Monday, April 3, 2017: Day One of Separation
Today was the first full day of being physically separated from my family. Oliver and Tyler are in Seattle at Children's hospital. My other two kids are with my parents. I am in the hospital in Tacoma, recovering from my invasive abdominal surgery.
I wish I had more words to describe my emotions right now. A part of me is relieved to have a few moments of silence today, no one needing or wanting me. No one asking questions or expecting answers. It was nice that Siobhan spent the night last night and was with me in the morning. It was wonderful to have my sister stop for a visit (with coffee!!) and to have her help on my first "epic" loop walk down the halls of the hospital.
I guess I just feel detached from every thing. My two oldest kids are getting great attention and love from their grandparents...something I cannot give them right now (physically or emotionally). My youngest son has about 8 doctors and 10-15 other providers caring for him around the clock. My husband has taken over the medical decision-making for our son (at least for now) as I recover in the hospital. I feel like my story stopped the moment my preemie son was whisked away via ambulance to Seattle. My body was just simply used as a vessel to create this little boy and bring him into the world...and that is it. I know in my head this is not true but my heart is confused, hurting, and overwhelmed.
The good news is that the feeling of loneliness is certainly not there. I have been so incredibly blessed by cards, letters, scriptures, texts, and messages. A friend brought me a journal today filled with all of the things mentioned above. It was put together at our women's retreat that occurred over the weekend. As I flipped through it, I cried, feeling His presence and peace. I could feel the love of the community in which we are apart of. Also, someone I don't even know sent me a handwritten letter to the hospital. Beyond touched! I was so encouraged. This has probably the one tangible thing that has kept me grounds so
please feel free to send us these tangible encouragements!! I need them.
Tomorrow I will be discharged and will be able to see Oliver in person for the second time. I am worried about the long drive up there, how my body will physically do with all the points of transfer, and my emotions. If I cry (or cough or laugh) my incision hurts. I am praying it will be a great day and that much progress will be made.
I cannot believe my son is now one and a half days old! Although I have only touched him for 5 minutes or so, my heart is wrapped around him in so many ways. All of the doctors, mine and his, say that we made the right decision on taking him out when we did. This is reassuring to me and confirms that we made the right decision as his parents. It was a tough call to make.
I struggle with not knowing the outcome of all of this. The journey ahead is long. We are just taking our first steps in it. In his first day of life, Oliver went from 100% oxygen on the ventilation to somewhere around the low 50% (like 53 or something)! Amazing progress; however, this was followed by increased CO2 levels putting him back into a critical state. This was corrected about about an hour+ of messing with the machine settings. He is still not stable. He is unable to get a CT scan which would reveal to us more about his condition. Honestly, we still have no real idea about what is wrong with him. We know one lung is compromised. We know there are some issues with his working lung. Is a lung transplant needed in his future? Gosh! So much to take in...so many "what if" scenarios right now.
My heart hurts thinking about this.
Oliver is in the best place he can be right now: 1) in the hands of Jesus 2) surrounded by our family of believers who are constantly praying for him and 3) with a whole team of doctors who are fighting along side of him for his survival.
We still have no idea if Oliver will make it through all of this. But I pray with every ounce of everything that I have and every tear I can produce and every thought that I capture that he will. He IS a fighter! We believe he will continue to be strong and courageous. We believe that he will make progress moment by moment. We believe he hears the tender whispers of Jesus speaking to him. We believe the Holy Spirit is resting upon him and his medical team. We believe in the power of healing in the name of God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Will you believe with us and continue to lift him up in prayer?
Showing posts with label bed rest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bed rest. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 4, 2017
Monday, April 3, 2017
Growing a boy: Happy Birthday Son
Sunday, April 2, 2017: Bed Rest Day 6
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SON!!
(33 weeks/2 days gestation)
The night was horrible. I was never able to really get to bed. My right leg hurt so bad that I couldn't even move it on my own. It felt like a 100 pound brick. My belly was so big that it prevented me from being able to get a full cough or full breath. The pressure from the increased fluid made it impossible to urinate. Contractions were peaking to the point of feeling like I was in full labor resulting in a 1 cm dilation (totaling 4 cm and 75% effaced). As my body processed all of these rather quick changes I began to shake uncontrollably. Finally, around 4:30am the torture was put to ease. The first pain med did not even touch the pain. They gave me a 1/2 dose of another, much stronger, pain med. This mildly eased the pain until they completed with a full dose. My body was finally able to rest.
We had the nurse call our doctor at two points during the night to consult and the on-call doc gladly came in to access the situation. I had made some progression but not enough that warranted a c-section at 5 in the morning. At this point, I was healthy and the baby was healthy. I slept for about 2 hours.
By 7am I was woken up by our nurse saying that our 12:30pm ultrasound got bumped up to 7am but only if we could leave immediately. Of course, we did. Our 1-hour appointment would be telling of our next course of action. It was a blessing and miracle that we could get this done first thing in the morning so that we could revise our game plan if needed.
The ultrasound tech measured my fluid levels...I was back up to 53 AFI (Thursday I was 40 and the day before 57...what the heck is going on?). Anyway, one of the major things the ultrasound would reveal is baby's respiratory function. For a 30-min window they needed to see him "breath" on his own. They were unable to see this. This is common or could have simply been missed.We were given a few new images of our sweet baby boy and then taken back up to our room.
I was super hungry at this point, roughly 8am. The last time I ate was "dinner" at 6pm which consisted of a few bites of fruit and a coffee from the hospital lobby. While they were trying to reach my doctor to determine if I could eat, the baby was put back on the monitor to measure his heart. With the excess fluid, it is difficult to keep him on the monitor because he has a big swimming pool to float around in. When he slowed down for a little while the nurses noticed that his heart was not accelerating the way it should. It was staying at his baseline but that was all.
I was getting a little anxious to hear the official ultrasound results, to further understand this "issue" with his heart and his breathing; and I was lightheaded because I needed food. Despite all of this, we waited patiently in our room until around 10:30am when the NICU doctor, Dr. Flood, and our OB/GYN Dr. Stearman appeared in our room to discuss all that was discovered and all that had changed (again) in the last 24-hours.
Per the the recommendation of both the NICU doc and my OB/GNY, around 11am, Tyler and I decided it was best for our family to have a baby today. It was a relatively ease decision as we reflected back on this whole week's set of events, risks vs. benefits as well was what was best for me and baby (especially in light of the night I had and the test results from baby). I was not anticipating a c-section until Friday yet it appeared that baby was doing just "ok" and not showing any signs of improving in the womb. Trying to push us both to make the 34-week mark would be of no benefit. It actually may have made things worse.
Shortly after this decision, the room cleared and it was just Tyler, me and my OB/GYN. She patiently and lovingly answered all of our questions. She even had tears in her eyes as she watched us process through the emotions of what was going to happen in the next hour or so. Going into this surgery to retrieve our son, we knew there was still a 50/50 chance of survival. I remember saying though tears and labored breathing, "But I just love our son so much already and I haven't even met him. I don't want to lose him," Tyler asked if our doctor would be okay if he prayed over me. She got a little smile on her face and joined us! As I laid on the bed, Tyler held my hand and our doctor laid hands on my belly and prayed over us. She prayed that this baby would be a fighter; she prayed for steady hands and wisdom; she prayed that I would do okay with the surgery. It was amazing. We said our amens' looking at each other with tears in our eyes, not knowing the fate of this baby boy.
Moments later things started happening rapidly. I was cleaned and changed for surgery. Still having pain, I was given a slight dose of pain meds (thank goodness! This helped with the pain and calmed my nerves). Tyler put on scrubs and within 20 minutes we were back in the OR. I was asked to sit on the OR table and hunch over my belly...yea, easier said than done!... so the epidural could be placed. I closed my eyes, focused on my breathing and squeezed Tyler's hands all while praying over our son and the traumatic events that my son and I would go through.
The OR was joined be another through clear glass doors. I remember sitting on the OR table and seeing the clock, 11:47am, as the NICU team started to appear and set up the OR next to mine for my unborn son. I was quickly lowered onto the table since the epidural was starting to kick in. Things from there were kinda a blur. I was a little loopy from the pain meds given prior to the surgery and the other IV meds began to really effect me as well. It was kinda a drunk/out-of-it feeling. As the surgeons began to cut I could feel no pain and I could feel the weight of the fluid coming off. It was an amazing sensation! It literally sounded like a shop vac in there as they suctioned all the fluids. I felt minimal tugging and pulling because my uterus was so stretched out. He came out very quickly and easily at 12:19pm. I vaguely remember seeing someone walking from my OR to my sons'...just steps away, but I didn't get to see him or hear any cries (which was expected). From that moment forward, Tyler was doing the best he could to be there for me as well as our son. I told him to just enjoy being with our son, especially since we had no idea what his condition was really like. Tyler took a few pictures of our son and walked back over to show me as they prepared to close my incision. That was the first time I got to "see" our son. I looked back up at the clock, 12:23pm. By 12:40 the NICU team and Tyler left their OR and I remained as they wrapped things up. As the rolled me down the hallway to the recovery, I ended up throwing up a bit. An unpleasant side effect of the epidural medication. Tyler and I FaceTimed while I was in recovery so I could get a better look at baby. During this conversation I learned that our son, not more than an hour old, would need to be transferred up to Seattle Children's Hospital.
I was so sad that I would not even get to see him or touch him for days since I just had a major surgery myself and was in recovery "lock down" for 2-hours post-op. I knew he needed to catch a ride to Seattle as soon as possible so I settled in mind that it would be at least two or three days before I would see him. Well, my wonderful dream-team of nurses "snuck" me up to the NICU at TG so that I could lock eye on him and touch his precious little feet. It literally felt like Christmas, only 1000x more exciting. I seriously was jumping out of my gurney with excitement to see him. I was wheeled into the room backwards and immediately began to cry tears of joy. All the physical pain I was feeling suddenly went away as I gently stroked his feet and called him by his name. I was the very first person to call him by name, OLIVER SINCLAIR!
When I began talking to him and saying his name, although intubated, his little tongue started to move backwards and forwards. He would do this only for me. HE KNEW HIS MOMMA! My heart melted. It was as if he was telling me that he was ready to fight. That he was strong. And that the battle was won in Jesus. I was overwhelmed by this moment! It was incredibly sad to be rolled out of the room with only getting such a short amount of time with him. My heart was breaking...what if he was in Seattle and took a turn for the worst and I wasn't there? I tried not to think on that too much...but instead tried to rest God's promises and scripture.
My friend Siobhan stayed with me every moment from being rolled out of the OR until the next day. It was a huge comfort to have someone who would pray over me, help me adjust my pillows, listen to my struggles or simply just sit in silence as I processed the whirlwind of a day. The day ended not nearly as dramatically as it started; however, it was strange that on my son's birthday I was without a son and without a husband. It was hard to realize that my body felt like I just gave birth but my baby was no where to be seen. I struggled with wanting to know what was happening at each moment with him to being so exhausted I fought to keep my eyes open.
We still have a LONG road ahead, counting each day we have with him a blessing and covering him with so much prayer that it is almost unfathomable. We do not know what will happen in front of us but we do know that God has given sweet Oliver Sinclair to us for today...in this moment. So we will soak it in. Enjoy this sweet personality and lean on Jesus even more!
Happy Birthday, our son, Oliver Sinclair.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SON!!
(33 weeks/2 days gestation)
The night was horrible. I was never able to really get to bed. My right leg hurt so bad that I couldn't even move it on my own. It felt like a 100 pound brick. My belly was so big that it prevented me from being able to get a full cough or full breath. The pressure from the increased fluid made it impossible to urinate. Contractions were peaking to the point of feeling like I was in full labor resulting in a 1 cm dilation (totaling 4 cm and 75% effaced). As my body processed all of these rather quick changes I began to shake uncontrollably. Finally, around 4:30am the torture was put to ease. The first pain med did not even touch the pain. They gave me a 1/2 dose of another, much stronger, pain med. This mildly eased the pain until they completed with a full dose. My body was finally able to rest.
We had the nurse call our doctor at two points during the night to consult and the on-call doc gladly came in to access the situation. I had made some progression but not enough that warranted a c-section at 5 in the morning. At this point, I was healthy and the baby was healthy. I slept for about 2 hours.
By 7am I was woken up by our nurse saying that our 12:30pm ultrasound got bumped up to 7am but only if we could leave immediately. Of course, we did. Our 1-hour appointment would be telling of our next course of action. It was a blessing and miracle that we could get this done first thing in the morning so that we could revise our game plan if needed.
The ultrasound tech measured my fluid levels...I was back up to 53 AFI (Thursday I was 40 and the day before 57...what the heck is going on?). Anyway, one of the major things the ultrasound would reveal is baby's respiratory function. For a 30-min window they needed to see him "breath" on his own. They were unable to see this. This is common or could have simply been missed.We were given a few new images of our sweet baby boy and then taken back up to our room.
I was super hungry at this point, roughly 8am. The last time I ate was "dinner" at 6pm which consisted of a few bites of fruit and a coffee from the hospital lobby. While they were trying to reach my doctor to determine if I could eat, the baby was put back on the monitor to measure his heart. With the excess fluid, it is difficult to keep him on the monitor because he has a big swimming pool to float around in. When he slowed down for a little while the nurses noticed that his heart was not accelerating the way it should. It was staying at his baseline but that was all.
I was getting a little anxious to hear the official ultrasound results, to further understand this "issue" with his heart and his breathing; and I was lightheaded because I needed food. Despite all of this, we waited patiently in our room until around 10:30am when the NICU doctor, Dr. Flood, and our OB/GYN Dr. Stearman appeared in our room to discuss all that was discovered and all that had changed (again) in the last 24-hours.
Per the the recommendation of both the NICU doc and my OB/GNY, around 11am, Tyler and I decided it was best for our family to have a baby today. It was a relatively ease decision as we reflected back on this whole week's set of events, risks vs. benefits as well was what was best for me and baby (especially in light of the night I had and the test results from baby). I was not anticipating a c-section until Friday yet it appeared that baby was doing just "ok" and not showing any signs of improving in the womb. Trying to push us both to make the 34-week mark would be of no benefit. It actually may have made things worse.
Shortly after this decision, the room cleared and it was just Tyler, me and my OB/GYN. She patiently and lovingly answered all of our questions. She even had tears in her eyes as she watched us process through the emotions of what was going to happen in the next hour or so. Going into this surgery to retrieve our son, we knew there was still a 50/50 chance of survival. I remember saying though tears and labored breathing, "But I just love our son so much already and I haven't even met him. I don't want to lose him," Tyler asked if our doctor would be okay if he prayed over me. She got a little smile on her face and joined us! As I laid on the bed, Tyler held my hand and our doctor laid hands on my belly and prayed over us. She prayed that this baby would be a fighter; she prayed for steady hands and wisdom; she prayed that I would do okay with the surgery. It was amazing. We said our amens' looking at each other with tears in our eyes, not knowing the fate of this baby boy.
Moments later things started happening rapidly. I was cleaned and changed for surgery. Still having pain, I was given a slight dose of pain meds (thank goodness! This helped with the pain and calmed my nerves). Tyler put on scrubs and within 20 minutes we were back in the OR. I was asked to sit on the OR table and hunch over my belly...yea, easier said than done!... so the epidural could be placed. I closed my eyes, focused on my breathing and squeezed Tyler's hands all while praying over our son and the traumatic events that my son and I would go through.
The OR was joined be another through clear glass doors. I remember sitting on the OR table and seeing the clock, 11:47am, as the NICU team started to appear and set up the OR next to mine for my unborn son. I was quickly lowered onto the table since the epidural was starting to kick in. Things from there were kinda a blur. I was a little loopy from the pain meds given prior to the surgery and the other IV meds began to really effect me as well. It was kinda a drunk/out-of-it feeling. As the surgeons began to cut I could feel no pain and I could feel the weight of the fluid coming off. It was an amazing sensation! It literally sounded like a shop vac in there as they suctioned all the fluids. I felt minimal tugging and pulling because my uterus was so stretched out. He came out very quickly and easily at 12:19pm. I vaguely remember seeing someone walking from my OR to my sons'...just steps away, but I didn't get to see him or hear any cries (which was expected). From that moment forward, Tyler was doing the best he could to be there for me as well as our son. I told him to just enjoy being with our son, especially since we had no idea what his condition was really like. Tyler took a few pictures of our son and walked back over to show me as they prepared to close my incision. That was the first time I got to "see" our son. I looked back up at the clock, 12:23pm. By 12:40 the NICU team and Tyler left their OR and I remained as they wrapped things up. As the rolled me down the hallway to the recovery, I ended up throwing up a bit. An unpleasant side effect of the epidural medication. Tyler and I FaceTimed while I was in recovery so I could get a better look at baby. During this conversation I learned that our son, not more than an hour old, would need to be transferred up to Seattle Children's Hospital.
I was so sad that I would not even get to see him or touch him for days since I just had a major surgery myself and was in recovery "lock down" for 2-hours post-op. I knew he needed to catch a ride to Seattle as soon as possible so I settled in mind that it would be at least two or three days before I would see him. Well, my wonderful dream-team of nurses "snuck" me up to the NICU at TG so that I could lock eye on him and touch his precious little feet. It literally felt like Christmas, only 1000x more exciting. I seriously was jumping out of my gurney with excitement to see him. I was wheeled into the room backwards and immediately began to cry tears of joy. All the physical pain I was feeling suddenly went away as I gently stroked his feet and called him by his name. I was the very first person to call him by name, OLIVER SINCLAIR!
When I began talking to him and saying his name, although intubated, his little tongue started to move backwards and forwards. He would do this only for me. HE KNEW HIS MOMMA! My heart melted. It was as if he was telling me that he was ready to fight. That he was strong. And that the battle was won in Jesus. I was overwhelmed by this moment! It was incredibly sad to be rolled out of the room with only getting such a short amount of time with him. My heart was breaking...what if he was in Seattle and took a turn for the worst and I wasn't there? I tried not to think on that too much...but instead tried to rest God's promises and scripture.
My friend Siobhan stayed with me every moment from being rolled out of the OR until the next day. It was a huge comfort to have someone who would pray over me, help me adjust my pillows, listen to my struggles or simply just sit in silence as I processed the whirlwind of a day. The day ended not nearly as dramatically as it started; however, it was strange that on my son's birthday I was without a son and without a husband. It was hard to realize that my body felt like I just gave birth but my baby was no where to be seen. I struggled with wanting to know what was happening at each moment with him to being so exhausted I fought to keep my eyes open.
We still have a LONG road ahead, counting each day we have with him a blessing and covering him with so much prayer that it is almost unfathomable. We do not know what will happen in front of us but we do know that God has given sweet Oliver Sinclair to us for today...in this moment. So we will soak it in. Enjoy this sweet personality and lean on Jesus even more!
Happy Birthday, our son, Oliver Sinclair.
Saturday, April 1, 2017
Growing a boy: Bed Rest Day 5 (Overwhemled)
Saturday, April 1: Bed Rest Day 5
I felt like I got better sleep last night. I didn't need any pain med in the night and the anti-contraction meds seemed to work great too. My fetal monitoring got moved from once per shift to every 4 hours. Around 4:30am, I was put on the monitor and baby's heartbeat was difficult to locate. After trying for about 20 minutes the nurse used a doppler. The heartbeat was located sporadically but not well enough to "count." This process took over an hour. The nurse was finally satisfied with the readings we got and my back was hurting due to the back contractions I was having. We called it quits. There was a scary moment though, not knowing if a heartbeat was there.
After this ordeal, my darling husband took a quick trip to the hospital cafe and surprised me with a blueberry scone and a decaf double raspberry latte! YUM! We sat in the room eating and drinking our treats discussing our excitement to see our kids today! I had great expectations for this day. I mean, how can you not by starting out with yummy coffee and the knowledge of seeing your kids.
My next monitoring was scheduled for around 8am. Oh boy, what this an ordeal! The nurses switched shifts and a new nurse was now on my case. She was wonderful and also tried valiantly to capture baby's heartbeat but was unsuccessful because baby moves around so much. This resulted in a flood of providers entering our room...nurses and doctors, dopplers and ultrasound machines-- just to try and get a steady heart count on baby. At one point there were at least 6 providers swarming around me. Everyone was very nice but also asking a lot of questions...questions about baby, possible c-section, severity of contractions....it went on. Overwhelming! Good morning Saturday! After about another hour things slowed down including contractions. Baby was fine (and had been the whole time). I then realized (duh!) that stress greatly increased the severity and duration of my contractions. Even through things slowed down, I was again put on an "ice-chips-only-diet" until further notice. I was even more thankful for that morning coffee and scone.
Another measure they wanted to take to help slow contractions was IV fluids. Since my IV was put in two days ago it has stung but today it was different. It burned and itched as they began to push the fluids into my body...the IV was blown. Bummer!! We had to wait for IV Therapy to come done and start another line...this time in my right hand. Although this is a little more comfortable, it is rather inconvenient.
By this time it was about 11am or so and still no kids. We eagerly awaited their arrival and when they showed up, it was nothing but pure delight. Our daughter was curious about everything, exploring the room and asking questions. She finally snuggled with me in the bed and I read her a Bible story. I could tell she missed her momma. Certain not enough time with her. I just love that little girl to pieces and I did not realize how much I missed her until she was in my arms. Our son on the other hand, at 15-months old was tired, hungry and cranky. There was not any opportunity for me to hold him as he wiggles and moves so much. I am restricted from lifting anything heavier than 6-10 pounds. I am still a little sad I couldn't hold him but I was able to make him smile. My parents and sister came also. It was such a delight to have the family together. On the way out daughter did not want to leave me. My Momma heart broke as I could hear her scream my name from down the hall. "At least I know she loves me," I thought. My heart was overwhelmed.
Tyler and I had a quick late lunch and by 2:30pm I was back on the monitor. Because our boy moves around in all my fluid, it is hard to track his heartbeat. I was on the monitor until about 4:15pm.
Shortly after, our friends came to bring us dinner, to pray over us and to have a quick visit. It was so wonderful to see their faces and to hear how they are AND to hear they were going on a date once they left the hospital! Dating your spouse is so important. It gave me the idea of dating Tyler...even though we are stuck in a hospital.
Putting on the new robe and socks my sister gave me, Tyler and I had a cafeteria date. :) Fruit and drinks from the hospital coffee bar. Although I had to be pushed around in a wheel chair, it was so nice to get out of our room and have different scenery.
It is just now 7pm...still a few hours left in the day but I would call day 5 of bed rest overwhelming in both challenging and good ways. Overwhelmed by the amount of staff caring for me and baby, overwhelmed by the love of my kids, overwhelmed by the love and support of family and friends visiting/sending us messages.
Physically, I can just feel all those 17cm of fluid that left my body yesterday have returned to my body making it difficult to move and get up and down. The ultrasound tomorrow will measure the actual fluid I have but it sure feels like it has come back! I am still battling this cold and I developed pink eye in my left eye. Fun, huh?
Spiritually, I have been so encouraged by so many scriptures today but especially Psalm 34 & Matthew 17:20. Thank you to those who have sent us scripture today!
Tomorrow we look forward to having an another ultrasound (praying no fluid appears on his stomach or lungs!) and celebrating the fact that baby Ollie had one more day in the womb. You could also be praying that baby stays on the monitor for a full 30-minutes every 4-hours...this would greatly ease our minds and my discomfort of having to stay still for 30-minutes. :)
Stay tuned for more and I report tomorrow on day 6 of bed rest (hopefully)... Again, thank you for your love, support and prayers!
I felt like I got better sleep last night. I didn't need any pain med in the night and the anti-contraction meds seemed to work great too. My fetal monitoring got moved from once per shift to every 4 hours. Around 4:30am, I was put on the monitor and baby's heartbeat was difficult to locate. After trying for about 20 minutes the nurse used a doppler. The heartbeat was located sporadically but not well enough to "count." This process took over an hour. The nurse was finally satisfied with the readings we got and my back was hurting due to the back contractions I was having. We called it quits. There was a scary moment though, not knowing if a heartbeat was there.
After this ordeal, my darling husband took a quick trip to the hospital cafe and surprised me with a blueberry scone and a decaf double raspberry latte! YUM! We sat in the room eating and drinking our treats discussing our excitement to see our kids today! I had great expectations for this day. I mean, how can you not by starting out with yummy coffee and the knowledge of seeing your kids.
My next monitoring was scheduled for around 8am. Oh boy, what this an ordeal! The nurses switched shifts and a new nurse was now on my case. She was wonderful and also tried valiantly to capture baby's heartbeat but was unsuccessful because baby moves around so much. This resulted in a flood of providers entering our room...nurses and doctors, dopplers and ultrasound machines-- just to try and get a steady heart count on baby. At one point there were at least 6 providers swarming around me. Everyone was very nice but also asking a lot of questions...questions about baby, possible c-section, severity of contractions....it went on. Overwhelming! Good morning Saturday! After about another hour things slowed down including contractions. Baby was fine (and had been the whole time). I then realized (duh!) that stress greatly increased the severity and duration of my contractions. Even through things slowed down, I was again put on an "ice-chips-only-diet" until further notice. I was even more thankful for that morning coffee and scone.
Another measure they wanted to take to help slow contractions was IV fluids. Since my IV was put in two days ago it has stung but today it was different. It burned and itched as they began to push the fluids into my body...the IV was blown. Bummer!! We had to wait for IV Therapy to come done and start another line...this time in my right hand. Although this is a little more comfortable, it is rather inconvenient.
By this time it was about 11am or so and still no kids. We eagerly awaited their arrival and when they showed up, it was nothing but pure delight. Our daughter was curious about everything, exploring the room and asking questions. She finally snuggled with me in the bed and I read her a Bible story. I could tell she missed her momma. Certain not enough time with her. I just love that little girl to pieces and I did not realize how much I missed her until she was in my arms. Our son on the other hand, at 15-months old was tired, hungry and cranky. There was not any opportunity for me to hold him as he wiggles and moves so much. I am restricted from lifting anything heavier than 6-10 pounds. I am still a little sad I couldn't hold him but I was able to make him smile. My parents and sister came also. It was such a delight to have the family together. On the way out daughter did not want to leave me. My Momma heart broke as I could hear her scream my name from down the hall. "At least I know she loves me," I thought. My heart was overwhelmed.
Tyler and I had a quick late lunch and by 2:30pm I was back on the monitor. Because our boy moves around in all my fluid, it is hard to track his heartbeat. I was on the monitor until about 4:15pm.
Shortly after, our friends came to bring us dinner, to pray over us and to have a quick visit. It was so wonderful to see their faces and to hear how they are AND to hear they were going on a date once they left the hospital! Dating your spouse is so important. It gave me the idea of dating Tyler...even though we are stuck in a hospital.
Putting on the new robe and socks my sister gave me, Tyler and I had a cafeteria date. :) Fruit and drinks from the hospital coffee bar. Although I had to be pushed around in a wheel chair, it was so nice to get out of our room and have different scenery.
It is just now 7pm...still a few hours left in the day but I would call day 5 of bed rest overwhelming in both challenging and good ways. Overwhelmed by the amount of staff caring for me and baby, overwhelmed by the love of my kids, overwhelmed by the love and support of family and friends visiting/sending us messages.
Physically, I can just feel all those 17cm of fluid that left my body yesterday have returned to my body making it difficult to move and get up and down. The ultrasound tomorrow will measure the actual fluid I have but it sure feels like it has come back! I am still battling this cold and I developed pink eye in my left eye. Fun, huh?
Spiritually, I have been so encouraged by so many scriptures today but especially Psalm 34 & Matthew 17:20. Thank you to those who have sent us scripture today!
Tomorrow we look forward to having an another ultrasound (praying no fluid appears on his stomach or lungs!) and celebrating the fact that baby Ollie had one more day in the womb. You could also be praying that baby stays on the monitor for a full 30-minutes every 4-hours...this would greatly ease our minds and my discomfort of having to stay still for 30-minutes. :)
Stay tuned for more and I report tomorrow on day 6 of bed rest (hopefully)... Again, thank you for your love, support and prayers!
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