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Monday, March 21, 2011

Room with a View Please

Finally we are home and on bed rest. But it doesn't matter that I'm n bed rest because I'm home! I have never ever in my life been so grateful to be at home! The smell, the sounds, the comfort of home...I never care to leave it ever again...but my doctor wanted to see me before he went on vacation, so after being home for a day and a half, I went to see him.

Again, I was having contractions very steadily and frequently and I was dilated again to a two! You know it's bad when the nurse offers you water in the doctors office. So again, his nurse wheeled me over to the ER and I was again admitted to the OB in Ottawa. My doctor said all I needed was fluids, even though I was drinking enough water to put our town into a drought, and that I could go home after a good course of fluids. I thought I would be back home in my bed be night time. Boy was I wrong!

My contractions kept going strong and I was again put on my favorite lovely anti-labor med that made me all nice and hot. But the popsicles were great and the nurses were able to get me a wonderful fan. I had killer back pains, but said no to the heating pad because it made me too hot. I did not even have to wear a hospital gown because I was now a "regular" in the OB. I called Matt and said don't rush, I think I'm going to be here a while....

So the goal was still to make it to 36 weeks. I was now 30 weeks and 2 days...every day really does count. The decision was made to keep me in the hospital on bed rest until the baby came, this way they could monitor my contractions and the baby and keep me on wonderful anti-labor drugs as needed. I was constantly given shots in the arm to try to keep labor at bay...but they didn't work all that well. They even woke me up in the middle of the night to give me these silly shots when my contractions increased.

So, this is what I remember from being on bed rest in the hospital...

  • Outstanding nurses. I never wanted them to leave my room, they were such great company.
  • Moving to a room with a private shower...Yea!
  • Making sure I showered whenever my nurses would let me because I never knew when I my last shower would be!
  • Matt bringing me dinner because the hospital food was dreadful! He also brought me ice cream that I could leave in the freezer and the nurses would bring it to me when I "needed" it.
  • Watching lots, and lots of TV...American Pickers, Today, Oprah, Wipeout, Wheel of Fortune
  • Being able to hear Matt's shoes coming down the hall and knowing that it was him before he got to my room and having the nurses buzz him out so he didn't set off the alarm.
  • Going through the baby name book with Matt and picking out the perfect names for our baby...and laughing out loud at some of the crazy names!
  • Really missing my dog and the summer.
  • Telling Matt that if the baby did have to go to Peoria for any reason to go with it no matter what.
  • Calling Matt and asking him to leave work early because it really hurt!
  • An amazing nurse that gave me back rubs.
  • Telling my sister that it hurt too bad and I couldn't visit with her.
  • Having Matt rub my back every night and him complaining that it hurt! Ha!
  • Being able to order off of the employee menu because I was there so long.
  • Listening to other women in labor...Can you please shut my door?
  • Coming to terms with the fact that this baby was going to come early...just how early was the question.
  • Having my in-laws finish the baby room. 
  • Being scared to death of labor...We never got to take the class and I never read that part of the book!
  • Counting down that days, again, until 36 weeks.
  • Having countless ultrasounds to check on the baby, guessing it's weight, and praying that it was not still breech.
So this was my life for another six weeks, hopefully. Lot's of TV, no sitting up, loving visitors when I was feeling up to them, and anxiously awaiting the arrival of my husband every night. I remember always making him hug me because I missed human contact. Those were the best hugs. Now we just had to wait it out to hug our baby.

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