22 Weeks!

I am 22 weeks pregnant today!  14 more to go till we reach our goal!

And since I was up to take a shower I had Brigetta take a quick profile picture.

Spring Break

Andy's sisters are so great to us!  Mindy had offered to take the girls for the week so that they could enjoy their spring break.  Andy dropped them off at her house on Sunday night.  They were at her house till Tuesday and then they headed to Eastern Idaho.  Ashley and Katie were dropped off at Aunt Sarah's house and Mindy picked up some of Sarah's kids and headed to Dana's house.  They spent one night at Dana's house and then back to Sarah's house for one more night before the drive back home.  Sarah ended up calling Andy and asked if the girls could stay longer!  They stayed till today and Andy is on his way to meet her halfway.  Andy's sisters are so much better at taking pictures than I am.  I was sent many picture texts to show me what they were up to.  So here is a glimpse into their week and how much fun they had.

 Riding around on scooters at the skate park

 Halle, Katie, Shelby, and Ashley

 Sleepover at Sarah's house

Poor Josh is the only boy in that house!

 Back row: Katie, Kelsie, Halle, Shelby, Ashley

Front row: Sammy, Jessie, Avery

 Ashley, Shelby, and Katie

 Kelsie and Sammy

 Halle kissing Kelsie.  So cute!

 The moms get to have some fun, too.  Totally missing the crafts, but so glad they were able to have some bonding time.  Good job on the cute decorations.

Mindy, Dana, Sarah

They went to a roller dome and by the looks of it they had a blast!  Sarah said they were quick learners and were going around without help pretty soon after they started.

Shelby and Sammy

 Avery and Ashley

 Avery, Josh, Sammy, Jessie, and Katie

 Jessie and Katie

Even falling down they look happy!

They also attended a baptism for a cousin to the Smith clan.  I love the look on Sammy's face!

On the couch: Katie, Ashley, Quinn, (2 Smith cousins), Sammy, Jessie, and another cousin

On the floor: Shelby and Halle

 This must have been taken after the baptism.  They look so happy!

Katie and Ashley

And of course we have to post a few pictures to what I was up to...

Not a whole lot happens around here while being on bed rest.  However, these are two of the girls I hung out with a lot this week.  Lyla and Mikayla usually come with Brigetta when she brings me lunch and then they stay and play.  That day Mikayla had to keep a secret that we bought Frozen.  It's for Easter but I decided to break it out while the girls were gone.  They will soon find out we do actually have it.  We enjoyed watching the movie and eating our lunch in bed... the crumbs left behind were not so fun.  And one day in the week Lyla fell asleep next to me and stayed there in my arm for about 3 hours.  It was nice to snuggle with her.  :)
I thought it was so cute that in this picture both girls are touching my belly.  I sent this to Andy and said, "This baby is already loved so much!" His response was, "Cute and it better be."

My reward for Saturday and making it through another week was manicures!

My mom came over with her awesome wax and warmer and we pampered ourselves.  

Here is Brigetta showing off the warming gloves with her wax covered hands.

 And here is my finished look for my manicure.  It's a little harder doing a French manicure at a reclined angle.  Thanks for coming and getting pampered with me!

A good day of pampering ended with a shot in the bum!  Oh how I hate those shots, but so glad it's only once a week and not more often.  3 down, 14 to go... I hope!

21 Weeks!

I am 21 weeks today and we're so glad we have made it another week!  Our goal is to make it at least another 15 weeks and my friend commented to me yesterday that this is just a different kind of marathon training.  It's kind of crazy to think it took us the same amount of weeks to finish our training.

I had a follow up on Friday with Dr. Blea.  (He is the specialist that did my surgery.)  He said the stitches are holding up and everything looked good.  He said I should continue the advice of Dr. Hodges as far as bed rest goes since he is my physician.  So I am still down and trying to find things to do to keep my mind busy.

Friends have brought books, magazines, movies... and sweets galore!  People, we want this baby to come out chubby... not the mama!  My mom also made a countdown calendar with a little surprise something everyday so I have at least one thing to check off.  Wednesdays we do a game night, Fridays we do a movie night, and Saturdays are our "Hooray we made it through the week" reward nights.  The other days have something like a quote and then "read two chapters from a novel."  Every day is covered up so I don't know what game we are supposed to play or what movie to watch.  This last Saturday our reward was to buy a new outfit for the baby.  So I did a ton of online shopping trying to find the "bring home" outfit.  I finally decided on the one I wanted and sent Andy to go buy it since I was too cheap to pay for shipping.  When he brought it home I kept looking at it thinking it was too big.  My girls never fit into any newborn outfits so I was thinking a 0-3 month outfit would be fine.  However, I forgot that this one most likely will not make it full term.  So I have another one on hold and Andy better do his duty and pick it up after work.  :)

My friend, Sarah, also brought over a huge bag of stuff.  She looked on Pinterest what to get women on bed rest.  I thought it was awesome!!!  Now I have many things by my bed that I never realized I would need before now... tissues, lotion, lip balm, nail polish, air freshener, a book of crossword puzzles, a book of sudoku puzzles, and the one that made me laugh... animal cookies!  Two weeks ago I was at her house and her daughter was sharing her animal cookies with me.  I had mentioned something along the lines of, "I know this is silly, but I love animal cookies."

And the last bit of update... I had to have my first shot at home!  I can't remember if I had mentioned this before, but I also have to have a progesterone shot every Friday.  It has to be administered in my bum so someone else has to give it to me.  And as much as I love Andy there is no way he is coming near me with a needle!  My friend, Molli, happens to be a labor and delivery nurse and lives less than a mile away.  (She gives these shots all the time.)  And she agreed to get friendly with me for these 16 weeks.  Andy picked up the medication and supplies and brought them home to me.  I did a dumb thing and opened the bag!  It was all over after that.  I hate needles with a passion!!!  I literally screamed when I saw the giant needles!  When Molli came over I handed her the bag and told her I didn't want to see anything.  She was kind of laughing and told me the needles I saw were the filter needles and I should look at the actual one going in my bum.  She didn't believe me that I was so nervous my hands were sweating... So I wiped her arm and then she finally turned away to finish doing whatever she needed and I told her not to tell me anything... "Just do it!"  When she was finished I told her she could put everything back in the bag and then put it in the drawer where I don't have to see it.  She was still chuckling to herself when she left.  One down, fifteen more to go! (I sure hope)

Goals for today: "Keep pregnant" and read 2 more chapters from The Help.

We're Home!

We were able to come home yesterday afternoon!  The nurses came in and said that everything looked good enough that the doctors were going to let me go home.  So Andy packed as fast as he could and we were out of there and home by about 1:30. 

It was nice and peaceful when we arrived and settled ourselves back in.  Brigetta and my mom showed up after school to help with the girls and things around the house.  I am so grateful they are here to help beyond words.  It's going to be a difficult adjustment and I spoke to a friend of mine who was on bed rest in the hospital for 8 weeks with one of her kids.  Some of the advice she gave was, "Remember you can still do everything you want, it just needs to be delegated" and "you can lead your troops from behind, just not on the front line."  She also said to remind Andy if he thinks I can do more, "I can either do the bed rest at home... or in the hospital."

Right now I'm trying to catch up on bills that need to be paid (thank goodness for online banking) and finding other things to do in bed.  As always I am up for visitors anytime.  I'm not going anywhere.

Keep Pregnant

I am exactly 20 weeks today and our goal to "keep pregnant" is still being achieved.  Dr. Hodges came in on Saturday when we were expecting him to do the surgery and said, "I don't feel comfortable doing a cerclage on you at this point.  Your cervix is really thin and starting to cone already.  I would like a specialist take a look and decide."  So we waited some more. I was told to go ahead and eat since they didn't know when the specialist would be in to see me and I had already waited 12 hours.  Andy had literally put my sandwich on my hip when Dr. Hodges walked in and said, "Don't eat! Dr. Blea is here and he decides to do the surgery you may go right away." We waited some more and then the nurse came in and said, "Go ahead and eat.  If they do the surgery it will be tomorrow."  I asked Andy to pop my sandwich in the microwave for a second and again he had just handed the sandwich to me when the nurse came in and told me they were ready for me to do an ultrasound.  I wanted to cry at that point... again... because I was so hungry.  The nurse just said, "Take the sandwich with you. We have yo-yoed you around long enough."  After Dr. Blea did the ultrasound and took a really good look at my cervix he decided to go forward with the surgery but that it really all depended upon how things looked once he got in there.  It was scheduled for 8:00 Sunday morning.

 We went in for surgery and there were comments about my pedicure and I laughed because my friend, Becky, and I went to get mani-pedis done on Thursday so that she was all pretty to deliver her baby... I ended up being the one to go to labor and delivery before her.  They started the drugs in my IV and I quickly fell asleep.  Andy was told the surgery went well and they were done within 15 minutes.  I was put back on complete bed rest and told I would maybe go home on Tuesday.

I was having some respiratory problems yesterday but that seems to be checking out okay now.  I was on oxygen all day yesterday, but I'm off and breathing fine on my own.  I still have the compression boots on my legs, an IV (no fluids) in my wrist, and a monitor on my belly to make sure I'm not having contractions.  My new nurse walked into my room and I said, "Jody!!!" She was my nurse when I was pregnant with Katie and I was always fond of her.  It was nice to see a familiar face in what Andy is starting to call jail.  Our view is pretty pathetic... bricks everywhere!

The doctor just came in and told us we get to go home today!!!  We are so glad, but we know it's going to be a long haul.  I will be on bed rest for the time being and possibly the rest of my pregnancy.  My doctor wants me on strict bed rest for the remainder of my pregnancy and only get up to go to the bathroom.  "Sloth!  That's what you're going to be."  My mom and Brigetta are helping out a ton!  And the RS will step in with meals and checking on me during the day.  I will have a follow up with the specialist in about a week and then I'll be turned back over to my regular OB doctor and I'm sure we'll reevaluate often.  I've only been on bed rest for a few days but the boredom is going to be a trial.  I am definitely not a home body.  I like to get out everyday and this is going to be difficult.  So, if you are ever bored yourself come see me or call me because I will be available. :)

Also, Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!  Hope you're wearing green... if not, I can't chase you down and pinch you anyway.  I'm glad my hospital gown has green pin stripes on it otherwise Andy might pinch me to have a little bit of fun in this "jail".

Happy Anniversary... and the hopital

I just had to write a quick update on our neck of the woods.  It's mine and Andy's 11th anniversary today!  Our plan was to have our big ultrasound yesterday at three and find out the gender.  Afterward we were going to celebrate news and anniversary with some shopping and eating at Tucanos.  Then have a night to ourselves at home.  I made arrangements with my sister to pick up the girls after school and then keep them till ten Saturday morning.  Well... our plans changed dramatically.

We went in for our ultrasound and right off the tech measured my cervix and said, "When you're done here we'll have you go see the on call doctor."  I said, "I have an appointment with my doctor on Monday.  Do you want me to just wait till then?"  She replied, "No.  We'll have you go see the doctor right after this."  I asked what could be the outcome and so forth and then she said it depended on the doctor but that I may be on bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy but it really depended upon the doctor.  We finished what we could with the ultrasound... I say that because the baby was moving so much the tech couldn't quite get all the measurements needed.  Yes, we found out the gender but we are keeping that between Andy and I for now.

The tech walked me straight back to Dr. Lowder and Andy headed back to work and asked me to call him when I was done.  Dr. Lowder explained that my cervix is really thin and already starting to cone.  This causes preterm labor and could have been the cause of our miscarriage at 16 weeks two years ago.  He sent me straight to the hospital!  So I called Andy twice without an answer.  I texted 911 and then he finally called me back.  I told him I was being admitted to the hospital and when he asked why I started to cry and said to just meet me and I would explain everything.

 I've been on bed rest since and today they will do what is called a cerclage.  Basically they sew my cervix shut and until they do I can't lay flat on my back, sit up, or walk other than to go to the bathroom.  The cerclage will be removed about 36 weeks and Dr. Lowder said that usually patients deliver within a week or two of it being removed.  Right now we are just waiting to know when the surgery will be done, but it's all nerve racking.  We'll know more after the surgery, but the good news is they caught it and the baby is still looking good.  Dr. Lowder said, "I'm so glad they caught it... I'm so glad they caught it.  If it had been another week things could have been really bad."  At his office he had explained the risk of a cerclage, but that if I didn't do it I would most likely lose this baby, too.  He also said that most of the time a cerclage is done about 12 weeks.  I'm 8 weeks past that already! 

We see tender mercies from the Lord as we talk about everything.  I was so sick up till a few weeks ago and because of that I spent so much of my first trimester in bed.  That took pressure off my cervix.  I also stopped watching Owen much sooner than I imagined because of our little scare at week 8 and that allowed me to rest.  If I had been watching him still it would have been hard to lay down so much and I would have been picking up a very big boy.  And of course this is the one that I am most grateful for, but scheduling our ultrasound was also a tender mercy.  If I had scheduled a visit with my doctor and the ultrasound back to back it would have been pushed out another week.  We decided we didn't want to wait to find out the gender so we scheduled our ultrasound for yesterday and a doctor visit for Monday.  I am so glad we were impatient.

Andy and I have been laughing through tears that our insurance plan renews on April 1st... Which means we will pay our deductible and max out of pocket twice this year.  Instead of a quiet evening at home we get to stay in the most expensive hotel in Boise... the hospital!  Don't misunderstand... we are so glad they caught everything and we don't really care about the bills at this point.  We are just so thankful our little baby is safe and they are trying to fix what is wrong with my body.  We are also thankful that I had made previous plans to have my sister take the girls and that they are taken care of as well. 

I'll try and update later, but for now keep baby in your prayers that it stays put for the next 16 to 20 weeks.  And last little note, because I thought this was kind of cute.  My board with all my nurse and room information says "Today's Goals/Plans/Progress: Keep Pregnant".

Thanks for reading.