Updates from the couch

So, since I'll be home tomorrow and have some time to work on finishing up my writing and editing for the upcoming edition of The Delhi Express, I thought I'd take a few minutes before retiring for the evening and post another quick update.

I'm off from work through next Friday (April 3). So, I have a "new normal" at least temporarily. I'll just keep taking things a day at a time. I have my good moments and my frustrated moments, but I am trying to make the most of the situation. I still have a few people who I need to call so I can let them know what's been going on. But most of my friends and family are aware that I am home and under orders to take things easy. I feel like some of my medical folks think I'm crazy for asking as many questions as I do. But, I want to be sure that I fully understand what I can and cannot do. And, it would seem I don't get the most consistent responses. Ah well...I'm hanging in as best I can.

Darrel and I have been talking about names for our new little guy. We want to have a few in mind so we can choose which fits him best after he's born. We don't want to pick out a "for sure" name until we see him. We did the same thing with Connor. We knew what names we liked and Connor Duncan was our number one choice, but we had to see him first. We were talking again tonight about how when we saw him, he looked like a Connor Duncan and he looks even more like one now. His name totally fits. Our list is a little long and there are some good names we like (none of which we will share), but I'm sure we'll narrow it down some between now and the time the baby arrives.

I got to hold and snuggle with Connor tonight and it was SO nice. I sat in the big comfy chair and gave him some milk before bed. He snuggled in and fell asleep in my arms and it was a great feeling. I miss picking him up whenever I want, but he and I are making do. He's been giving me some great hugs and kisses today. I am most thankful for my loving little boy.

Here's a special update!!!
Delhi Spring Art Show

We have scheduled the Delhi Spring Art Show for April 18 through May 2. There will be opening and closing receptions. We will need musicians for both dates. PLEASE let me know if you are available and would like to play. We also need art. So, attention artist! Yeah, you...we need some of your pieces to display at the art show. Whatever your area of preference, we'd love to feature some of your work. Please get in touch with me ASAP! THANK YOU!!!

mustardseedpub@gmail.com
www.DelhiExpressNews.com

Quick trip to ER/L&D

Well, I had some bleeding yesterday off and on, but by the evening, it was enough to concern me to the point where I talked to Darrel about going to the hospital to be checked out. So, off we went. From the time we arrived at the hospital to the time we were back home was barely 2 1/2 hours. Apparently, once you hit 20 weeks, they take you into Labor and Delivery. It's a little scary having to go there so early in the pregnancy, but once you get past that and realize you're with people who specialize in care of pregnant women and expected babies, then it's a little easier to relax. My mother-in-law and our friend Sherri stayed with Connor. I cannot thank our friends and family enough for all that they have done for us. Not just in the past few days, but especially through all of this chaos.

Anyway...baby checked out ok. His HR was 160 the first time and about an hour later, it was 155. That's right about where it has been all along. And his stability is something I am most thankful for, of course. I was advised to contact my doctor's office first thing this morning, contact the perinatologist's office right away and come back if we felt it necessary. I talked to my doctor's office this morning (directly to my PA) and they were following up with the perinatologist's office today. Hopefully I will have an appointment scheduled ASAP. I would really like to know what's going on, what we can do to stop it, when I can go back to work... I realize that I sound like a control freak and I guess I probably am. But it would be nice to know if I need to set up shop at home for the long-haul or if I can expect to go back to work next week or what. Ah well...in the meantime, I will try to sit back, relax, do some writing for our next issue, continue to get caught up on som paperwork and maybe even read some more in the book I started.

Continued prayers are, of course, appreciated.

Bed rest for Bekah and baby boy #2

If you don't want to nitty gritty details, skip the first paragraph. This is from an e-mail I sent to a couple of my dearest friends. Forgive me, but I don't think I'm up to retyping everything again.

I had a little bit of bleeding Monday night and a little more Tuesday afternoon, but nothing major. Then I bled some during the night Wednesday night and into Thursday morning. So, I called and asked to be seen. Before they called me back, a small clot passed and so I sent my morning class home and drove myself straight to the doctor. They saw me right away. The heartbeat was still beautiful, but to check things out, I was sent for an ultrasound. The baby measured right where he should and looked great. The placenta is in a good location, but they saw some extra tissue at the top of my cervix. This, of course, meant I was going to have to follow up with an OB rather than my GP or PA. Then, late last night, I started passing some of the tissue. I was up every two hours. I kept three samples from three different times and called my PA first thing this morning (on her cell). She asked me to come in right away at 8:30 which would work out to be right on our way to Southern California. My parents picked us up and we headed out. The PA listened to the baby's HB which was still good, but she was very concerned about the samples I brought in and wanted to talk to the OB before she let me leave. They determined together that I was not to travel and sent me home to go to bed. By the time I got home, she'd talked to the perinatologist and bedrest was confirmed which takes me off of work. Right now the baby seems just fine but there is definitely something going on and they want to take extra care in finding out what is happening (and why). I'm not far enough along for them to stop things if I go into labor and I'm barely at 20 weeks, so obviously things would likely not go well.

So, for those who skipped the first paragraph...I had some issues again this week. I had an ultrasound on Thursday and the baby looks good and is measuring right where he should be, but they noticed some extra tissue and that was cause for concern. It seems to be something with me, not the baby, but they want to be sure there is no risk to the baby. I should have an appointment with a perinatologist this upcoming week and we'll go from there. In the meantime, I am on bedrest. And so, I am home. I am off of work at least for a few days and I am doing everything I can to take things as easy as I can. Thank goodness for my laptop.

My mother-in-law is staying with us for a couple of days and is helping with some things around the house. Connor is enjoying it. He's handling my having to take things easy as best as cna be expected and every so often will climb up to sit by me. Last night he laid down with me in my bed for a little while. I am alternating between the bed and the couch so at least the scenery changes periodically. I also went out on to the chaise-lounge for a little while yesterday and soaked up some of the sunshine. The weather is changing this weekend, so it's going to be cooler and rain is on its way. I'm glad I got the sun while I could. We're headed into layout week, so I guess I'll be writing my stories from the bed and/or couch.

I am going to do as I have been told (resting) and I am going to pray a lot. I also started the new book my mom gave me for my birthday "Get Off Your Knees and Pray" by Sheila Walsh. I think I will also look at a couple of the devotional type books she gave to me as well and maybe even put a lesson together to do with the Daughters of the King sometime in the future. I will fine tune my lessons for my classes for the week so the substitutes have everything they need. I'm going to put the finishing touches on our tax stuff and just try to use this "down time" and be as productive as possible at home while resting. I'll just do a little at a time. I will also update after my appointment with the perinatologist, as soon as that occurs.

Until next time...

Anybody out there?

Just curious as to whether or not I actually have any readers here. Do I need to re-think this and go a different direction or if the blog working for updates?

Mixed bag of emotion and a oh what a day!

I have already noticed that I have felt much more emotional with this pregnancy than I did when I was pregnant with Connor. I have had periodic meltdowns among other things. I mean, I have had a couple of times where I have just bawled my eyes out and the triggers were what others might consider to be minor things. As if it's not enough that I'm apparently super emotional now naturally, I had one heck of an emotional roller coaster ride today.

I have thought a lot about this. I have shared this with a few people and, frankly, I don't think I can recount it all again, so I'm going to just share the bottom line information.

My dear, sweet nana suffered a stroke sometime within the past few days. They learned this from an MRI taken today. She is spending night #2 in the hospital and will probably be moved into a nursing home this week. This, of course, has been difficult for me to deal with for a lot of reasons, in a lot of ways. I am hoping to get down to see her and get some time in with family and friends next weekend. Please keep her, and our family, in your prayers.

But, the highs of the day were awesome! My mom and I took Connor to the park because we once again got a nice, sunny afternoon. He had so much fun. We also celebrated my birthday with a delicious dinner -- a Santa Maria barbecue -- prepared by my dad. The dinner was great, the Cold Stone cake we yummy. And, I got some great gifts....a coll vacuum type thing designed specifically for hardwood floors, a maternity top, a maternity dress and a great maternity coat and a couple of other things. Darrel and Connor gave me my gift early...a new phone. I had damaged my cell a couple of months ago and desperately needed to replace it. I really like the one I was able to choose. Darrel's recon helped. =) My mother-in-law also gave me my gift a little early. I got a KitchenAid stand mixer. I am SO excited and can't wait to start using it. Of course, my birthday isn't until Thursday, but I have enjoyed celebrating early. I have an amazing family, I must say. =)

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. I'll try to update sooner rather than later.

Did you notice?

I don't know how many people are actually reading or checking back on any sort of regular basis, but if you are reading, then perhaps you noticed that it's been awhile since my last update.

We've been getting the journalism program going and I'd say it's pretty close to being in full swing. We're still waiting on a few things to fall into place so that we can do all of the things we hope to do with the program, but students are getting involved, writing stories, taking photographs and sharing some great ideas. Our February edition of the paper featured some of their stories and we hope to feature even more plus photos in the next edition. Connor has had the chance to go with us a couple of times when we're teaching and the students all seem to like him. He, of course, loves being around people.

Speaking of Connor, he had a wonderful visit with his great grandparents toward the end of February. He spent one day with nana, papa, Great Nana and Great Granddad and then we had another family visit before they left. He even got to play with cousin Emily which was great fun for both of them.

We are rapidly approaching two and the word terrible seems to naturally flow before one can say two. Whew! Some days he is just ON! It's hard to keep up and "no" is becoming a favorite word. We had a really rough start to the morning. I think perhaps he woke up earlier than he wanted/needed which was a factor, but we have not had a morning like today ever before. I hope we have a long time before we have another like it.

On a very positive note: he loves giving hugs and blowing kisses. In one of the happy moments of the morning, he looked at me, said "hi" and blew me LOTS of kisses. It was great. He also enjoys acting out one of his favorite stories as we read it. And he seems to have it very nearly completely memorized. He reads books every day. And we read together each night before bed. Our nighttime reading also includes reading from a couple of books of prayers. He can point to pictures of Jesus and say, "Jesus," and he seems very proud of this fact. He is also saying, "Amen" at the end of prayers now. I love it! No matter what, he brings me such joy.

He's been giving hugs and kisses to the new baby. He also plays peek-a-boo with my tummy which is rather funny. He says hi to the baby in my tummy also. It's so cute and I love sharing these more tender moments with him.

The pregnancy seems to still be going ok. I don't have another appointment until March 17, but I haven't had to make any unscheduled trips to the doctor's office in a month now which is nice. I'd say it's safe to call that improvement. =) I will be sure to update after my next appointment, of course. I think part of the reason there can be such a lapse between posts is that I'm only being seen every four to five weeks right now. I hope the doctor's schedule will actually allow for more frequent visits when the time comes.

I think I'll go ahead and end for now. I may come back later and add something. You never know. I may find that I've forgotten something worth mentioning.