>Let's focus on the good parts...

>Bed rest isn't fun; I realize that. I'm trying very hard to stay positive and not complain too much. I had compiled a list of "good" in my head last night as I tossed and turned every 2 hours. Now, I'm trying to remember that list.
Let's see...
-My blood pressure has gone down tremendously. If you recall it was to the point that it was getting to be borderline for pregnancy induced hypertension. I'm very pleased with that. I guess the stress of my job was really taking it's toll on me.
-I've had some time to read. I love to read and with all that teaching entails, I was missing out on some great books.
-I get to see Josh every day for lunch! It's such a treat. He's working right down the street and comes home each day and has lunch with me. I think that he really just wants to check on me but that's fine. I like the company.
-Harley loves having me home. He also likes that Josh comes home for lunch. He knows he gets scraps.
OK, so those are some good things. As I remember more (or discover more), I'll update.

I called Human Resources the other day because I wanted to know how this bed rest stuff was going to affect my maternity leave. I thought that it may not, boy was I wrong. It gets a little confusing, so just bear with me. I was hospitalized on 9-11 (what a date, huh). (little side note, baby has the hiccups right now)Anyway, the way FMLA works is that any person that has been an employee of a company for a year my take 12 weeks per calendar year with their job protected and insurance benefits. I pay for short term disability so I just assumed that STD would kick in b/c I have no baby yet. Evidently, FMLA began the day I was hospitalized. I only get 12 weeks. The first thing the county does is takes away my sick days. I had seven and a quarter. Now those are gone. They will start charging my insurance premiums in November. My STD is kicking in. Technically, if I am not released to go back to work until after the baby is born, my FMLA will expire on December 11 and my position at Bryant will be relinquished. I can still get a position with the county, just not at my current school. At that time (if he comes on time) the baby will only be 4 weeks old and I will not have gotten clearance from my OB to go back to work. I would be scheduled to get that 6w check up right after Christmas. My disability will cover my insurance up through that check up but then we would have to pay cobra or seek private insurance. All that said, I would have to go back to work with a 7 week old. Josh says Hell no, that's too young. I just don't know how we will afford it. I've prayed that one door open and another close, so this bed rest stuff might just be a mixed blessing. I know it's out of my control. Things will work out; they always do.

Let's focus on the good parts...

Bed rest isn't fun; I realize that. I'm trying very hard to stay positive and not complain too much. I had compiled a list of "good" in my head last night as I tossed and turned every 2 hours. Now, I'm trying to remember that list.
Let's see...
-My blood pressure has gone down tremendously. If you recall it was to the point that it was getting to be borderline for pregnancy induced hypertension. I'm very pleased with that. I guess the stress of my job was really taking it's toll on me.
-I've had some time to read. I love to read and with all that teaching entails, I was missing out on some great books.
-I get to see Josh every day for lunch! It's such a treat. He's working right down the street and comes home each day and has lunch with me. I think that he really just wants to check on me but that's fine. I like the company.
-Harley loves having me home. He also likes that Josh comes home for lunch. He knows he gets scraps.
OK, so those are some good things. As I remember more (or discover more), I'll update.

I called Human Resources the other day because I wanted to know how this bed rest stuff was going to affect my maternity leave. I thought that it may not, boy was I wrong. It gets a little confusing, so just bear with me. I was hospitalized on 9-11 (what a date, huh). (little side note, baby has the hiccups right now)Anyway, the way FMLA works is that any person that has been an employee of a company for a year my take 12 weeks per calendar year with their job protected and insurance benefits. I pay for short term disability so I just assumed that STD would kick in b/c I have no baby yet. Evidently, FMLA began the day I was hospitalized. I only get 12 weeks. The first thing the county does is takes away my sick days. I had seven and a quarter. Now those are gone. They will start charging my insurance premiums in November. My STD is kicking in. Technically, if I am not released to go back to work until after the baby is born, my FMLA will expire on December 11 and my position at Bryant will be relinquished. I can still get a position with the county, just not at my current school. At that time (if he comes on time) the baby will only be 4 weeks old and I will not have gotten clearance from my OB to go back to work. I would be scheduled to get that 6w check up right after Christmas. My disability will cover my insurance up through that check up but then we would have to pay cobra or seek private insurance. All that said, I would have to go back to work with a 7 week old. Josh says Hell no, that's too young. I just don't know how we will afford it. I've prayed that one door open and another close, so this bed rest stuff might just be a mixed blessing. I know it's out of my control. Things will work out; they always do.

>Still on bed rest

>The doctor wants me to remain on bed rest until at least my next appt. I go back in a week. Keep the meds up and bed rest going. Gotta keep the baby in there. It's where he needs to be right now.

Still on bed rest

The doctor wants me to remain on bed rest until at least my next appt. I go back in a week. Keep the meds up and bed rest going. Gotta keep the baby in there. It's where he needs to be right now.

>What a week!

>Last week started out normal until I got to my doctor appt on Monday. My blood pressure was elevated so I had the blood panel completed for pregnancy induced hypertension. Thankfully, all of that came back fine. I decided that I needed to take off Tuesday so I did. I went to work on Wednesday and noticed some pressure really low with cramping. I made sure to guzzle a ton of water. I don't know if they really went away or if I was so distracted teaching. I stayed late on Wed to get a jump start on my spelling plans for maternity leave. I got home and noticed a few cramps nothing major. After dinner the cramps started coming again. Little did I know, I was having contractions. They started out 20 minutes apart, then 15, then 13 and once I had 3 in 20 minutes, I called the on call doc. He told me to take a warm bath (which actually sounds great right now) and see what happened. I followed directions and the contractions went from 7 minutes to 20 minutes apart. I went to bed after timing 3 of them. When I got up to pee, they were still 20 minutes apart. I thought I was good to go. Thursday I got up and was happy that I didn't feel anxious anymore. I ate my fruit and yogurt (as my first breakfast) and off to work I went. I barely got in the door when I started throwing up. I threw up once and then went to find the principal. She gladly got me a sub and told me to call my ob. When he called back, he instructed me to come in to the office. I hung up with him and started throwing up again. nice, huh? When I got to the office, they did an internal (fun, fun) and I learned that my cervix is effacing (thinning). They put me on the NST monitor to monitor contractions. I had 3 in 20 minutes so off to labor and delivery I went. Josh met me there. I was definitely scared. The baby is not big enough to be delivered yet. Well, technically he IS but I don't want to have to leave him at the hospital. They put me on an IV and set me up to their monitors. In an hour I had about 8 contractions, so they gave me terbutaline. The first dose worked great until it started to wear off, so they gave me another shot. At this point, I had already had enough of shots/ivs/needles. They moved me to a permanent room b/c we were spending the night. I was hooked up to the monitors all night with interruptions for this medication. Let me just say, the medication may work but it sucks. It makes me feel like a crack head or something. I am very jittery and it makes both of our hearts race. Friday, the dr came in to see me and looked over the contraction printout. They took some more blood, she ordered an ultrasound to check the baby and off she went. It was fun to have another ultrasound. Our little guy weighs 3.5 pounds and looks great. He handles the contractions like a champ. He's head down, so that is good. A few hours later (6) we were released from the hospital. I was sent home to bed rest with a bottle of pills.
The bed rest sucks but it's for the good of this baby that is constantly beating me up from the inside. I have another appt tomorrow to get checked again. I don't imagine that I'll be released from bed rest but it would be nice if I were on limited activity. I'm not holding my breath though. The medication works but the last hour before a new dose, the contractions start again. This baby needs to stay where he is for a bit longer.

What a week!

Last week started out normal until I got to my doctor appt on Monday. My blood pressure was elevated so I had the blood panel completed for pregnancy induced hypertension. Thankfully, all of that came back fine. I decided that I needed to take off Tuesday so I did. I went to work on Wednesday and noticed some pressure really low with cramping. I made sure to guzzle a ton of water. I don't know if they really went away or if I was so distracted teaching. I stayed late on Wed to get a jump start on my spelling plans for maternity leave. I got home and noticed a few cramps nothing major. After dinner the cramps started coming again. Little did I know, I was having contractions. They started out 20 minutes apart, then 15, then 13 and once I had 3 in 20 minutes, I called the on call doc. He told me to take a warm bath (which actually sounds great right now) and see what happened. I followed directions and the contractions went from 7 minutes to 20 minutes apart. I went to bed after timing 3 of them. When I got up to pee, they were still 20 minutes apart. I thought I was good to go. Thursday I got up and was happy that I didn't feel anxious anymore. I ate my fruit and yogurt (as my first breakfast) and off to work I went. I barely got in the door when I started throwing up. I threw up once and then went to find the principal. She gladly got me a sub and told me to call my ob. When he called back, he instructed me to come in to the office. I hung up with him and started throwing up again. nice, huh? When I got to the office, they did an internal (fun, fun) and I learned that my cervix is effacing (thinning). They put me on the NST monitor to monitor contractions. I had 3 in 20 minutes so off to labor and delivery I went. Josh met me there. I was definitely scared. The baby is not big enough to be delivered yet. Well, technically he IS but I don't want to have to leave him at the hospital. They put me on an IV and set me up to their monitors. In an hour I had about 8 contractions, so they gave me terbutaline. The first dose worked great until it started to wear off, so they gave me another shot. At this point, I had already had enough of shots/ivs/needles. They moved me to a permanent room b/c we were spending the night. I was hooked up to the monitors all night with interruptions for this medication. Let me just say, the medication may work but it sucks. It makes me feel like a crack head or something. I am very jittery and it makes both of our hearts race. Friday, the dr came in to see me and looked over the contraction printout. They took some more blood, she ordered an ultrasound to check the baby and off she went. It was fun to have another ultrasound. Our little guy weighs 3.5 pounds and looks great. He handles the contractions like a champ. He's head down, so that is good. A few hours later (6) we were released from the hospital. I was sent home to bed rest with a bottle of pills.
The bed rest sucks but it's for the good of this baby that is constantly beating me up from the inside. I have another appt tomorrow to get checked again. I don't imagine that I'll be released from bed rest but it would be nice if I were on limited activity. I'm not holding my breath though. The medication works but the last hour before a new dose, the contractions start again. This baby needs to stay where he is for a bit longer.

>It's getting scary

>This weekend was pretty uneventful. Friday night we went out to dinner and as soon as we got home, I fell asleep on the couch. Yesterday, I took Harley for a walk then met MIL and Nicholas at the park for a cub scouts thing. Thankfully, it was not too hot. I got home, showered and took a nap. Last night we had dinner with Nathan and Ashley. Christopher joined us. It was great to see them all. We haven't seen Nathan and Ashley since early July and even though Josh sees his brother often, I have not seen him in over a month. Before we leave today, I have to get some papers graded and some lessons done for this week. I think that Josh and I are going to go to the in-law's house to go swimming and let Harley play with Princess. Just so you can see what I've got growing...here's me in a 2 piece. Don't mind the spots on the mirror. I guess I really need to clean it!

It's getting scary

This weekend was pretty uneventful. Friday night we went out to dinner and as soon as we got home, I fell asleep on the couch. Yesterday, I took Harley for a walk then met MIL and Nicholas at the park for a cub scouts thing. Thankfully, it was not too hot. I got home, showered and took a nap. Last night we had dinner with Nathan and Ashley. Christopher joined us. It was great to see them all. We haven't seen Nathan and Ashley since early July and even though Josh sees his brother often, I have not seen him in over a month. Before we leave today, I have to get some papers graded and some lessons done for this week. I think that Josh and I are going to go to the in-law's house to go swimming and let Harley play with Princess. Just so you can see what I've got growing...here's me in a 2 piece. Don't mind the spots on the mirror. I guess I really need to clean it!

>30 weeks!

>
I can't believe I have 10 weeks left. How exciting!

30 weeks!

I can't believe I have 10 weeks left. How exciting!