued on with life, checking but not worried about this. However, on Monday,  it got worse which prompted phone call #2. The nurse didn't think that it was too much of a problem, but said to go ahead and come in anyway just to check.

When I arrived, they hooked me up to hear the baby's heartbeat and for contractions which they said I was not having. After finishing the vaginal exam, the doctor asked me, "How much do you know about pregnancy complications?" Dum dum dum. You really don't want your doc asking you that! I braced myself said, "enough to know a lot of crappy things can happen." To make a long story short, I was four inches dilated with the amniotic sac and feet hanging through my cervix. Antibiotics to ward off infection and steroids for baby E's lungs were administered. They transferred me by ambulance to the larger hospital in Anchorage with the NICU (which I came to find out is ranked #2 in the country). There, I had definite contractions which slowed down a little with some lovely drugs. My new doc shot very straight telling us we had three options: 1) Have surgery to put in a cervical stitch after they pushed the amniotic sac and feet back in and then remain on bed rest in the hospital until delivery; 2) do nothing and bed rest in hospital until delivery, or 3) deliver him right then.  We went with option one even though it's not typical to do this stitch after about 22 weeks. We didn't really have anything to lose with option one and our doc has had success with this even past the 22 week mark.

I may be kind of morbid in this sense, but I have the knowledge that with any surgery there are risks. So I told my husband that if I died, to know that I loved him and to make sure baby E knew I loved him dearly.  After many phone calls to my family, I finally managed to wake my dad up and let him know what was going on. They whisked me off to surgery immediately after this. Thankfully everything went smoothly and they had me tucked away in the prenatal ward in the early morning. Where now I sit typing this and will remain for either the duration of my pregnancy or possibly until 32 weeks if I have someone to take care of me at home.

Speaking of home, my terrific husband is going to get to receive our household goods and unpack all by his lonesome AGAIN! Last time we arrived somewhere new, I was in my 2WW for IVF #2. He had the whole  house unpacked in four days! Now he gets to do this again which will actually be a great distraction for him instead of sitting here with me.

The whole ordeal is in perspective for me. While I don't love or even like that this happened, I am grateful that everything is okay for now. I'm ecstatic that we're at 27 weeks and have a chance at a viable healthy baby. I know that I love my husband, my family, my friends, and my baby B. It could be better, but it could be a lot worse. So for that I'm grateful.

xoxo

The (sad) irony

To add to my week of being shocked, this morning I woke up to a text from a teacher I worked with last year. One of my students is pregnant. As common as this would if I taught high school, the thing is that I teach on the elementary side.  So that makes the girl desperately young and unprepared for the reality of what just happened.

How ironic is it that a twelve year old girl will get pregnant when it's definitely not the right time, and a thirty-three year old can not get knocked up for the life of her?

What makes me even more sad about the situation is that she has no guidance whatsoever. She often sends me messages asking basic life advice. It kills me. I spent all of last year convincing her that dropping out of school at sixteen was not a plan that would work well for her.

It's just sad.

As for me, my bed rest is almost up. We are actually leaving Louisiana tomorrow morning and driving up to our new place in Missouri.

I remember when I first came here, I was not a huge fan of Louisiana living although I just figured it was a new experience for us. But over the last couple of years, I have come to really appreciate  the culture, the laid back lifestyle, and people who are friendly for no reason! Even more, I will miss our first house that my husband and I shared for the first few years of our marriage.

On to the next adventure.....

xoxo