Countdown begins

So we are now just counting down the days until we meet our precious son. Nothing has really changed in my condition. They may have to start lowering my insulin because the sugar levels have been relatively low today and I haven't felt very well. Last night I think my sugar dropped quite a bit after my mom and dad had left for the night. Phillip went and got the nurse and she told me to eat a snack. I did but still didn't feel very well. This morning the fasting level and the level and hour after breakfast were only 1 point apart. The level after lunch was better but still lower than it has been. I guess we will just wait and see how tomorrows numbers are and I will keep the nurses updated on how I am feeling. They did begin another 24 hour urine today to check the protein levels. That test will be finished in the morning around 8:30 so we won't know the results until tomorrow evening when the doctor comes in. They will also do another toxemia panel in the morning when they take my blood for the other test. All the nurses are telling me that it looks like the little man has really grown the past couple of days. I can tell too as my belly just keeps getting bigger. I did gain 7 pounds from yesterday to today but I am not sure how much of that is baby and how much is fluid that I am retaining. I know the doctors will keep a close eye on that because rapid weight gain can mean the toxemia is worsening. Well, that is about all for today. I will update you guys tomorrow. Keep us in your prayers.

The results are in....

...and we are staying here for two more weeks. The lung maturity was at a 39 and we needed above a 55 to be induced. I actually took the news better than I thought. I know you guys are all praying for me because without those prayers I know I would not have taken the news so well. Right now it looks like induction will take place either the 11th or 12th of January. I am not sure if they will do an induction on the weekend or not so I will have to wait to see Dr. B tomorrow since that is her weekend to work. I did have a nice long chat with my other doctor tonight when she came by about all the drama with the high risk doctor today. She reassured me that I did the right thing today and apologized for all that we have been through with that high risk doctor. I am just glad to know that the end is in sight. At most we have 14 days until induction. Until then I am going to try to get a lot of rest, read some books and get the little one's baby book started. The past 29 days have gone by pretty fast when looking back so I know the next 14 won't be too bad. Phillip will have to go back to work on Monday but I will have him get me some good books to read and maybe a few fun craft projects. Well, I will blog again tomorrow but thank you so much for all the encouraging comments you guys are leaving and for all the emails. I love you all and thank you for continuing to pray for us.

Amnio complete waiting on results.

After a long day of sitting and waiting the high risk doctor came in around 3:15. The high risk doctor that was on today was the same lady from 2 weeks ago that would not perform the an amnio at that time because she was sure that the lungs were not developed. I cringed when she walked in the door because I knew she was going to try to get out of doing the amnio today. Of course I was right. She walked in and told me basically the same as two weeks ago. I was really upset and told her that I really wanted the test done today. I really thing she was flabbergasted by me saying that. I explained to her that my regular doctor had told us all week to decide between today and Wednesday for the amnio and we had decided on today. The high risk doctor did not want to do it until next Monday. After about 20 minutes of going back and forth she decided to leave the room and call my regular doctor. Dr. B was not on call since she worked this weekend so she had to speak with the other doctor. She and the regular doctor decided that it would be up to me whether or not to do the amnio today or next Monday but that another amnio was not going to be done. They told me that if the lungs are still immature today that induction will take place at 39 weeks, which is only 2 weeks away. The high risk doctor came back in my room after speaking with the regular doctor and told me about the conversation. I quickly told her I wanted the amnio done today and not next week. Again after about a 20 to 30 minute conversation and almost having to get ugly with her she left the room once again to get things ready for the amnio. After she was out of the room the nurse that I have today stayed with me for a few minutes talking to us. She reassured me that as long as I felt that everything was okay and I was good with having the amnio done today that I had made the right decision for our family. That really helped me get calmed down. The doctor then came back in the room and performed the amnio and told us the results would be back in about 4 hours. They did hook me up to the monitor like they always do after the amnio. Whether or not the lungs are mature we do not know at this point. I know that it has only been one week since the previous test was done but I also know that we serve a big God and that he has performed lots of miracles. I know that if God says that it is time for me to have our little boy that the test will come back with positive results and if God says it is not time the lungs will be immature. I also know that if the lungs are not developed and God says that it is time for him to come tomorrow then I will go into labor with him tomorrow. It is not up to me or the doctors when we will have this little boy, it is only up to God. I know God is taking care of us and will continue to take care of us. So, thank you for all the prayers and as soon as I know something I will update the blog again. Keep praying!

Patiently waiting

We are currently just waiting on the high risk ob to come down to perform the amnio for today. I missed my regular doctor this morning because I was sleeping. For some reason I have been going to bed later and later each night and then sleeping in later. This morning Phillip and I did not get up until it was almost 10. After we got up the nurse said they had called the high risk doctor and they were scheduled to be here this morning but had 2 emergencies that they had to take before me. The nurse said it could be around 5 before the doctor was able to make it to the room. I was concerned that they would try to put it off until Wednesday but the nurse told me that they would get it done today. If something were to come up and they could not do it today my regular doctor has said she would do it for me. All the nurses are pulling for me and praying that his lungs are developed since they know I am tired of being up here. This morning my preacher Stoney Benefield did come to see us with another man in our church. They just wanted to check and see how we were doing and then had prayer with us. It was so nice of them to stop by. Well, when we finally know something I will update and hopefully we will have some good news. Please keep praying.

Waiting on tomorrow

We had another good day today. Last night Phillip and I watched a movie and stayed up pretty late. I think I finally went to sleep around 2 this morning. Luckily the nurses were sweet once again and let us sleep in until 9:30. Mom, dad, Allison and Scott had gone to the early service at church so that they could come eat lunch with us. After Phillip and I got up and ate breakfast the nurse put me on the monitor and before I was off Allison and Scott got here and a few minutes later my grandmother surprised me and showed up. Mom and dad came a few minutes later with lunch from Cracker Barrel. We all went down to the cafeteria to eat. When we got back the nurse told us the doctor had been by twice and said she would come back by later to check in on me. When we got back to the room we started watching the Panther's game and while watching that some good friends stopped by to see me. They stayed just bit and then left. We finished watching the game and we were happy when the Panther's won. We took a short walk after the game and then came back to the room for a short nap. Once we woke up from our nap we decided to walk back down to the cafeteria for dinner. After getting back to the room I decided to finally take my bath for the day while Phillip and mom changed by bed sheets and mom and dad went home. The doctor just came in and said everything is still looking stable and that we are hoping for the best for tomorrow's amnio. Please say an extra prayer to night for the little one's lungs. It's like I just told Phillip. If the test comes back immature I know I will be upset but I also know he needs to stay in until he is ready.

Just a lazy day.

Today has just been a lazy day. The nurses were sweet this morning and didn't wake me up. Me and mom finally got up around 9:15. They had brought in the breakfast tray about 7:45 but didn't wake me up so when we finally did get up we went down to the cafeteria to eat. Before we could go down there I had to get all my medicines and the doctor came in. There was nothing new from the doctor. We got down to the cafeteria a little after 10 not realizing that everything closed in the cafeteria from 10-11. They were cleaning up the breakfast foods when we got in there and let the guy in front of us get a plate but the lady would not serve me and mom. This kind of made us a little mad because I had already taken my insulin and I had to eat something so that my sugar wouldn't get too low. We finally found a piece of no sugar added cake and that was breakfast. We decided after we ate to head up to the gift shop to look around and to come back to the cafeteria at 11 for lunch. As we were eating lunch we seen my nurse for today. She had met her husband and daughter down by the cafeteria and came over to introduce us to them. After we got done with lunch we decided that we better head back to the room since we had been gone for over 2 hours. The rest of the day we just laid around and did nothing. Phillip got back over here a little after lunch and we just sat around and talked until dinner time. We sent Phillip out to pick up dinner and shortly after he got back dad came up. Tonight Phillip and I will play phase 10 and probably watch a movie then go to bed. We are just waiting on Monday to come. I have been trying to get up and walk a little more hoping that it will help things progress. I have been cramping a little today but nothing much. Actually since they have started letting me up to walk around my toxemia panels have gotten back down into the normal range and my blood sugar levels have gotten better. The blood pressures are staying the normal range but haven't really improved or worsened since I began walking around. Just keep praying for us and hopefully next week our little bundle will be here.

Another good day

Today has been a good day. They did have to wake me up at 5 this morning to draw blood for the toxemia panel but then they were so sweet and let me sleep until 9:45. I was shocked when they didn't wake me up but I was so glad. It was nice to sleep in for a while. I even think Phillip was awake before me today. As soon as I got up they brought breakfast in and then put me on the monitor. The doctor came in while I was eating breakfast and nothing has changed. She didn't say how the toxemia panel looked so that means it was stable. I will double check with her tonight when she comes in but I am certain she would have said something if it would have been more elevated. After being monitored I did have to take a short nap. I think I have said it before but the blood pressure medication has really started making me very sleepy in the mornings after they give it to me. It isn't such a bad thing because then I just take a nap after the monitor comes off and wake up just in time for lunch. Phillip went out to run a few errands while I was sleeping and we had lunch together when he got back. Today for lunch was a grilled cheese and he had stopped at McDonald's for himself. We decided at lunch that he would go out and get dinner for us and its a good thing he did. I ordered a fruit plate for dinner and when the dinner tray came it was grilled chicken and the grilled chicken here is nasty. I still do not understand why they cannot get the trays right but the last two nights I have ordered fruit plates and for some reason they haven't sent them. Luckily for the past two nights I haven't been planning to eat the dinner tray since mom cooked yesterday and we had already decided to go out for tonight. I would be mad if I really wanted a fruit plate for dinner and had planned to eat here and they got it wrong.

Anyways, mom is coming to stay with me tonight. She told Phillip that he needed to go home and get a good nights rest. I know staying up here in the chair, even though it folds flat into a bed, is not comfortable. Hopefully we won't be up here for many more nights. If Monday goes well and his lungs are developed then we are down to less than a week left up here. If they are developed and labor goes fine, no c-section, then we will be home by Thursday night. I am really trying not to get my hopes up, but it is like I told Phillip this morning. If the amnio comes back and they are not developed I am still going to be down a little Monday afternoon. No matter how many times I tell myself that it is best for him to be in and grow I still am a little selfish and really want him out. I want to be able to hold him and I know Phillip does too along with all of our family and friends. Hopefully Monday will be a good day and we will be able to start laboring. Just keep praying for us. The nurses are all still doing a wonderful job here. We decided to do little treat bags for them for Christmas. Phillip went over to Sam's and got two big bags of candy, some cookies, and crackers. We put all of that into gift bags and have been handing them out as the nurses work. All of the nurses have been appreciative for the goodies. Well, I am just waiting on Phillip to get back with dinner but please just keep us in your prayers and pray that the little one's lungs are maturing and will be all matured by Monday.

Merry Christmas

I just wanted to tell everyone that I hope you all had a very merry Christmas. Even though I was stuck in the hospital today was still a good day. Our day started about 5am when the nurse on duty kept coming into my room to do vital signs. I do not know why she could not get things together this morning but she did one thing at a time and waited until I was almost asleep again until she came in to do the next thing on her list. I was very aggravated when she kept waking me up especially since I reminded her last night that they did not have to wake me up while sleeping to get vital signs. Breakfast was also early today. I think it came around 7:45 this morning when it has been coming closer to 9. After breakfast I let them go ahead and hook me up to the monitor so that I would have time for a short nap before the family arrived. Phillip woke me up at about 5 til 11 so that I could get ready. As soon as I was ready mom, Allison, Scott, dad, and my grandparents arrived and we had a very good lunch. Mom had cooked for us today. Today she cooked ham, potato salad, creamed potatoes, green beans, corn, sweet potato casserole, and bread. It was very very yummy and we had enough left over for dinner tonight. Just as we were finishing up lunch we received a surprise. Our neighbors that have been watching over our little Maggie cat came to see us. It was so good to see them. We normally get together with them at least every couple of weeks for dinner and to play Phase 10 so I have really missed seeing them. I did tell them that we are getting pretty good at Phase 10 and that when we get out of here we are going to have to have dinner and game night.

The doctor came by this afternoon and said everything was still looking good. I told her I was getting very sleepy and kind of dizzy after taking my morning blood pressure medication and that I was having to lay down to take naps after taking it. She told me to start having the nurses take my blood pressure when I get to feeling like that so that they can make sure my blood pressure isn't dropping too low. She also ordered another toxemia panel tomorrow morning and said that if the amnio comes back with immature lungs on Monday that we will start another 24 hour urine at that time. They are keeping a look at my weight because this morning it went up more than usual. Weight gain can be a sign the the toxemia is getting worse but it could have just been that we had a big dinner last night. We are still praying that the lungs are developed enough on Monday so that we can meet our little one early next week. We ask that each of you pray for his little lungs to be mature on Monday. Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers and I hope each of you had a very merry Christmas.

Christmas Eve

As you all know today is Christmas Eve. It has been a good day here at the hospital. This morning Phillip went home for just a little while to change out some of his clothes and just to get away for a minute. I slept basically the entire time he was gone. When he got back I was eating lunch and then took a shower. After the shower we had some visitors. The doctor came in and stayed a while they were here. We finished up the 24 hour urine test this morning. The protein level was stable with what it was last week when they done the test. My toxemia panel also came back the same as it has been for days now. They will do the toxemia panel again on Friday and if we are still here next week they will do the 24 hour urine again. On Monday they will perform the amnio again and hopefully the 3rd time will be the charm. Also tonight mom made dinner. She cooked roast (with onions, carrots, and potatoes), green beans, corn, broccoli cauliflower cheese casserole, bread, and a sugar free pie for me and two other pies for the rest of the family. Allison and Scott had come down to eat dinner with us too so the nurses let us eat in their little conference area. Mom is also cooking lunch tomorrow so I am looking forward to that. After we ate dinner we had a family fun night playing Phase 10. Mom won tonight. Well, that is about all for tonight. I will let you all know how tomorrow goes. Keep praying for us.

Nothing new today

Today was just another day. The doctor is came in and gave us the choice of doing another amnio next Monday or next Wednesday. We are still not sure which we would like to do. I would hate to have it done on Monday and the lungs not be developed and then have to push out delivery another week and I am really not sure what good two days can make. We are planning to talk to the doctor tonight or in the morning about it and see which she would recommend. The lady over the nutrition came by today and I had a nice little talk with her about the meals. I can tell she went back and had a nice little chat with the people working in the nutrition department because I was out of the room when they called for the dinner order but yet it was still something I could eat and wasn't half bad. Today I did take a nice long walk. It was the first time I have walked, besides around the room, since December 1st. Phillip and I walked down to the cafeteria and then up to the gift shop. That was a pretty good little walk. The cafeteria is a good ways away from my room and I was kind of tired by the time we got back to the room. Besides getting out of the room for a little while we haven't done too much today. We did receive a visit from our deacon at our church and his wife but they happened to come just as I was getting in the shower. Phillip did have a nice little talk with them but they were gone by the time I was out of the shower. Mom and dad are coming up in a little while and I will probably try to fit one more walk in for the day. Hopefully walking will help things get started or at least help the little man's lungs develop a little faster. Just please keep praying for us and thank you for all the thoughts and prayers from all of you guys.

More clarity on why the lungs have not developed.

As you all know from the previous post the lungs were not developed and were still pretty much very immature. Of course when I found the news out Phillip had left to go pick up some of the things for the gifts we are going to be giving to the nurses. Dr. B came in and knew I was not going to take the news too well. I actually did really well while she was in here but for some reason as soon as Phillip walked in I lost it. I had tried telling myself all weekend that there was a great chance the the lungs would not be developed and that we would indeed be spending Christmas here in this little room. Even though I tried hard to prepare myself for the worse news I still couldn't hold it in when I saw him. I don't know if it is the disappointment that I know that me being hospitalized means we will not get to spend Christmas Eve with my grandparents, aunts, and cousins; and we won't be able to spend Christmas Day as usual at my parents house and then go down to Phillip's sisters house to see what all the nieces and nephews go from Santa. I know for sure that our plans for Christmas all involve being here in the hospital. The nurses once again have been great and have offered the conference room to us so that we can celebrate Christmas here. However, I am not going to ask everyone to change plans to celebrate on of the most special times of the year in the hospital with us. I know that mom is planning to cook a good home-cooked meal for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day for our family. I am really looking forward to it and I am extremely happy that neither meal includes tomato soup or salad, which are on the meal plan daily here. I know everything is going to work out perfectly and next year we will just look back at the memories we made and will have lots of stories to tell the little one when he gets here about spending the holidays in the hospital since he was being too stubborn to come out. Phillip and I keep picking that we are going to start charging the little one rent since he doesn't want to come out. I do appreciate all that my family has done while I have been in here over the past 22 days. Mom has only missed one day of coming up because she was sick and Phillip has only missed one day of coming up because of some training at work. My dad has been up here almost everyday and Allison has too. I really love all of my family and they do not realize how much they mean to me and how much it means for them to come up everynight. I also want to thank my parents and Phillip for all of the laundry they are doing for me. I never really realized how many pairs of pjs one person could need so of course I do not have very many at all. When I was at home I always just found a t-shirt or tank top to sleep in. Well, while being up here and my belly growing those shirts no longer work and I have to have the maternity shirts for bed. Also, I never really purchased a lot of maternity shirts to begin with so I really thank them for washing my clothes each day and bringing the clean clothes back with them the next day. I know I am wearing you guys out but I really do appreciate all of your hardwork.

Anyways back to the title of this post. The doctor came by tonight and spent a good amount of time with Phillip and me. She explained to us that one reason the lungs are taking time to develop is because I have gestational diabetes. Even though they have been able to control the diabetes with insulin I still have gestational diabetes and that delays the development of the little ones lungs. Honestly the doctors are not sure when the lung development will take place and I will just have to keep undergoing an amnio every 7 to 10 days until we get a positive result. Well, that is as long as all other symptoms stay stable. The only way they will deliver without lung maturity is if my body naturally goes into labor on its own or if the liver enzymes or protein in urine rapidly increases and becomes dangerous. Since everything has been stable for so long now I got the courage up to ask if I have to be on complete bed rest or if I can get up and walk the halls. To my suprise she told me I was able to get up and walk around all I wanted. This makes me very happy. Phillip and I will be taking many, many walks and we will venture outside a few times so that I can get a breath of fresh air. I have only been outside in the fresh air once since I arrived and I was only out there long enough for Phillip to run to the car and get something and then we came right back in. So, tennis shoes will arrive with mom and dad tomorrow night and I will be up and wondering the halls to get some much needed exercise. Even though I can't go far I am just excited to be able to get out of this room to walk around.

I have been doing daily devotionals while sitting up here and they have really helped a lot. In the past few days God has really placed devotionals at the right place. One of the past couple of days devotion was about God's timing. I know that God already knows when I will go into labor and when our little man will be born. He knows what he will look like and how much he will weigh. It doesn't matter when I want him born God has already hand picked his birth date and until that time I will sit here and wait for his timing. When I have days like today it is refreshing to just sit here and know that God is always with me, he never leaves me for any reason and he understands that I am going to have good days and bad days but in the end he is in charge and has the big picture already worked out. So now I am just waiting and looking forward to his plan. I know what the doctors are saying but right now I am putting all of my faith and trust in the Lord for he is the only one who knows exactly what is going to happen. God has blessed us this far. He blessed us with a child and we will gladly wait for him to say it is time for the birth of his child. Please keep us in your prayers as it is getting harder each and every day. It is hard not only for me but also for Phillip. It is hard for Phillip to see me sitting here in the hospital but looking perfectly healthy. Normally people in the hospital look bad and feel bad. Most days I feel great and it is hard to comprehend that I have to stay here when I feel fine. After speaking to numerous nurses we do know that I could feel perfect one minute and 30 minutes later I could be sick as a dog and emergency intervention would be needed. So thank you for the prayers and espcially for the visits. We were blessed with some visitors today and it really helped my spirits. We had a very good friend with her two children come and we also had some close family friends come back to visit. As always thank you so much for the visits and prayers. Please keep praying for us and when God says its time we will let you all know.

One more thing, I did find out the side effect of my blood pressure medication today. Ever since I have been admitted and began taking all the new medication my head tingles when it is touched and I get extremely sleepy after taking my morning medications. Today I was looking online and the blood pressure medication that they give me at 9 in the morning and 9 at night has the side effect of a tingling scalp and causes tiredness. This is why I always take a nap after breakfast because the medication knocks me out. I have a routine now that I take a morning nap from about 10 until about 12 when lunch comes. I never understood why I was so sleepy at this time but it all makes sense now. So please do not be surprised if you call or are expecting a blog and I haven't posted or I just do not answer the phone. Once in a while I do get in a blog before I fall asleep while on the monitor but I rarely answer the phone while napping. The afternoons are much better for me. Well, I am off to bed for the night but again thank you for your prayers and please continue to remember us in them when you pray.

No baby this week

Well, there will be no baby this week. The lungs are only at a 24 and need to be 55. The doctor said we will probably have to do another amnio in 7-10 days to check the lungs once again but she is going to consult the other doctor in the practice I go too. I know it is best for him to stay in as long as possible but at the same time the hospital is getting very boring and I really want to go home. They are going to start another 24 hour urine again today just to keep an eye on the protein levels. Please keep praying for us and hopefully the lungs will start cooperating and will develop. Also pray for Phillip and me.

Amnio has been done

The high risk doctor just left from doing the amnio. We won't know the results for a few hours but the fluid was cloudy with little things floating in it. He said that did mean there has been some lung development but we won't know if it is enough until the results come back. We are really praying hard for the results to be good. I just wanted to give everyone a quick update. Please pray really hard over the next few hours as they run the results that everything is developed and we will be able to move over to labor and delivery tonight. I will update again after we know the results to let everyone know what is going on. They did say his estimated weight right now is 6 pounds 14 ounces.

Got a pedicure today!

Today we had a good day. As I have said many, many times the nurses up here are just wonderful. Today my nurse was so sweet and came and gave me a pedicure. She came in yesterday and told me she would be in today and give me one. She has a lot of sympathy for the girls that have to stay up here long term because with her last son she had to stay in the hospital for 5 weeks. Tomorrow will be the 22nd day that I have been in here. Yesterday mom tried to get the doctor to let her take me over to the mall to get a pedicure. I told mom before she asked the doctor that they were not going to let me leave, and sure enough the doctor said no. I haven't had a pedicure in a few months so mom had taken the polish off of my toes the first Saturday I was in here since it was chipping really bad. I do like to have my toe nails painted but I really do not care about my nails since the paint normally chips off of them within a day or so. I am still trying to think of something special to do for all the wonderful nurses, so please still send your ideas for me.

Another thing that we Phillip and I did today was we played some cards. I had mom bring the card games that we normally take on vacation up here so that we would have something to do during the day. Last night we played Phase 10. We really enjoy playing it and normally we play with the neighbors up the street from us. It is more fun when you have more people playing but we still had fun playing by ourselves. Today we played Phase 10 and RackO. I don't know if he was letting me win or not but I won. He did really well at RackO but it is a game where you keep score so each little game doesn't count, just the end result counts. I do know that for a while he was cheating and once I caught him he miraculously stopped winning. We had a lot of fun playing and we will probably have more time to play some more before we leave.

Tomorrow is a big day for us. Sometime tomorrow we will have an amnio to check the lung maturity. I know a lot of you guys have prayed for us that tomorrow will go good and the lungs will be developed. We appreciate those prayers and we are still praying. They told me today that if the lungs are developed then I will go to labor and delivery tomorrow night where they will administer cervidil to help prepare the cervix for labor. They will watch me overnight and then tuesday morning after they let me take a shower they will begin a pitocin drip to start contractions. If the lungs are not developed then they will do all of this beginning either next Sunday or next monday as long as there has been some lung maturity. If the lungs are still very much immature then they will have to repeat the amnio next Monday to see how they are developing at that time. We are still praying that they will be developed tomorrow and if they are then we will more than likely be leaving the hospital on Christmas Day. We know if it is God's will then they will be mature enough but if not then we are prepared to stay a little longer. I am just thankful for all the family and friends that we have to support us while have been up here, and I know it will continue. Phillip is now off of work until January 5th so hopefully things will happen soon so that he will be able to spend some time with us at home before returning to work. I am getting off of here for the night but we really appreciate all the prayer and please keep us in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow as we undergo the amnio.

In need of ideas

For some reason I am having yet another night that I just can't get to sleep. I do not know if it is just the excitement of all the visitors today or what. I did have my ambien a little over an hour ago and here I am still wide awake at almost 2 in the morning. Anyways, I know I have posted on here numerous times about how great the nurses in the high risk department are to me. They really go over and beyond to make sure I am doing good. One nurse even came in this afternoon and told me to be ready for a pedicure/manicure tomorrow. They are just so sweet that I really want to do something special for them. I had thought about a deli or fruit tray but soon realized that not all the nurses would be able to enjoy it since some work the beginning of the week and others the ends of the week. So, what I am asking for is suggestions on how I can show my appreciation to all of the high risk ob nurse staff. I do not want to leave anyone out since they all have been so great. If you have any ideas for me please let me know. Either leave a comment or email me at hmthomas502@gmail.com. I really want to get something for them before Christmas.

Also, I know I keep mentioning this but it is really important to Phillip and me. Please pray for the lung development of our son. We are not specifically praying that on Monday when the high risk doctor comes to do the amnio that the little one's lungs will be mature enough for induction to begin on Monday night or Tuesday at the latest. I know that the Bible tells us to pray specifically for what we want so that is the specific request we have. We also realize that the Bible states that everything happens on God's time and not ours. We do have faith in God and we do fully trust him in whatever his plan is. We thank each of you for joining in with us to pray for our little one. I promise it won't be long and I will no longer have to call him the little one and I will be able to tell his beautiful name. Hopefully that will be this week but if not next week. Thank you for all the prayers you guys have sent up for us so far and for adding our names to your prayer lists at your churches. The prayers are working as I can see a tremendous improvement in my blood pressures and blood sugars since I have started asking for the prayers. Also, I know God is answering the prayers that we all are sending up because the nurse I had last weekend did not expect me to still be here this weekend. She came in last weekend when my liver enzymes began to creep up and told me that they had never had anyone's levels to stop going up or get better until delivery. She came back in this morning and said that my levels not only have held to what they were but are actually improving. This to me shows the power of prayer. Without all of the prayers I do believe that the liver enzymes and protein levels would have continued to increase and an emergency delivery could have been needed. God is taking care of Phillip, the little one, and me in many different ways that most of you do not even know. I am giving him all of the glory because without him I do not know where we would be today. Of course when we found out I was pregnant we were expecting me to work up until the day I went into labor and had planned for that. What we were not expecting was for me to be out of work an extra month before delivery where I cannot work. God has truly blessed us and we have faith that he will continue to meet our needs while I am out of work. Again, thank you for the prayers and I will update tomorrow if we receive any new news.

Lots of visitors.

Yesterday and today have been good days with lots of visitors. Last night my aunt and uncle stopped by for a while until my parents got here with dinner. We had O'Charley's again. I think I am jinx when it comes to food. O'Charley's can't even get my order right and one day last week Cracker Barrel got my order wrong. Oh well, at least both places are better than the hospital food any day. Mom stayed with me last night. I didn't sleep very well at all. I took a benedryl for the rash I have on my arm around 10:30 and thought I would sleep good with just taking that. Before Phillip had left he helped me change my sheets on my bed and we decided to turn off the air mechanism on the bed because it was annoying me. Well, when I decided to go to sleep the bed was too firm for me to get comfortable. I tried to deal with it until midnight and I couldn't handle it any longer. I got up and figured out how to get the bed softer without the air thing staying on all the time. I thought for sure I would be able to go on to sleep without the ambien at that point. Boy was I wrong. Before coming to the hospital I have never taken Benedryl by itself so I didn't know how I would react to it. Well, benedryl alone does not put me to sleep. At two the nurses had changed duty and the new nurse came in to check on me. I was awake at that time so I told her I was going to need the ambien so I could get some sleep. She brought me the ambien and went ahead and took my vitals. I soon was asleep but not for long. At four the nurse came back in to take my blood, so I had to wake up and tell her that the only veins they have been able to get blood out of is in my right hand. She was in here just a few mintues and then I was able to go back to bed. I woke up a little after eight because I just wasn't resting well. I ate breakfast when it came and then I went back to bed for about 2 hours. The nurse was so sweet that she didn't even bother to wake me up for by blood sugar reading and waited until I woke up on my own to take it. She then put me on the monitor and as soon as she was finished mom took me down to the cafeteria for lunch.

After lunch we went up to the gift shop to look around. Phillip called us while we were checking out and told us some of our good friends were coming over to see us and would be here in about 30 minutes. I told mom we had to hurry back to the room so that I could take a shower before they got here. I ended up being in the shower when they arrived. It was so good to see them and we had a very good visit. Mom had her work Christmas party tonight so dad came to get her about 3:30 to take her home to get ready. Phillip had arrived here a little while before mom left and our friends stayed with us for a little while after my parents left. When they left we decided that we were getting a little hungry so I called in an order to my favorite place, Longhorn. Phillip left to get it and not long after he was gone I had more visitors. A guy that works with Phillip and his wife came by. It was good to see them. After they left we ate dinner and now we are just watching Shrek on tv. I think my sister is still planning to stop by tonight after her and Scott get finished eating dinner. I love have visitors because it makes the day go by so much faster. So, thank you to all that have came by to see us. It doesn't matter if you stayed 5 minutes or 5 hours but I really appreciate the visits. I also want to thank you all that have sent cards. I have enjoyed reading each card and letter. Please keep praying for us as the amnio will be sometime on Monday. They can't schedule the time until Monday morning so it may be Monday afternoon before they can work us in. Please pray that the little one's lungs are mature enough for delivery. I would really love to be home or go home on Christmas. Thank you all for the thoughts, emails, comments, and prayers.

Good news from the doctor

Yesterday I had a very lazy day. With all the medication they gave me on Wednesday night I slept most of the day yesterday. Allison was with me up until about lunch and then she had to leave. Dad decided he would come up and got here around 3. Up until last night I was just so drowsy that I couldn't hold my head up. After dinner I was finally getting better and I was afraid that I wouldn't sleep last night. Phillip stayed last night and will be here with me for a few weeks now because he has some time off. Luckily I was able to get some sleep last night. And, the breakfast trays were late coming around so I was able to sleep in a little this morning. I haven't seen the doctor yet this morning but it looks like nothing is really changing right now. Some of the nurses up here have had a stomach virus and mom has had it. I sure hope that I do not get it. That would be awful to be us here with it but at least they would be able to give me some medication if I do happen to get it. There is also another lady that was admitted this week that will be here as long as me. I have seen her once but I did not get the chance to talk to her. I do know that she had some family up last night and they had brought her a Christmas tree and were decorating it for her. I know it is bad to be up here during this time of the year but decorating the room for Christmas did help me a lot. It also helps to have a lot of things from home. The nurses like to pick on us because I have sheets from home, blankets, and Allison even brought bath mats for the bathroom. Every little thing helps to make it feel more like home.

The doctor just came in today and we received some good news. The doctor is giving me the choice of them performing another amnio on Monday to check lung maturity. If the lungs are mature then they will induce. The other choice, or what will happen if the lungs are not ready, is induction at 37 weeks. Either way in two weeks we will have our little one and I will be able to get out of the hospital. Right now I am leaning toward the amnio just to see if the lungs are developed. I ask you to pray that the lungs have developed so that we can have our little one before Christmas. The doctor told us that there is no way to guess and know how much lung maturity has happened since the last test and that at some point something inside just happens and the lungs rapidly develop. This process could have already happened or not. We are praying that it has already happened but at least we know there is an end in sight if it has not happened as of Monday.

A good night's sleep

Yesterday nothing big happened really. The doctor came in mid morning and again last night. Everything is looking good. Off and on yesterday my left side had been hurting. Last night it got to hurting pretty bad so when the nurse came in to give me my ambien I told her that the pain was getting worse. The nurse called the doctor and she wanted me to be placed on the monitor to make sure it wasn't contractions. Well, I did have 4 contractions witthin the hour but the doctors are not concerned until you are having 6 or more per hour. The doctor decided just to give me a pain reliever so that I could get some sleep. Right before this I had also shown the nurse a rash on my left arm that just came up yesterday. While she was explaining the side pain to the doctor she mentioned the rash and the doctor ordered benedryl. So last night I had an ambien, benedryl, and two pain relievers before bed. Needless to say I slept very well last night. My left side is still hurting today but the doctor wasn't too concerned when she was in earlier this morning. I wasn't really that concerned about the pain since I have had it for the past few months anyway. The doctor did say that my blood work is staying about the same for now so we are just playing the waiting game. All of the nurses here are still very nice and are very encouraging.

Day 17 and counting

Today I have been in here for 17 days. Looking back as a whole it has gone by pretty fast. Faster than I had expected. The doctor has not been in yet this morning so I do not know how the blood work looked this morning. I do know that I did not sleep good at all last night. Last night the first nurse I had was a new one for me. She has worked before since I have been here but she just hasn't been my nurse. She actually just came in and got my vitals and put me on the monitor. One of the usual night nurses that I hadn't seen in a few nights was back on last night. That nurse is very much by the book. I always have to have a snack at night to take with my insulin. Last night they gave me my insulin late and then immediately put me on the monitor. After I go done with the monitor it was almost midnight so she went ahead and gave me my ambien and got me ready for bed. She is the only nurse that works in this department that makes me wear the SEDs (aggravating things that go on your legs to improve circulation). After she put them on she went out of the room and I decided I would have some popcorn. Popcorn is on my list of things I can have so mom had bought me a tin of assorted flavors. I have been eating just a little here and there. Well, the nurse came back in and got on me for eating it. She said it was just full of salt and that I shouldn't be eating it. I quickly told her that I was going to eat it and that a little bit would not hurt my blood pressure or blood sugar levels. And, of course this morning both my blood pressure and blood sugars were perfect. The comment about the popcorn having a lot of salt really made no sense to me since when they bring my food trays they always bring 10 packets of salt on it. If they wanted me to restrict salt then they would have told me and would not give it to me. This isn't the first time she has done something like this. One night when mom and dad has brought dinner for me I took just one pinch of bread and she wanted to write that down in my file. That night my blood sugar levels were some of the best they have been. We have decided that from now on we just won't inform her on what I am doing unless she really needs to know. I was also picking one night and told her I was going to get up and do jumping jacks to get the little one out and she said she was going to write that in my file too. The nurse on today is total opposite. They always come in and ask a list of questions at shift change to make sure I am not having blurry visions, headaches, etc. I of course always say no to all the questions and this morning the nurse told me I needed to change my answers in order to get him here faster. I thought it was pretty funny that she said that seeing how the night nurse last night would have had a cow if she knew this nurse told me that.

Well, last night I was having a few contractions. They were really nothing to get excited over. Maybe one or two at the most an hour. They have stopped today but my doctor said they could be helping the lung development so she was glad I was having some. I was hoping they would continue and get closer overnight but they did just the opposite and have went missing.

Okay, it is that time of day now for my morning nap. Everyday after the monitor I try to get in a nap so I am going to get off of here and get to sleep especially since I did not sleep good last night. I will update again once we have seen the doctor. Keep praying!

Symptoms are getting better.

The doctor came in tonight and had a little good news for us. The liver enzymes that had been heading up each day are not going down just slightly. The levels are still elevated but she does like that they were down today. I was hoping that it would mean the morning routine of waking up between 4 and 5 to draw blood would be over at least for one day, but I was wrong. I guess I will be giving blood every day until delivery. I keep picking with Phillip that by the time I leave here I am going to need blood since they are taking all of mine. The protein levels in the urine had gone up slightly from the previous test but were still down a lot from the test they did two weeks ago when I was first admitted. She said everything is still on track and looking good so I really am confused as to what that means. I think that if the levels are increased at 37 weeks then they will go ahead and induce but if everything is back to normal than they may not induce. I really want him here before the end of the year and I probably stress myself out more than anything worrying about when the time will come. I mean I have nothing else to do but to sit here and think about those types of things all day but when the doctor comes in I don't want to ask the same questions everyday.

Ok, enough about that, but I will update on the blood work again tomorrow once we see how the levels do after the morning tests are done. Last night I asked the nurse if I was the only one staying here for a long time and she informed me that there was one other lady that would be here until she delivers. I haven't met her yet but I do want to ask all of you readers to pray for her just as you all have done for me. I do not know her circumstances and just know that she is in for the long haul. I did briefly see her tonight when Allison took me on a ride down to the cafeteria and we just passed in the hall. I actually didn't know it was the same women until we were back in our room. I would love to talk to her and I know how she is feeling with it just being her first few days in here. I still remember one of the night nurses telling me and my family on one of the first nights that I may seem all cheery most of the time but there would come a day when all I wanted to do was to sit in my room and cry. Well, that day for me was yesterday. Today was total opposite. Phillip and I have picked around so much today and just acted crazy to make the day go by faster. Tonight Allison took me on a ride and that helps make the nights go faster too. Phillip had already taken me to the gift shop today and we were able to get a cute little toboggan and a pacifier holder for our little one. The gift shops keeps duke, state, and Carolina gear in stock and Phillip chose the NC State toboggan and pacifier holder for our son. I am not a real competitive person and could care less about any of the 3 school but growing up I always did love NC State and so did Phillip. The gift shop here has a lot of cute baby items but we couldn't buy everything that we wanted. Last week we had gone down for my parents birthdays and purchased picture frames for each of them. Dad's read Grandpa's Boy and mom's said My Grandma and Me (or something along those lines). I thought they were just too cute not to get. Now we just need pictures to go in them. While down there today I did find a baby book that I would love to have but we did not purchase it just yet. For our baby shower my very creative cousin made us a wonderful scrapbook to keep up with the little one through his first years. Well, the baby book I found in the gift shop went a little further in keeping the details so I think we will use both books. I know we will use the scrapbook because I just love it and in the baby book I can keep shot records and other important information. I hadn't even priced baby books like that so I am still trying to see what is a reasonable price for them. I believe in the gift shop they were around $30 but I want to look around and price a few others before settling on that one book.

Anyways, after Phillip and I got back to the room from the gift shop I started have some mild contractions. I think they are just braxton hicks contractions but at least it is a little piece of progression. They have continued very sporadically throughout the night so far. After Phillip, mom, and dad left they put me on the monitor. I was having a mild contraction at that time but sure enough it was at the end of it and then another one did not begin until I had been off of the monitor for a few minutes. Mostly they are and hour or little more apart. The doctor is fine with them right now. She just wants to know if I start experiencing more than 6 contractions in an hour, and since we are doing good to get one in then we are doing good. The doctor did say that the mild braxton hicks contractions could be good for the baby's lung development so I have been talking to the baby a lot and telling him to keep them coming and that it would be okay if these were the beginning of the real contractions that are to come.

Well, the ambien has been given for tonight and I am struggling to stay awake to finish this. Thank you for all the happy thoughts and the prayers. Thank you all that have sent emails to me today and comments. They really do help put me in a better mood. I am headed to bed now and I will probably update the blog again in the morning when we here from the doctor. I don't think much will change overnight unless the little one decides he is ready to come out and the contractions get closer together and a lot more regular, which I am not holding my breath that they will. Keep praying for us!

Having a better day so far.

As you can tell, yesterday was a very stressful day here at the hospital. Not knowing what was going on and all. Today has been better so far. Since they had me doing a 24 hour urine test that wasn't finished until 8:45 this morning I do not know the results of the blood work yet. The doctor has already came by and it was the doctor that was on call this weekend. She didn't have too much to say since the test results were not back at that time. Dr. B is on tonight so we will just have to wait and see what she says. I was so happy that they did not have to wake me up early this morning to do the blood work. With the 24 hour urine tests they have to take your blood after the urine collection is completed so I was able to sleep in and they took the toxemia panel and the blood work needed for the urine test at the same time. Even though I slept better last night I am still tired and so once I get this all typed up and posted I will take my daily nap. Tonight Allison will be back with me for two nights. Phillip has to work tomorrow and thursday and then he has some time off. Hopefully this little man will cooperate and come either this weekend or early next week so that Phillip will have a good two weeks to spend with us before returning to work.

During the day up here I really haven't been doing too much. Over the weekend mom did go by the christian bookstore and got me the book FireProof. Phillip and I went to see the movie a few months back and I really enjoyed it. The book is just as good as the movie so far. I really recommend the book and movie to everyone. Yesterday afternoon Phillip and I did have some company that brought us a talking Santa that we have enjoyed playing with. You ask him questions and he answers them for you. It is really cute and we are really enjoying it. We also want to think everyone who has sent comments or emails to us. While we may not comment back to all of them or respond to all the emails we really do enjoy reading them and knowing that people are reading the blog and praying for us. Please keep praying and hopefully we will be home before too much longer. I know God has a plan for us in being here so long and I know that if he didn't think it was necessary for us to be here then we would not be here. I know he has control of the entire situation and if it is his will we will have a baby before Christmas and if not then he will give us the strength we need to make it in here until the time comes. Well, I am off to nap but I will update later when we know more from the tests that were done this morning. We love you all and thanks for the prayers.

Feeling better

Well, the doctor on call, Dr. B, just left. She has been on vacation this weekend and hasn't been around for all the drama that went on yesterday. She isn't sure why the other doctor even gave me an option yesterday of induction or wanted the amnio redone today. She said that she didn't believe the lungs have had time to develop to the point of maturity. Although she thinks we still have a while left in here she did say that if I make it to 37 weeks that they will induce. Unfortunately, 37 weeks is the Sunday after Christmas so I could be looking to spend Christmas in the hospital. She was very apologetic for the other doctor getting our hopes up that the little one would be here sooner than later. She did say that if my symptoms change or if the tests that are being done daily get bad that they will induce at that point but right now I am doing just fine. Hopefully, we will have him here with us before the new year.

Very frustrated

Well, we thought that we would be getting the amnio done today. They came in this morning and told us they would be here around 11 to do it and then at 12:30 the nurse came in and said that they were running behind and it would be around 2 when they got down here. It was 3 when one of the high risk doctors finally came down. It was not my normal high risk doctor and she did not want to perform the amnio. She told us there was no way that the lungs had had time to develop since last week. I am so frustrated that they waited so long and had our hopes up all day of getting to see how much the lung had matured. I do not believe she had even spoken to my regular doctors. I don't think I put this in the blog from yesterday but the doctor gave me a choice yesterday to induce last night or wait until today to check the lung development. I opted to wait until today so that we would know more about how mature the lungs are. The doctors from the office I go to changed shifts today at lunch and the one on call is at the office right now so she hasn't made her hospital rounds today. We are all very much frustrated by this and we feel that we are in the dark. Even the nurses do not know why the change in plans changed and they are frustrated for not being kept informed. I have a lot of questions for the doctor tonight and hopefully the nurse will tell us more before the doctor comes by on her rounds, or maybe the doctor will even call and let us know what in the world is going on.

Emotionally I have done really well until this happened. I think I just had my hopes up that the lungs would be developed and induction would happen tonight or in the morning. I am on my 15th day in the hospital and I am ready to go home. I want the best for our son but I am just ready to be home with him. Just please pray for me today and I will update again after we know more from our regular doctor.

Just waiting...

Phillip and I are just sitting here waiting on the high risk doctor to come in and perform the amnio. They were supposed to be here around 11 but we haven't seen them yet. The doctor did come in this morning and said that one of my liver enzyme levels is back to normal while the other one is still elevated. They have started me doing a 24 hour urine test so they can see how much protein and keytones are spilling out in my urine. That test will not be finished until in the morning and so we will not know the results until tomorrow evening. She said we should know the results of the amnio by this afternoon, well if they ever get in here to do it. I will update you again once we know more. Thanks for the prayers!

Another amnio for tomorrow

Today my liver enzymes went up yet again. Since they continue to rise the doctor contacted the perinatologist (high risk ob) to see what they suggested. They suggested that they come down and perform another amnio tomorrow to see how the lung development of the little one was. The doctor explained to me that during a stressful pregnancy (high blood pressure, protein in urine) that babies lungs normally develop faster than during a normal pregnancy. She told us that she didn't know for sure if his lungs would be fully developed but that they thought it was time to check them again since my blood work keeps getting a little worse each day. If the lungs are developed then it is possible that they will induce labor sooner than the 36 weeks. The doctor also informed us today that at 35 weeks the baby will be evaluated as to whether or not he will need to spend time in the NICU. She told us that he was measuring 2 weeks early at the last ultrasound and that he is a big baby for his gestational age, which we already knew. She also said that babies which come from moms with preeclampsia (high blood pressure) normally do really well once out of the womb since they are relieved of the stress they have been undergoing. If once they perform the amnio tomorrow and his lungs are not developed then it is just a waiting game on delivery. Once the lab work for the liver enzymes and/or protein in my urine get too bad they will not wait any longer on the lungs to develop and will induce me at that point. This means, according to the doctor, within 7 to 10 days regardless of the amnio Phillip and I will have our little boy here with us! We are very excited. We do not want me to get to the point of being sick from the rising liver enzymes. The effects of high liver enzymes are headache, blurred vision, abdominal pain, and frequent severe vomiting. The doctors do not want my condition to get to the point of having these symptoms and therefore would induce if these conditions begin to exist. Also, letting the condition worsen could also be bad on the placenta and cause the placenta to begin to break away and cause the need for an emergency c-section. The doctors are really against me having a c-section at this time, especially an emergency section. The doctor also told us once they begin the induction process labor will probably last somewhere around 20 hours since I am only 35 weeks. This has been a lot of news to get for today, but it is wonderful knowing that in a few short days our little man will be here with us and we will more than likely going to get to spend Christmas at home with him. Right now we do not have a time that the amnio will be performed but I am hoping they are able to work us in as early as possible. Once they have done the amnio it will take about 2-3 hours for the results to come back and if everything looks good induction could happen as early as tomorrow. We are not getting our hopes up just yet but we can't wait to meet him.

Other than the news of meeting our little one soon today has been a pretty simple day. Mom has stayed with me the last two nights and Phillip is on night duty here with me tonight. Just to let you know the nutrition department did manage to get breakfast and lunch right today but of course they couldn't make it a full day of correct meals. The funny things about dinner was the one item I told them I absolutely did not want was one of the items on the tray. I decided to skip the dinner tray and went down to the cafeteria with mom, dad and Phillip.

Well, I will update again tomorrow when we know more about what the doctors are thinking. The doctor that is on call today goes off tomorrow and my other doctor will be on. It will be nice to get the other doctors opinion on my situation. I really like both doctors but each doctor has her own thoughts and it is nice to get to hear what they each are thinking. Keep praying for us and we will update you tomorrow.

Please pray for lung development!

The nurse was just in and both nurses that have been on today have told me not to be surprised if we have our little boy this week. With the liver enzymes rising there is a big possibility that I will have to deliver this week. Although and I really ready to meet my son I also do not want to meet him too early. Please pray that, for one, that I will be able to hold off on delivery until next Sunday; and for two, that our little boys lungs are fully developed. I know that God will take care of us but please keep us in your prayers. I will update this further when we speak to the doctor.

Nothing much is changing.

I have now been in the hospital for almost 2 weeks. Thirteen days to be exact. It has gone by faster than I expected but it is still very boring. There is only a limited amount of things that you can do sitting in a hospital bed 24 hours a day. I am grateful that I do have internet access but the hospital has so many websites blocked that it is driving me insane. You can not get on to religious websites, websites deemed to be society and culture, or fashion and beauty. Even a lot of the baby websites I cannot get on. It won't even let me on most photo hosting websites like snapfish or slide.com. Luckily the gmail account that I have has a photo hosting site and that is the only way I am able to post pictures for you guys. I meant to post this earlier but if any of you are wanting to send emails please feel free to email me anytime at hmthomas502@gmail.com. I love getting emails and I may not respond back to each and everyone but I do love receiving them.

Anyways, dad did stay with me all day yesterday. We really didn't do that much. I was sleepy yesterday morning so I just napped a bit while he did some work. After lunch we finished watching the second Pearl Harbor dvd. The air in my room up here is never just right. So, after we finished watching the movie dad started messing with the air and the vents to try to get the temperature just right. I was just sitting in the bed laughing at dad because he was standing on chairs trying to adjust the vents and I told him he was going to fall and they would have to bring him a hospital bed to put beside of mine. Luckily he did not fall but the air still isn't regulating right. We are either freezing or burning up. If you change the thermometer even one degree it is like you have changed it 10 degrees. Finally dad got finished messing and as soon as he did we got some company. The preacher and his wife from Centre Pointe came by to visit us. It was nice talking to them. After they left it was almost dinner time. I had already decided earlier in the day that I would just eat dinner with mom, dad, and Phillip. Well, dad has a new favorite restaurant, O'Charley's. Once mom was on her way I called in our order and dad went over to pick it up. As soon as Phillip and mom had arrived dad was back with dinner. We went down to the cafeteria to eat just so I could get out of the room and so that we would have more room to spread out to eat. Dinner was really good and we came back to the room after we were finished. Dad and Phillip left shortly after dinner and mom stayed with me and spent the night. She is also staying again tonight since Phillip is working this weekend. After Phillip and dad left we had more company. Some friends of ours came up to see me. They have known me since I was born and it was good to see them. Last night after they left mom and I just talked a little while we waited on midnight to get here to get my ambien. They came in a little before midnight and gave me my pill but i just could not sleep. I think I finally fell asleep around 2 this morning and was woken up at 5 for blood work, weight check and blood pressure. I quickly went back to sleep and was again waken up a little before 8 when breakfast arrived. I was not ready to get up but I decided that I better go ahead and eat while it was still hot. I woke up with a headache this morning so as soon as breakfast was finished I went ahead and got put on the monitor so that when they took my blood sugar an hour after my meal I could go back to bed, which is exactly what I did. I took a nap from 9:30 until about 11:45. Not long after I laid down for my nap the nutrition lady called to ask what I would like for lunch. I told her exactly what I wanted and she even repeated the order back to me. I was so mad when lunch arrived today because it was not what I had ordered. There is only one lady that works in the nutrition department here that can seem to get my order right and she is off today. I hate when she is not working because nothing is ever right. I was so mad that I asked the nurse just to get the wheelchair for me and mom took me down to the cafeteria to eat. I do plan on having a talk with the head of the nutrition department when she comes by my room this week. I do not mind eating the hospital food in my room when they get the order right but it is beginning to really make me ill that they call and ask what I want and I tell them exactly what I want and they send something different all together up. The cafeteria here isn't too expensive but I do not feel that every time they get my order wrong that I should be stuck going down there and having to pay for a meal that should be provided. The nurses are also getting irritated that my meals are wrong with the one lady isn't here. They have once given me some coupons to use in the cafeteria and they have placed numerous complaints with the nutrition department. I guess we will just have to wait until Monday to get everything straightened out. The nurse on for today was funny. An hour after mom and I got back to the room she came in to take my blood sugar and it was down. She told me that when I do not eat in my room my blood sugars are always much better than when I eat the tray they bring. She said that is really abnormal because most people would go down and eat foods they are not supposed to be eating. I told her I stick to the diet when I leave the room. She said they must be putting sugar in my food when they bring a tray. I don't know why they are always better when I choose what I eat.

The doctor did come in this afternoon and said that my liver enzymes are continuing to sneak up. They were 53 yesterday and 55 today. She said they are going to take blood yet again tomorrow morning to keep an eye on things. I am hoping that if they keep rising that on Wednesday they will do another amnio and the little one's lungs will be developed enough that he can make his grand entrance. So please, please be praying for his lungs because if the liver enzymes keep increasing and his lungs are not developed they could have to deliver and he would be placed in the NICU. Also tomorrow I will be 35 weeks so next Sunday will be the 36 week marker that they have been striving for me to make it too. If the lungs look good then Phillip and I could be parents right before Christmas and possibly be home with him on Christmas Day. I know so many of you are already praying and I really appreciate it. Please pray hard this week for his lungs so that we can spend our first Christmas with our little one at home instead of in the hospital.

A very restful day

Yesterday was a pretty good day. Phillip was here with me all day and we didn't do much. Actually I just sat in bed and napped most of the day. It was rainy all day which made the room darker and easier to just nap. After mom and dad got off of work they came up to relieve Phillip. Dad stayed the night. After mom had left to go home for the night dad and I did watch the first disc of Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor is a really long movie so it is on 2 disc. We only made it through the first one. After it was finished it was already midnight and time for my ambien. They didn't get in here until about 12:30 to give me the pill and dad and I were both ready for bed by then. The nurse came in this morning about 4 to take my blood. They redid the liver enzyme testing this morning. The doctor came in about 11 this morning and told us that one of the test came back with normal enzyme levels and the other was up another 2 points from yesterday. The doctors are not really too concerned at this point. The levels are normally 30-40 and mine this morning were 53. They told us they would not take the baby until the levels were in the 200-300 range, so we are still doing good. They are just going to keep an eye on things and retake blood again in the morning.

Yesterday morning Phillip and I did have company. The youth leader from our church stopped by and brought a flower from our Sunday School class for us. It is a really nice flower. I will try to get some pictures of it to post. Besides that we really had an uneventful day. I will update you guys again tomorrow with anything that we find out. Right now it is just a sit and wait game. Atleast the bedrest is giving me some needed rest before the little one's arrival, and it is helping my blood pressures. Thanks you for the prayers and I will update again tomorrow.

Just another day.

Yesterday was the same as every other day. We really did not receive any new news yesterday. Phillip and I just sat here and talked and watched tv for the most part of the day. He did run out to Walmart to get a few things that I was needing but besides that we really didn't do that much. Once my parents got here I did go on a ride in the wheelchair to the cafeteria. They had brought Cracker Barrel for supper since yesterday was mom's birthday. Allison and Scott also came up to eat dinner with us. It was really nice getting out of the room for a little while. Mom and dad stayed for a little while after we ate. Once they left Phillip and I watched tv again and I colored a little bit. The normal night nurses have been off or working other rooms for the past two nights so my night routine has been off a little. I normally get my ambien around midnight but last night they did not bring it until around one. I was getting a little sleepy and Phillip was already asleep. So needless to say I did not get much sleep last night. They had to take blood this morning, which they do around 5 am. So I only got about 4 hours of sleep before they woke me up. After they took my blood I had an extremely hard time going back to sleep and I really don't know what time I finally fell back to sleep. I do know that breakfast came this morning about 8:30 so that woke me up. The doctor came in during breakfast and said the liver function portion of the blood work was a little elevated this morning so they will have to take blood again in the morning. I had other things on my mind while the doctor was in this morning that I forgot to ask what would happen if the liver function was elevated again tomorrow when they check the blood. I think I know the answer to the question which would be possibly delivery. I know she has been concerned about my kidneys and liver the entire time I have been in the hospital. Hopefully everything will be back to normal tomorrow and we can hold off on delivery until his little lungs are mature.

Well, that is about all for today. Please keep us in your prayer and pray that everything turns out okay with my liver. My dad is staying the night tonight so that should be fun. We have already planned to watch our favorite movie tonight, Pearl Harbor! We have watched it so much that we can basically recite the entire movie. I will update you guys tomorrow unless we receive any more news today. Thank you all for the comments and for reading this each day!

Hospital Room

I have finally posted some pictures from the hospital room. I will add more as I take more and post them. My neighbor Holly was kind enough to bring the tree and the holiday decorations. My mother-in-law also brought by some decorations for the tree. In case you can't tell the tree decorations are all little boy baby themed. They are very cute.

Hospital

We are going to have a big baby boy!

Yesterday the nurse came in and told me that the results from the ultrasound from Monday had finally came back. Right now the baby is weighing about 6 pounds 6 ounces. This is a little large for only being 34 weeks. My regular OBGYN wanted the ultrasound done just to basically make sure he was growing, and yes he is definitely growing. The high blood pressure that I have been having can actually cause small babies but the gestational diabetes can cause large babies. Since I have both conditions the doctors couldn't be too sure what size he would be. Being a large baby is much better than a small baby. Since we still have a few weeks to go before they would like to take him they do expect him to keep growing. The doctor that came in this morning actually said since my blood pressure is down that the placenta is getting better blood flow and therefore he would grow even faster. I have started gaining weight again and that is probably all baby. I am still down in weight since I have been here. The nurses here are just awesome. I couldn't ask for a better team of nurses to take care of me. If I do not understand what the doctors are saying the nurse will come back in and explain it in simpler terms for me. They also give me tips and prepare me for what could happen. I really appreciate all they are doing for me and I will always recommend the high risk department at Northeast for anyone who may need it.

The doctor today also told me that the lungs of our little one still have a ways to go before they will be ready for delivery. Right now his are at 11 and before delivery they need to be at 56. I am not sure how quickly they will mature but she did think that they would perform another amnio sometime in the next 7 to 10 days. She said the high risk ob that I have been seeing is more aggressive than some high risk obs. This means he believes it to be best for me that once the lungs of the little one are developed that the benefit of him coming out outweighs the risks that it could cause my health for him to stay in. This is alright with me. I asked her if she thought we would have a baby by the end of the year and she said she does believe that we will. She also tried to warn me of some of the things that could happen. She told me that even though my blood pressures and the protein in my urine is down that does not mean I am out of the woods for complications. She said that ladies with toxemia (high blood pressure during pregnancy) can be feeling absolutely normal and great at one moment and a few hours later delivery may be necessary because the symptoms can change so quickly. She also said I am still at risk for having seizures which is one of the reasons I am on hospital bed rest. She also told me that when it comes time to deliver that they will induce me rather than schedule a c-section because natural labor will be less stressful on my body than a c-section. Of course if there are any problems with labor then they will perform a section but they will try not too. She told me I would also be placed on a magnesium drip while in labor to prevent seizures during labor. She said the magnesium will make me have flu like symptoms so I will not feel well for a day or so after delivery. I am not looking forward to that but as long as me and my precious little boy is alright then everything else will be alright. I also have faith that God will take care of both of us like he has this far in the pregnancy. I am just thankful that I am able to have children.


I would also like to take a minute to wish my mom a happy birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY!

Nursery Pictures

I finally figures out how to post some pictures of the nursery. If you will click on the picture below you will be taken to the pictures. Let me know what you think.

Nursery

A day of suprises

Yesterday I posted that the doctor had ordered an ultrasound to be done on Wednesday. Well, yesterday afternoon as I was taking my short little nap I was awaken to the ultrasound team. Undoubtedly, the perinatologist had and opening in his schedule so he sent a team from his office down to go ahead and perform the ultrasound. As soon as they were finished they dropped a bombshell on me that if the doctor thought everything looked good on the ultrasound that they would be back down to my room with the doctor to perform an amniocentesis. An amniocentesis is where they stick a needle into your belly to get amniotic fluid from around the placenta. This was all a shock to me as my regular obgyn had told me this procedure would be performed closer to 36 weeks. Well, the ultrasound must have looked good because within an hour the perinatologist was down in my room to perform the procedure. Luckily, my grandmother was here with me so I wasn't in the room by myself when they did this. The procedure itself is actually not that bad. There was a lot of pressure but besides that it doesn't hurt too bad. The thing that worried me the most was that the procedure can cause some women's water to break and thus be rushed into labor. Luckily that did not happen. After the doctor was done with the procedure I did have to be placed on the monitor for about an hour to make sure I was not have contractions and to make sure the baby was alright. Everything was fine and besides from a little cramping for about two hours nothing happened.

Before all the excitement of the ultrasound and amniocentesis yesterday I did have some company. A good friend that basically grew up with me and Allison stopped by with a card and gift from her Sunday school class. I am so thankful for our new church. They have been such a blessing and it is filled with a lot of caring people. I don't think I have posted about it before but the Sunday before I was admitted to the hospital Phillip and I joined Prospect Baptist Church. We really enjoy going to church there and we feel that is where God has put us to serve him. we really look forward to being able to serve more once our little one is here. We have received many phone calls and cards from the people of the church and we really appreciate them.

Once Phillip was off of work last night he did come to the hospital so that we could celebrate our anniversary. I had told the nutrition people at lunch that I would not be needing a dinner tray because Phillip was bringing dinner. Of course they went ahead and sent a tray, but I waited on Phillip. Once he left work I called us in some dinner at Logan's Roadhouse. It was one of the best meals I have had in a long time. The nurses were concerned that eating out would make my blood sugars high but every time I have ate out my blood sugars have been better than when I eat from the cafeteria here. So, Phillip and I celebrated with a steak dinner in my hospital room. We had already bought an anniversary present for the two of us to share before I was admitted to the hospital so we did not exchange gifts yesterday. As most of you know yesterday was also my daddy's birthday. My grandmother had stayed the day with me yesterday and right before Phillip arrived last night she left to meet my parents, sister, and Scott for supper. She took my parents out for their birthdays since mom's birthday is tomorrow. After they finished eating dinner they all came back to the hospital for a while and Phillip left so he could go home to get ready for work today. I think they were waiting for my doctor to come in but it got late so they went ahead and left.

My regular doctor didn't make it around last night until about 11:30. We were still up since we were watching the Panther's beat Tampa Bay! The doctor was just as surprised as we were that the amnio was done yesterday. She also told us at that time that the lungs were not developed enough right now for delivery. She said they would probably perform the amnio again in 10-14 days. This is more like what they had told us previously. Everything else is looking good so now we are just playing the waiting game until the little one's lungs can fully develop. Hopefully by the week of Christmas they will be developed and we can have us a Christmas baby, and possibly either leave the hospital on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day!

As always thank you guys for reading this and for all the thoughts and prayers you are sending our way. You will never know how much they are appreciated.

One Year Anniversary

Today is mine and Phillip's one year anniversary. Happy Anniversary sweetie! We have had a wonderful year together and we never would have thought that we would be awaiting the arrival of a precious little boy a year ago today. Today is also my daddy's b-day. Happy b-day daddy! December is a full month in our family. With our anniversary both mom and dads birthdays, my grandparents anniversary, and several other family members birthdays. Now we are more than likely adding one more birthday to the month of December. December will always be a busy month for our family but it just makes the holidays that much more fun.

Yesterday afternoon was pretty uneventful once I got my room all decorated for Christmas. Last night I did have to call dad and have him bring me and mom some supper. They had given me 2 things of turkey soup that smelled really bad along with a turkey sandwich for supper. They had also brought half of a turkey sandwich for my evening snack. That was just too much turkey for me so I called and begged dad to stop by cracker barrel to get me some good food. He did and I was so glad, the food was very good from there. After supper Allison came to stay with me for the night. The nurse came in and hooked me up to the monitors after mom and dad had left. Our precious little one did really well last night on the monitor so I didn't have to stay hooked up long at all. After I was unhooked it was about 10 and I was already getting a little sleepy. I really try hard to stay up until midnight each night to take my ambien. I have found if I take it before midnight the nurses have to wake me up twice during the night to take my blood pressure and therefore I do not get a good nights sleep. If I wait until midnight then I just have to be woken up once during the night. Since we were so tired we decided that we would color pictures until midnight. We finally finished up both of our pictures right at midnight which worked out very well. Also, last night after receiving my blood pressure medication my blood pressure was down a lot which was a very positive thing. The protein in my urine has also been down the last few days which is a good thing.

This morning we woke up a little after 8. My blood sugar levels were down but they have still started giving both the short and long acting insulin in the morning. My blood pressures were good this morning too. I had also lost more weight this morning. I was down another 3 or 3.5 pounds. That means I have now only gained a total of 6.5 pounds. The doctors do not seemed concerned so neither am I. After breakfast they did hook me up to monitor me but the computer was acting up. I had to stay on the monitor this morning for about an hour. Between the computer glitches and the little one moving all around I had to hold the monitor on so that we could get good readings. Right before they started the monitoring my doctor came by. She is happy with how my blood pressures are looking and is sending me for a growth ultrasound. They were going to try to get it in today but the high risk ob office which does the ultrasounds is already booked so they are doing it Wednesday. This actually works out better for me since Allison had to leave this morning for therapy on her foot and Phillip is working. Phillip was worried he would miss out on the ultrasound but now since it will be Wednesday he will get to get here for that. Hopefully he will look good on the ultrasound and we will be able to find out a more tentative date for delivery. The nurses here are all hoping to get me delivered the week of Christmas so that we could possibly leave the hospital on Christmas Eve. The doctors haven't said anything yet about this to me but as long as he is healthy and is ready to come out that would make me very happy to be home for Christmas.

Well, that is about all for now. My preacher did come by already this morning and my dads mom will be here in a little while to sit with me today. Phillip is coming tonight to bring me a special anniversary dinner and Allison will be back tonight to stay with me. Again thank you all for the prayers and please keep them coming. We love you all!

34 weeks and counting

Today I am officially 34 weeks pregnant. We only need to make it 2 more weeks before the doctors want to take it. Since they changed my blood pressure medication yesterday my blood pressures have been better. Mom stayed the night with me last night. After dad and Phillip left we watched the movie The Christmas Shoes. I think we had both watched it last year around Christmas but it is still a good movie to watch around this time of the year. After watching the movie the nurse came in and gave me my sleeping pill and we were out of it for the night. We woke up about 8:00 this morning when the nurse came in to take my blood pressure. Breakfast arrived around 9:00 and after that they hooked me up to the monitor for the morning nst. The little man has been doing really well on the monitor. Normally we only have to stay hooked up for about 20-30 minutes. Well, I guess they hooked us up this morning during his nap time because he was not cooperating. They like for his heart rate to have 3 increases while hooked up, but since he was sleeping it wasn't increasing. After adjusting a few times we finally got him up and finished the test within an hour. As soon as we were finished with the monitoring I got up and took my daily shower. Once I was out of the shower and had gotten ready mom took me on an adventure in the wheelchair. She hadn't eaten anything today so far and it was almost lunch time. We decided that we would go eat in the cafeteria and go to the gift shop. We tried going to the gift shop first but we didn't know that they were closed until 12:30. So we headed down to the cafeteria. After we ate we headed back to the gift shop since they were then opened. The gift shop is not set up for wheelchairs being in there. We did manage to get around but it was a little difficult. Once back to the room it was time to check my blood sugar. The nurse said the nutrition lady was a little concerned about me eating in the cafeteria because she wasn't sure I would make the right choices for lunch. I was actually very good at lunch. I ate a cheeseburger on wheat bread with a side salad and sugar free pudding. The nurse told her she thought that I would do fine but that she would be able to tell when she took my sugar. The sugar level was 117 which is really good for me. The nurse was very proud of me.

After taking the adventure this morning I was a little tired so I decided I would take a little nap. While sleeping one of my friends Holly stopped by with a great suprise. She brought me a Christmas tree and decoration for my room. I was so excited. The tree looks great as do the rest of the decorations. Once again I am thankful to have such thoughtful friends. I wasn't expecting it at all but it does make the room look so much better. As most of you know I love Christmas and so I am very excited to have a Christmas tree in the room. Holly, thank you so much for all you do! Well, that is about all that has gone on for today. I do have pictures of the nursery to post at some time. As soon as I figure out how to get them loaded I will put them on here. I will also take some pictures of my room all decorated! Mom is still here but Allison is coming to stay the night. Tomorrow is mine and Phillip's one year anniversary. He has to work but I am sure he will be up here as soon as he is off tomorrow night. This is not how we planned to spend out first anniversary but we will officially celebrate and have the top layer of our cake once we are home from the hospital. As always keep praying for us and we do thank each of you for your thoughts, prayers, and cards we are receiving.

Still going strong

Today is Saturday. The days are really starting to run together sitting in the room. They actually go by pretty fast, its just that I lose tract of what day it actually is. Everything is still going pretty well. Yesterday's blood sugars were pretty good from breakfast on. The doctor came in last night and upped the amount of long lasting insulin I am taking at night since my fasting and breakfast numbers are still up. The blood pressures yesterday were a little elevated but overall not too bad. I think it they may have been up more yesterday because I was more active than I have been being. Today I am back to just laying around and relaxing. Right now I am by myself. Its not too bad being here by myself for a few hours. I sent Phillip home to get the nursery set up. Phillip's sister finished painting the nursery Sunday so we were planning to get everything set up in there this week. His sister did a great job on painting the nursery and I was going to post some pictures but Phillip took the camera home with him to take pictures of the finished product. I will post some pictures when he gets back today. He will not be staying with me tonight because he has training tomorrow but my sweet mom will be staying with me. She is actually meeting Phillip at the house right now and is going to get the house straightened up for us. I am so thankful to have great parents and I love them very much. Allison will be back on night duty with me on Sunday and Monday so that will be good too and I really appreciate her doing that for me.

Not much has been going on so far today at the hospital. They did hook me up for my nst (non-stress test) this morning. This is a test that measures the baby's heartbeat and measures if I am having any contractions. Monday when I came in a was contracting a little and it has been down for the past few days. This morning I had a few more contractions. They are so light right now that I can't even feel the majority of them. These are just braxton hicks contractions which mean they are not affecting the cervix and are not making me dilate. If they do start getting stronger than the doctor will have to decide whether or not to give me a medication to stop them or to go ahead with labor. I really do not forsee them getting any worse. Some of them are even from being a little dehydrated so I am having to drink more water now. The little man's heart rate has been looking very strong and healthy and they have been pleased with the results of each nst that they have done. They do this test twice a day and it is really neat to get to hear his little heart beat twice a day.

Well, I am going to go get some rest but please keep praying for us. Each day we can stay means that healthier he will be when he makes his grand arrival. Phillip and I love all of you and are thankful to have such great family and friends.

Another day in paradise

Today has been a pretty slow day overall. I was woken up around 5:30 for the nurses to get some blood for some test they are running every few days. They check my blood to make sure my kidneys are functioning as they are supposed to and they check a few other things but I can't remember what all it is they check right now. Once again the nurse got my blood on the first try so I was impressed. Phillip slept through the nurses being in here. I don't think he has been sleeping too well at home. I know he is really worried about me and the baby, and I would be worried about him too if he was the one in the hospital. After they got the blood they needed I quickly went back to sleep and didn't wake up until around 8:00. The nurses change shifts at 7:00 but normally they don't make it into my room until around 8:00 to start taking my vitals. This is fine with me so that I get a little more sleep. We do have a new nurse today that we haven't had before. She is really sweet. She has actually just came off of maternity leave herself. Between her and the night nurse that we have been having they have been wonderful. They both have contacted the nutrition center and have been helping me get the foods that I like. I have spoken to the nutrition center several times today. I had to tell them all the foods that I don't like and they are doing a good job of accommodating my wants. Supper tonight was a different story but at least mom and dad can bring me food. I can always tell when the gestational diabetes nutrition lady leaves for the day because that is when the meals start getting messed up. Another good thing is if I don't like any food they have for the day they can make me a grilled cheese and I love their grilled cheese.

Okay enough about food. Well, today my blood pressures have been more elevated than yesterday. I don't know if that is because I have been up a little more than I was yesterday or not. I did get up earlier today to take a shower and then I took the time to straighten my hair. I guess all of that activity made my blood pressure go up a little. Phillip did take me down to the gift shop to get me out of the room this afternoon. The gift shop is really nice and there was a lot of things that I wanted out of there. It is probably just because I am not able to leave to go shopping. I am going to have shopping withdrawals by the time I go home. I am just happy that the majority of my Christmas shopping was finished before I got admitted. I just have a few little items that I need to get and thankfully I can just tell Phillip what we need and he can go get them for us. A positive for today is that my blood sugars have been good today. I think today is the first day since I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes that the sugar level one hour after eating has been in the normal range. I was so excited.

The doctor hasn't been in today yet. Actually, the nurse said she came by while I was in the shower. I guess I will see the other doctor that is on call for tonight. My doctor's office only has two doctors and I really like both of them, which is a positive thing. Well, I will update everyone tomorrow at some point. Tomorrow Phillip is headed home for a few minutes to help my mom and dad get the nursery in order. I will have him take some pictures while he is there so that I can post them for everyone to see. I will also take some pictures of my room one of these days so that we will have them for future memories. As always please keep praying that the little one stays in for a few more weeks.