2 Weeks Down

It's hard to believe that two weeks have already gone by since I left the hospital. That's two more weeks of growing and developing for our baby girl! Today we are 34 weeks and 5 days. Every day that goes by, I breathe a little easier!

Bed rest seems to be both easier and harder as time goes on.

Easier, because I feel RESTED! Obviously, I am laying down pretty much all day, how else would I feel? Most of the side effects of the medication have gone away, so I don't have to lie around feeling sick all day. I have a healthy appetite again. And many of the aches and pains that plagued me during this pregnancy (maybe a sign to slow down?) are pretty much gone!

Harder, because as I feel better, I want to DO more. I catch myself thinking... "Since I can sit for meals, it's probably okay if I sit and fold this laundry..." or "I could probably just clean up these couple of things..." Things that are starting to look like harmless activity.  As we get further along in our pregnancy, I feel less panicked and more relaxed. But I don't want to feel TOO relaxed, I don't want to blow off doctor's orders. So every time I get the urge to do anything I am not supposed to be doing, I just think of our beautiful, growing baby who has much more growing to do. And I think of my Dr. saying, "Sometimes resting makes all the difference."

So here I lay, all the day long, up for bathroom breaks and food.

My doctor said we'll talk again about lifting some of the restrictions at 36 weeks (if baby hasn't come by then, of course). I'm not too hopeful, since she said the same thing about 34 weeks! Unfortunately I had dilated a bit more at my 34 week appointment, so she was not interesting in letting me be up and about at all.

Fortunately, though the days seem to be crawling by, the weeks are going fast!

I'm trying not to set lofty goals. I want to be happy and proud of the weeks we've made it, and not disappointed about the weeks we didn't make it.... But obviously, I would be very happy if we could make it to 36 weeks!

Alrighty, off to another day of R&R!

A Glimpse of Baby!

So today I got to leave the house ... and go to the doctor!! Due to all the recent difficulties and to the fact that I measured a bit small, my doctor decided to have me come back later in the day for an ultrasound! 

Here is our baby girl!! Isn't she sweet?!

I've been so tense, so anxious these past couple of weeks. Things haven't been exactly easy emotionally. Any contraction could be the start of labor. Any twinge could be an indicator that something is wrong.

So I cried many, many tears of joy and relief at the sight of our healthy, beautiful, baby girl! Everything about her is just perfect, and our ultrasound technician even helped us see her HAIR floating around in there! 

This is just a reminder of why, as a pregnant mommy, we do everything that we do. Why we give up some of our favorite things, why we deal with the day-to-day discomforts that might come about, why we get up to go to the bathroom every hour of the night, why we spend days in the hospital, and then many more days glued to the couch! It's for our babies, so that they can have the best beginning in this world that we can give them.

Despite everything happening on the outside, our baby is still thriving and growing on the inside. We could not be more happy or more thankful. 

We love you baby!! Hang tight, just a little longer!

Lyla's Second Birthday Party!

We had such a fun day yesterday! It was Lyla's second BIRTHDAY!! I can't believe how fast these two years have gone by. Lyla has already grown up into such a great little person, I can only imagine what she will be like in another year! She is so sweet, loving, funny, smart... we are so proud of her and everything she has learned in the past year!

For the big day, we had originally planned a party at the cottage, but we had to move the party to the bed rest lady so we had it our place! I'm so glad that people were still able to make the trip up to spend Lyla's special day with her.

Here are some pictures from the party:

Opening presents is sometimes a group project

Lots of Dora in this picture....

Cousin Wyatt! Check out those blue eyes!!

Lyla's new BIKE!

Lyla was a bit apprehensive of the candles, which I'd say is a good thing!

Cupcake time! In Lyla's case... frosting time!

More frosting....

Trying out Abby's signature move!!

Such cute little cousin buddies!

Yay! We did it!

Lyla-isms

Some of my favorite Lyla-isms that I wrote down on August 11!

When I go get Lyla in the morning, she says.. "Lotta buddies in here, huh?"

Here are all the buddies she sleeps with, and in the morning she says, "buddies sit." And she sits them all up together.

"Uppa-side down!" (Upside down)

She made Dora and Diego hug each other and then said, "Love each other!"

"YOUDOITLYLAYOUDOITYOUDOITLYLAYOUDOIT!" This is Lyla panicking if she thinks you might try to help her with something that she wants to do herself. Hasn't got quite the use of "I" down yet!

Lyla loves making words plural. Even words that are already plural. "hats-es," "beads-es," "leaves-es," "Meatloaf-es"

When she is doing something silly or wearing something pretty, she says, "Look at you!"

"My daddy!!!" How could that not melt your heart?

"Miss him." Accompanied by sniffles. This could be about daddy being at work, or if a character on a TV show suddenly leaves the screen. 

If Lyla is feeling slightly sad about something and I go over to her, she says, "What's wrong Lyla?" And when I pick her up she says, "Shhh it's okay, mommy's here."

"Deevaday!!!" This is supposed to be "actívate!" which is something Diego says. She puts her arm up just like him! 

"Ta-da!"

And here are some more bed rest livin' pictures.

Sweet serenades from my favorite people !

Reading with Grandma!

Lyla at the "cottage home!" Mormor sent me this picture!

Having a sammie at the beach! Lucky girl, wish I could be there!

Being hilarious and suctioning the cup to her face!!! 

LYLA IS TWO TOMORROW CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!?!?!? I SURELY CAN'T!!!!!!!!

Me & My Irritable Uterus

Lyla is at the cottage with family today... so just me at home with my "irritable uterus." This is actually what the Dr. said that I have, although I'm not sure if it's as much a medical diagnosis as an annoying characteristic of my uterus. Basically it means that my uterus might contract for any number of reasons that aren't labor or braxton hicks. Examples might be having a full bladder, being stressed, being hungry, having gas, not drinking enough water.. etc etc. I was told that my contractions would likely not go away and might even be painful! So Tuesday I had a bit of a horrible day because of some.. er.. stomach troubles.. and had 42 contractions total, but not with any sort of pattern or regularity. At 9 pm, they finally stopped. I had been sure that I would be calling in to the Dr. by that night! Yesterday I only had 8 throughout the whole day. It was a much happier day. Hoping that today is another good day! I've only been up an hour and a half, and I'm already bored. I'm not a big TV or movie watcher, but I guess if I find something good on TV that will help pass the time. I started re-reading the Harry Potter books. I just finished Book 3, and I'm not sure where book 4 is so I have to wait for Erik to go to the library for me later. Anyway, I'm already feeling sad and weepy for all the characters popping up who are eventually going to die... wahh!!!!!!! If anyone has any suggestions on things I can do to pass the time while lying down.... that would be great! Erik's suggestion is to play Settlers of Catan online and to text him whenever I win or lose haha! He's a litttttle obsessed with that game right now! Alright, off to enjoy this quiet day!!

Bed Rest & Lyla

I was a little nervous about how Lyla would take everything.. just last week, she was crying and throwing tantrums if Daddy tried to do anything with her instead of Mommy. We've had a couple moments, but I'm so surprised at how well she seems to be taking everything. She will often say something like, "Mommy hold you." "Mommy get you." And I'll just tell her that I can't because I have to stay on the couch, and then she says, "Dr. S____ says." She is amazing. It's very frustrating... just the other day I was thinking about how special this last month or so would be for Lyla and I, and how I was really going to cherish this last bit of alone time with her. And now I'm not even allowed to be home alone with her, not even allowed to pick her up. I just get to sit on the couch and watch her play with everyone else. Not how I pictured these last weeks. But she has been such a sweetie and has adjusted so well to everything! She comes over and shares her snacks with me. She gives me the biggest hugs, kisses and eskimo kisses. Once, she wanted me to sit on the ground with her so I said I could sit on a pillow for a little bit. The next day, she brought a pillow over and put it on the ground next to her for me to sit on. When I had a bit of a breakdown, she snuggled with me on the couch until I felt better. I'm so proud of her, and I love her so much! And now she can have special bonding time with daddy and all the family that has been here helping out! I'm so thankful for all the help I've been getting. As I said, I'm not supposed to be here alone with Lyla at all, and I'm not allowed to lift her out of her crib or anything... so someone has been here with me 'round the clock. Erik leaves for work at 6:15 so someone is over then! My doctor said that if I make it to 34 weeks, she MAY lessen my restrictions a bit. So far the days are passing by pretty slowly. I'm cycling through some of the various side effects of the medication, but I'm feeling pretty good this evening so that is helpful! This is the most important thing I could be doing for our little girl, so if I have to feel like crap for however long, then so be it! Here's to hoping for many more days of bed rest!

Bed Rest Life

So bed rest is going alright so far, although I feel like a useless lump on the couch, and my medicine gives me horrible night sweats. Yuck. Here are some phone pics from the past 5 days... can't believe it's been 5 days already! We are now 33 weeks!

Meds at the hospital

Settlers of Catan in the hospital

Erik's sleeping situation.. clearly very comfortable..

view from the couch of Lyla & Daddy play time

A picture Erik sent me from the park today! Looks like a beautiful day out!

My instructions are to be lying on my left side as much as possible.. clearly baby has noticed and has settled in on the left side of my belly.

I'm also supposed to drink a glass of water every hour. So far my day mainly consists of laying down and peeing.

home!!!

Oh my goodness, my own bed has NEVER felt so good, even if I'm confined to my left side... (this makes typing difficult).

Today it was concluded that my contractions were not making labor progress, so despite having some, I was still allowed to go home. They are really irregular, so I just have to go back if they start coming with any regularity or increase in pain. So far we're in good shape. I'm keeping a record of all contractions and their pain level... on a scale of 1-10. So far a 3 is "uf" and 5 is "ouch"... haven't gotten beyond there fortunately.

My doctor told me that women will have an increase in contractions between 6 and 10 because of the "moon and tides." I actually had a couple contractions an hour during this time and the last one was at 9:55, and I haven't had one since! Pregnancy is literally the weirdest thing ever.

I've noticed that contractions kind of correlate with my mood so I'm trying to stay upbeat and optimistic!

I also keep catching myself thinking.. "I could make it to 33 weeks... to 34 weeks....." But I am trying to keep small goals... truthfully, when I go to bed, I just want to get another night under our belt. Day by day!

Anyway it's weird to type on your side. Off to bed after a nice dose of medication!!

I don't know who reads this blog, but a million thanks to all the prayers, messages, calls, texts, etc!!!

Also today we were reunited with our Lyla baby!!! She is a little bothered that mommy can't get off the couch, but she is doing better with it than I thought she would!! So glad to have the family back together!

Day 2

Today started out great.... felt a bit foggy because of the meds, but I got 5 hours of sleep so that helped some. I had some breakfast, but it was so weird because the medicine made my face really weak. I kept having to take breaks in between bites or I couldn't keep my eyes open. I think I took another little nap and that seemed to help.

11:30 I got the second dose of the steroid for baby's lungs! This is huge if the baby comes sometime soon, and the fact that we have both doses under our belt puts me at ease (somewhat).

At about 1 o clock, our Dr let me come off the medicine and take a shower, which was amazing. Unfortunately, I started having some minor contractions about 3 hours later.  The nurse went to start another IV but couldn't get it going after poking in two place (yes, I am very over needles at this point). My doctor came in and said we could try a pill instead, the pill that I would be on if I were to be able to go home.  So far I'm doing alright on it. I have some tightening of the uterus now and then, but no major contractions at this point. I definitely don't want to get my hopes up about going home tomorrow, but the thought of my own bed is always in the back of my mind!

Right now I'm just missing Lyla a lot. I'm so thankful that we have family nearby able to help out, but I wish I could snuggle my baby! We did get to talk to her on the phone a bit today, and it just melted my heart to hear her say "Miss you mommy! Love you mommy!" I think she and her mormor went shopping today and got some yoga pants! If you don't know, Lyla is quite the yogi :) Can't wait to see that girl tomorrow!

Hoping for an uneventful night, full of SLEEP!!!!!!!

Labor Day 1

Well, I'm in surprisingly good spirits at the moment. No contractions for the past several hours and I got in a little nap. Unfortunately I am now wide awake. I have always had wonky sleep schedules so I'm sure I'll survive.

As long as it's fresh in my mind, I wanted to start documenting the start of baby's "Birth Story," because no matter what happens in these next hours, days, weeks, this is where the story begins.

This morning I woke up to contractions 5 minutes apart and not painful, but quite uncomfortable. Lyla and I arrived at the hospital at 8:40 and rode over to the birth center in a wheelchair. Lyla clung to me the whole time but did say that she thought the wheelchair was fun. She was a bit upset when we got to our room, so I gave her my phone and it looked like she was trying to "tweet" and was quite content. At this point I called Erik to have him come over from work. My mother-in-law, Lyla's mormor, came up and took Lyla home for a nap and then to the cottage for a fun night with family! We are so thankful to have such great family!

We were all a bit surprised and upset to discover that I was in fact 3 cm dilated already.  So in roll the meds. I'm on a Magnesium Sulfate that is meant to slow down or stop contractions of smooth muscle (i.e. THE UTERUS!) but it really just made me feel awful. As soon as it started running into me, I felt hot, and then like my body was made of lead. My arms and legs were heavy, I felt that my chest was heavy on my lungs, and my words were sluggish. It was actually kind of scary at first, but started easing up once the medicine slowed down. I also started receiving penicillin as a precaution to group B strep in the baby, more serious in a pre-term baby. I then received a steroid shot in the butt which I did NOT enjoy, but this shot is hugely important as it helps expand our baby's still developing lungs. My goal is to make it to the next dosage of the steroid shot... tomorrow at 11! 10 hours to go, and then we'll see how we're doing from there!

Erik and I got kind of bored and played a game of Settlers of Catan.

At about 7 o clock, I was given the go-ahead to eat a meal, and I realized that my arms were still slow and heavy. I could barely lift my eyelids, and I was just absolutely miserable. The nurse looked at me and said, "Well I think you look overmedicated." So she lowered my dosage of the horrible magnesium stuff and I started to feel like a real person again. This has made the evening and night go much better so far as I feel like I can actually move and open my eyes for more than 1 second at a time.

Contractions have been sporadic, a couple painful ones here and there. I have not dilated past 3.75 cm since I've been here, so I'm feeling hopeful that we can hold out until tomorrow, and then maybe even a couple days beyond that, though I don't want to get too confident... but every day helps!

Emotionally, things have been difficult. My first reaction was to be afraid... afraid of what such an early delivery would mean for our little girl, not yet prepared for our big world. This was not what we had pictured in our heads for her, this was not WHEN we pictured in our heads for her.  I cried and cried as I talked to our doctor, and as the realities of being in labor early set in.  However, the doctors and nurses have all been very encouraging. Our first nurse delivered her son, now 2, at 32 weeks and 5 days, and he had no long term issues from an early birth. She has been in here commiserating with me and comforting me, and I am so thankful for her honesty, care and openness with me. She told me before the magnesium that I'd likely feel like a "drunken sailor" (understatement).

But I am feeling very at-ease now. Although it's hard to imagine our little girl spending some time in the nursery or NICU instead of at home with us, I feel confident that she is well cared for here, that God is watching over her, and I am so thankful that she is already surrounded by so much love and so many prayers. I told Erik before bed that I am feeling good about things, no matter what happens tonight or tomorrow or whenever. I am happy to be able to relax and smile a little now!

Actually I'm starting to feel a little tired so sorry if these recent thoughts have been a bit jumbly. I am waiting to go to sleep until 2 because I have to have blood drawn then anyway. I have to have it drawn every 6 hours! I hate needles so much, I don't think I've ever been poked and prodded so much in my life, but it's all worth it! I hope I have a new lab technician lady though because the last one drew blood from my hand and it was painful!!!!!!!!!!!

Book Reviews

This is currently Lyla's favorite book, as in we read it a minimum of five times a day. Today we've already read it about 6 times, since Lyla is not feeling well and we've been confined to the couch all day! Here is what I think Lyla would say about this book:

"This is the best book ever. I really like the phrases "deep-dark lair," "itty-bitty mouse" and "bear snores on." The picture where the Hare looks like he is winking is SO funny! I didn't know what a mole is, but I really like him in this book. I'm not sure how I feel about the raven yet.  It's also really funny when the Badger is carrying a bag!!! Badgers don't carry bags!! At the end, I was a little worried about badger... he looked sick. But mommy said that he was just sleeping on bear, and I think that's hilarious! And it's really funny at the end because Gopher is getting Bear all messy with crumbs! I could read this book all day!"

I recently read this book per recommendation of my mom, who rarely leads me astray in book world (she's a librarian after all!) But I have to say that I only gave this book 2/5 stars! Rare for me, because I usually like any book. The book had very beautiful descriptions of the circus and all the tents and magical wonders awaiting the people there, and I thought that was nicely done, but almost excessive compared to the character development. I just did not feel connected with the characters. Years would go by between chapters, chapters would go by without a word about an important character. I had a lot of difficulty sympathizing with the main characters at all, and the love story felt kind of flat for me. I will say that I think this book would make a great movie!

32 Weeks

Today we hit the 32 week mark of this pregnancy! 8, more or less, to go! I'm starting to feel a bit panicky, like we have a lot to get ready. The truth is, we don't have as much to prepare this time around, and I think that actually makes it worse because I don't know what to do with myself!

Here's the 32 week bump!

We went out on a little nature hike and took Lyla's "2 Year Pictures." Here are my favorites!

Did I ever mention that my baby is a supermodel? (I'm a mom, I'm allowed to brag, right?) I got a little emotional thinking about how Lyla will be two in just two weeks! Time goes by way too fast. But we are so proud of her and constantly amazed at the little girl she is growing to be!

We love you Lyla Soo!

Sneaking up on Daddy!

We're in an extreme "Mommy's Girl" phase right now. It can be slightly tiring for me and a bit sad for daddy. But just look at these pictures! She adores him so much, even if it seems like she only wants Mommy some days! She always laughs and smiles the most with him, and I hope he can see that, too!

30 Weeks

A little behind... here are some 30 week bump pics!

Clearly falling asleep in this one... that's what being sick, having a sick toddler and being pregnant will do to you!

Think I'm starting to feel that third trimester tiredness kick in. I even had a cup of coffee the other morning! I hate coffee! I have to admit that it was pretty good. This could mark the beginning of a new chapter in my life. The coffee chapter.

Cute Stuff from the Week

Well the three of us were all sick over Erik's vacation week. Perfect timing, right? So there was a bit of crabbiness all around, but overall we had a great week, especially when Lyla started feeling better!

Lyla's sense of humor seems to be coming out more and more every day. She is just SILLY and loves making up silly words.

Here's some funny/cute stuff from the past week.

1. Lyla: Mommy juggle
Mommy: I don't know how to juggle Lyla!
Lyla: Try though mommy!!

Just leave it to your kids to remind you of simple life lessons.. like TRY! Still can't juggle though.

2. Eating macaroni...
Lyla: Macaroni.... macarona!! macarona! (laughing) Macamommy! (more laughing!) Macalyla! Macashoe! Macaplate! Macamilks!

Funny girl :)

3. Erik's parents were trying to guess the baby's name... For some reason the name Kai really stuck with Lyla, and now she calls the baby, "Baby Kai." She also calls her "Baby Shodo." Not sure where she got that one. She thinks it's hilarious to call the baby by a different name!

4. Lyla thought it was hilarious when Erik randomly made farting noises with his armpit!! She tried to do it, too. Yep, our kids will have great manners ;)

There's probably lots more. She is so funny and loves to LAUGH!!!

She's also a little imitator these days. Erik said, "You're going to follow me, right Lyla?" And she said, "Gonna follow me, right?" I could name a million of these instances... we have to really watch what we say sometimes!

We are also entering "temper tantrum" days unfortunately. And extreme "Mommy favoritism." I feel like every age and phase is a new realm of parenting!