1st Trip to Saint Lukes ~ Already...

Last night, while I was at work of course, I started having pains in my left side. I didn't really think much of it at first, I figured I was stretching, the baby was kicking me, or I was having gas pains (I know the lovely things about being pregnant). This all started around 12:30 am. I just kept doing what I needed to do, but the pain kept coming & going. I still didn't really think anything of it. I then went to lunch at 1:00 am, thinking resting for bit would help. Well I was wrong! While I was at lunch the pain got worse. So I thought to myself, "could these be contractions?". I have never been 21 weeks pregnant before & I have never experienced contractions before. Anyway, I started timing them. The pain was coming every 3 to 5 minutes & lasting about 10 to 20 seconds. A few times the pain was radiating around into my back, but not every time. I think thought to feel my stomach & it wasn't feeling tight as this was happening outside, but it felt like it was tightening inside. I then decided to try to use the restroom, maybe that was the problem. Nope, not the case. At 2:20 am I decided to call the doctor on call, for peace of mind more than anything. She asked me a bunch of questions & then decided I should go in to L&D to be evaluated. 

I then freaked out a little!! I had a zillion thoughts running through my head.

What if I am in preterm labor??

What if they put me on bed rest, I still have 4 months to go??

What if something is wrong with the baby??

What if something is wrong with they placenta??

You get the point, freak out mode!!!

So off I went to Saint Luke's North at 2:30 in the morning. I called Dustin on the way, so he knew what was going on, but told him not to come. I would call him if they were admitting me. 

I got there & they were waiting for me. I had a really nice nurse, Sherry. We went to the triage room & she hooked me up to the monitors, checked my vitals, checked my cervix, & asked me a bunch of questions.

My blood pressure was high (of course, I was in a panic), the monitors were not showing that I was having contractions at that point, & my cervix was completely closed! Good news, not preterm labor!!! (1 worry down)

The baby looked good on the monitor heart beat at 157 & moving all over the place. I haven't been able to feel him very much because I have an anterior placenta (meaning the placenta is in the front, basically right behind my belly button), but last night I could feel him like crazy.  I think it was because I could hear when he was moving on the monitor so I payed close attention. (2nd worry down)

They decided to watch me for a little bit. 

She came in at 4:15 am  & said we are sending you home. I was relieved but then came. The doctor wants you on "modified bed rest" the rest of the week. Meaning I don't have to stay in bed, but I am to be home resting, not out & about, not at work, not cleaning house. Boring!!! This is not what I wanted to hear! At least it is just for a week, right??? 

I am to see the doctor next week & will more than likely be heading back to work on Monday night. I am worried I am not going to have any maternity leave, but I guess we have to get the baby here healthy before we worry about that. We will cross that bridge when we get there.

So here I am at home, on my 27th Birthday, on "house rest". Fun times!! Dustin just called & said they are closing until Monday after today, so at least he will be here with me. He is not one to be a home body though, so I imagine I will be here by myself a few days. It is going to be very hard for me to stay home until Monday too, so I defiantly understand. By Sunday, I may have to venture out a little. :)

I hope this isn't a sign of things to come. If we can at least make it to the 1st week in April I will be content with that. In the meantime I will take it a little more easy. We have to keep our little boy safe in there!

Christmas Time

I have to admit that I was not really looking forward to Christmas this year. Many things have changed in both Dustin & my family's over the past year & I knew things would be different. But to my surprise we had a really wonderfully pleasant day with both our family's!!

We began our celebration Christmas Eve at The Sumner's house. For those of you that don't know Mrs. Sumner & Jim (this is what I have called them since I can remember) are family friends of mine & now are family to me that I have known since I was born. My grandparents lived next door to them & then my Mom & I lived up the street from them for several years. Anyway, we had a nice chili dinner with munchies on the side & good conversation. Dustin & I also got to experience the Wii for the first time!!! We had soo much fun we have decided we have to have one! We played Tiger Woods Golf, of course Dustin won, the video game expert he is.

On Christmas day we started at Dustin's parents at around 9:00 with cinnamon rolls. We then opened our gifts. They surprised us with a new TV for our front living room, what an amazingly nice gift!! Totally too much!! I am not one to like more than 1 TV in the house, because I feel like it divides everyone up. But I am tired of watching Dustin play XBox, so it was time! We than ate a huge meal of ham, mashed potatoes, corn, mac n cheese, & yummy rolls. After we all couldn't breath anymore we decided we should probably stop eating. We spent the early afternoon playing Devin's (Dustin's 12 year old sister) new Life game, which by the way now comes with debit cards instead of paper money, who knew. At about 3:30pm we ventured home to let Scout out & then to my parent's in Kearney. I was bummed because my Mom was making soup this year instead of a traditional Christmas dinner, but she made my 2 favorite kinds of soup & they were both very yummy! I don't think we could have eaten another huge meal. We had a really nice time visiting & then we all played Scatagories (spelling?) with my parents, brothers, Aunt & cousins. We played this Thanksgiving day also & had so much fun! It is always funny to hear what everyone comes up with. :) We continued to enjoy dessert & munchies of course. We were tired & decided Scout had been home long enough so about 9:00pm we headed home. All in all it was a really great day!!!

Since the day after Christmas we have been searching Kansas City for a Wii. Unfortunately everyone & I mean everyone is sold out & no idea as to when more are coming. We also went to get a cable box for our new TV & we even had to go on a waiting list for that. Which is fine, since we have to have a new cable jack put in! We have enjoyed a couple movies in our "new living room" though. I must say it is different to sit upstairs. Our main living room has & still will be our family room, it is just different to watch TV somewhere else.

We are thankful to have spent the day with our family! We are all so busy these days with our everyday lives we often forget to take time out just to visit & spend time with one another.

It's A Boy!

Here are some pictures of our Baby Boy!

Profile

Waving at us. :)

Leg bent at the knee. Just relaxing...

Blowing Bubbles

It's A Boy!

We were able to a lot with our ultrasound this past week. They also told us they are 4 chambers in the heart, the head size looks good, the bones are right on track, and the baby weighs 9oz and is 10" long. 

To Paint or Not To Paint...

I know my original plan was to not paint, but I am having second thoughts. We are having our ultrasound Wednesday & if they too say it is a boy the blue paint is going to appear. I am so excited to decorate the nursery & I just don't think it will "feel" baby enough without some paint to go along. I think I am going with a brown/blue color scheme. That's all I will reveal for now, but I have lots of ideas up my sleeve.

**18 Weeks**

We have made it to 18 weeks today! I am so happy & excited to be (finally) experiencing this pregnancy journey! It is still so surreal to me. At times I don't even feel pregnant & then I walk by a mirror. :) Actually I don't really think I am that "big", I'm sure my time is coming so I am not at all worried about it. I am still wearing 1 pair of my jeans, I just am not ready to surrender to the maternity jeans yet (they are so unappealing). I am so used to wearing my jeans so low (since that seems to be all that is available these days) that when I put on the maternity jeans they feel so much higher & just uncomfortable. I'm sure in a few more weeks I will think they are God's gift to earth. :)

I am still feeling good. Just the occasional headaches & my once a day dizzy/fainty spells. Which yes I have asked & have been told it is normal. It is to do with the increased blood volume. Luckily, they don't last long & then I am on my way. 

The countdown is on... 5 more days until we find out what we are having. We have some pretty concrete beliefs that this little one is a boy, which is totally opposite of my gut instinct! But all will be confirmed in just a few more days! :) I am excited to start decorating our "blank" nursery & trying to come up with names we both really like! Who knew naming a baby would be so difficult. You don't want something to baby like for when they are adults & you don't want something to grown up for when they are a baby. Anyway we have a few in mind, but none that we are set on. I would like to go into delivery with 2 names that we really like & then when we see the baby pick which one we think fits the best. 

Thanks for stopping in! I hope to get Christmas decor pictures up soon!