Life as we know it...

    It's been 2 weeks since I last posted so I thought it'd be a good time to do a quick update.  I got side-tracked on my bed rest goal lists after a couple of scary doctor appointments.  Since those, they started me on a high dose of Motrin.  The medicine along with lots of prayers have made a huge difference.  I'm still on bed rest.  It's been over 5 weeks!  At times I feel like I'm going crazy with the way our whole lives have been turned upside down!  It helps knowing that it's only for a short season.  I have a new sympathy for people with long term/chronic illness!

       Things look a lot different around our house. Since I'm on complete bed rest I can't care for Kendall like she needs.    I think that's the worst part of this whole thing.  She has basically been with me almost 24/7 since she was born.  We have been the classic over-protective parents! Now we are accepting lots of help!  My mom takes her one or two days a week, we pay a teenage girl one or two days a week to help out, and Michael's mom comes one day a week.  Michael is typically off on Fridays so we have a long weekend with just the three of us.  It's a strange thing to have other people coming into your home.  But it is a blessing that we have help. 

    The doctors are hopeful that I'll be able to carry the baby until 32 weeks.  That's only 8 days away...EEK! Obviously the longer I can carry her, the better!  I have been seeing my regular OB once a week and the high risk doctors once a week.   Back after my "scary" appointments I received steroid shots to help the baby's lungs develop.  I will most likely have these again before delivering.  In my last ultrasound (I usually have 2 per week), the tech mentioned that the baby was "practicing" using her lungs.  So that's a great thing.   She measured her at 3lbs and 10oz.  

    I failed my blood sugar test horribly.  When I went for my gestational diabetes appointment, the NP saw where I had had the steroid shots the day before my blood test.  The shots significantly elevate your levels for up to 5 days. So now I most likely do not have gestational diabetes but they are having me occasionally check my levels just to be safe.   

      As far as what I've been doing...lots of reading.  I ran out of physical books, but have been "buying" free books to read on the Ipad.  I have been a stinky blogger!  I have packed most of my bags for the hospital.  I have played around with photo-shop but still have no idea what I'm doing.  My photo albums are caught up with actual printed pictures.  And I have made about 14 pages for Kendall's quiet book.  It may end up HUGE if I stay on bed rest much longer!

    I have always been a home-body but look forward to doctor appointments now, so that I can get out of the house!  Yesterday, I was pretty excited about my newest quiet book page...Michael looked concerned and said we need to get away for a few days once the baby comes.  Ha!

    So that's pretty much life as we know it these days.  Lots of laying and waiting and wondering.  

     I haven't blogged much because I'm sure people get tired of reading these posts but I have nothing else to say.  I'm in a weird place.  On one hand I want nothing more than for this to be over and things back to normal.  On the other hand, the last thing in the world I want is for this to be over and have a very small very premature baby on our hands.  We're praying for a healthy baby and God's will to be done.  That's the most important thing.

Bed Rest--Week 3

   We survived another week!  And I say "we" because it's not just something that's affecting me.  It's a whole family ordeal!
   It was a rough week emotionally and mentally, but I really think my silly goal list kept my mind busy enough that I didn't go crazy.
   We had a couple of friends from church cook for us this week, and my mother in law, so that was a blessing.

Last week I shared my goals for the week...

How did I do?

• Read!--Accomplished.  I finished 5 books last week.

 

•   2 Blog Post--Accomplished.  Here and Here.

• TPT Unit--  This is the one goal I didn't finished.  I've been selling things on Teachers Pay Teachers for the last few years.  I'm not making a killing but it's easy money.  I wait until my earnings build up in paypal and use it to buy treats for my girls off Zulily that I'd normally not spend money on.  I have a few ideas in my head of units I'd like to add.  Maybe I'll accomplish it this week.

• 2 Quiet Book Pages--Accomplished!  I surpassed this goal and finished 4 pages!

 The chicks hatch out of the eggs.  They can play in the grass below or under the mother hen's wing.  I'd love to add Psalm 91:4 to the mother hen page, but I'm not that crafty.  

 The barn page opens up to 5 finger puppets. 

 And Mr. Potato head.  I'll finish his corresponding page this week that will house his body parts. 
 

• Play with Photoshop--Accomplished.  I worked through 4 or 5 online tutorials.  I'm gonna continue this goal.

• Organize photography Pinterest Board--Accomplished

 

•  Daily Bible Reading--Accomplished.  It's sad to admit but I was getting behind on my bible reading while on bed rest.  I caught up this week.

• Daily Bible Study--I finished the bible study book I was working through this week.  I did miss a few days but I like to put this after my bible reading so I'm not too upset.  I have a study ready on Proverbs 31 that I'd like to start this week.  Hopefully it won't depressed me, because my life is far from the Proverbs 31 woman right now!

• Nurses' Gifts-- Accomplished.  This was a pinterest idea.  Sweet little gifts for the nurses who'll take care of us at the hospital.  The original idea came from here, and I used her printable cards.  Super easy project for very little money.  My bags each include Mentos, Altoids, Hand Sanitizer, A mini composition book, and a pen.

 

 

I know my goals are lame and silly but they kept me occupied.  My list for this week:

 

 
 

Bed Rest--Week 2

   This laying around thing isn't all it's cracked up to up to be!  Someone asked if Michael had actually heard the doctor say bed rest or if I had just came out saying that.   Hilarious! Sure a break is great but after so long, laying gets pretty boring.  Not to complain,  everyday with my baby tucked inside is a blessing!  Things are actually going surprisingly well.  I'm 28 weeks today.  I saw this chalkboard on another blog and loved it!

 Source   Our baby is still unnamed....ugh!  It's not Annalee :).

  Hitting 28 weeks is a blessing!  But at the same time, I am missing not being as productive.   I miss changing diapers and cooking supper.   I miss my daily to-do lists :).  So I decided to write down some goals for this week.  Nothing earth-shattering...I have to be laying down you know.  Just a few things to occupy my time and mind.

 

 Hopefully I'll be back next with an update of a completed list and a new list for week 3.  :)


 

Kendall is 18 Months!

     Kendall is 18 months old!  1 1/2 years old!  I say this every post but I am loving this stage!  She is learning new things everyday!
    

      Her 18 month appointment is scheduled in a couple of weeks, so I'll have to update her stats then.

    It seems like she is learning new words everyday.  She says: Momma, Daddy, doggie, hat, bite, night-night, yeah, yay, baby, ball, bye-bye, uh-oh, Mimi, Mawmaw, Barney, shoe, and hey-ya.

    She is super attached to sucking her 2 fingers and to her blankie.  

    She is wearing size 24 months and 2T's, size 4 diapers (size 5 night time diapers), and size 4 shoes.  

   
   At last count she had 16 teeth.  

     Her favorite toys are her babies, bracelets, playhouse, purses, shoes, and ride on toys.

   She is beginning to be able to play with her shape sorter.  She also likes to clap while Momma sings "If You're Happy and You Know It". 

   She can point to her nose, hair, ears, and mouth.  Eyes are a little iffy.

    We've also started letting her use a spoon some.  It's a pretty messy deal!  But she sure likes to try.

    She likes to "help" by throwing things away (sometimes even things that aren't trash), holding the dust pan (which is as helpful as it sounds), handing dishes out of the dishwasher, closing toliet lids, and picking up things we need.

 

    She has several curls on the back of her head.

    Most days she'll just take 1 nap usually an hour or two long.  She wakes up in the mornings between 7 or 8.  And goes to bed between 7:30 and 8 at night. 

     She is a great walker now.  It looks funny to see her crawl.

She is so fun and full of life.  Our day revolves around her, and we wouldn't have it any other way!
 

    
Thanks to Aunt Punky for the photo shoot, while I laid on the couch!
    
 

When it rains...

    Things have been less than smooth sailing at our house recently. I started not to post because it’s gonna be somewhat of a “downer” post, but this is part of our story and I want to remember the details whether good or bad. 

     After my last OB visit, I was told to stay off my feet 90% of the time. It really wasn’t that bad. Kendall would play around the living room while I lay on the couch. She was allowed to watch more cartoons than normal but we knew this was just a stage and hopefully she wouldn’t come out too damaged by it. 

     Things were going ok until something went very wrong with my sciatic nerve in my right leg. I’ve read that the baby can get in a position to cause pressure on it. Whatever was going on it was the worst pain! I could get comfortable lying down but standing or walking was almost impossible. I would have the sharp shooting pains in my right hip and down my leg. Then my leg would go numb and ache so bad. My sweet husband bought me a shower chair; because I couldn’t it make it through a 2 minute shower. (You know you are old when he buys you a shower chair and blood pressure cuff in the same week!) 

      This went on for a solid week! It was really horrible. I went from doing almost everything for my daughter to being able to do nothing. Thankfully we’ve had lots of family and friends who stepped in to help. We started to notice a change in Kendall’s eating patterns. She wasn’t eating near as much and she started to get a small rash on her back and stomach. At first we thought the rash was poison ivy and her eating was messed up by being on such a different schedule.

     Last Friday I had a small scare and called the OB. They wanted me to come in that day and see the nurse practitioner. She was really concerned about several situations including really high protein in my urine (an indicator of preeclampsia which I also had with Kendall). She told me I needed to be on full bed rest and come back on Monday to see my doctor. When Monday rolled around, things weren’t looking much better. My doctor also found that I was starting to dilate (which I wasn’t on Friday). She wanted me to see the high risk doctor that same day and her again the next day. The NP had mentioned high risk on Friday but when my doctor wanted me to see him that same day, it was pretty scary. 

     The high risk doctor visit turned into some relief for my frazzled nerves. We had yet another ultrasound. The baby looks great. They are estimating that she weighs 2lbs and 5 ozs right now. Although preterm labor is still a concern I’m kind of at a strange place. I’m not early enough and having enough symptoms that he was super worried. One option he offered was starting me on Motrin but since I wasn’t having any contractions he wasn’t real sure about it. My blood pressure was looking good also, so he wasn’t too concerned about preeclampsia. 

     Back to my normal OB on Tuesday, my protein looked a lot better. So I’m still on bed rest, she’s also gonna be monitoring me with weekly visits. There’s really no way to tell what’s gonna happen with this child of mine.

      Finally after a week of dealing with the horrible leg/back/nerve pain, I woke up Wednesday suddenly almost pain free. The only problem is I woke up at 2 am with what I thought was heartburn/indigestion. Not a big deal….nothing a few Tums can’t help. However no matter what I did nothing would make it go away. Kendall also woke up at 5 am pretty cranky so we had an early morning cartoon fest. 

     Michael’s mom came up to help out for the day. I spent the day on the couch still super uncomfortable. I should have known something was up when I kept getting super-hot and then super cold. Kendall was getting grumpier as the day wore on. By late afternoon she was super uncomfortable. Her rash stretched from her back to her stomach. When Michael woke up (he’s been working night shift), he made her an appointment with the pediatrician for the next day. During this time my vomiting started. He hung up with her doctor to call mine and hung up with them to call into work for the night. 

      At Kendall’s appointment, her pediatrician diagnosed her with shingles. It is super rare for a baby that young to get. He even had another doctor come in for a second opinion. 

     So needless to say things at our house have been less than ideal! I think I’m on the mend. It will most likely be several weeks until Kendall is back to her old self. I’m thankful for all the friends and family that have been helping us. Oh and I seriously married super-man. He’s had to do so much extra recently. We are both ready for a little normalcy in our lives, but at that point we’ll probably be adjusting to 2 babies and a new normal.

      So that’s the highlights of the last 2 weeks of our lives. Not very glamorous but in honest detail.