28 weeks!

Yep, it's been a long time since I posted. SO much has been going on.

First, we went to Texas! It was so great. The drive down was... interesting. We left right after Baker's exam on 12/19 and drove to Louisville, Kentucky! We made great time. We got to our hotel, checked in, got Roxy settled, and went to the D.rury happy hour. We had 3 drink tickets so Baker got all of my drinks, too :) I did have a few sips of wine, though, and it was GOOD. But Baker's Rum and Coke was just DISGUSTING to me. Some alcohol just makes me sick. When we were done there, we went over to Olive Garden for a nice dinner. It was so fun, I love Olive Garden and Baker and I rarely go out together anymore. Got some sleep that night and headed out for Dallas the next day.

Man was that a LOOOONG day. First, we ran into an accident on the freeway at about 10am and sat stopped on the freeway for about an hour and a half. Finally got through that and cruised on. Then at about 3pm or so I guess, we got stuck behind ANOTHER accident just outside of Little Rock, AR. We were there for literally 3, 3.5 hours. I don't think anyone was hurt - it was an 18-wheeler that had caught on fire but it was in the cargo, not in the cab. We made it to Dallas around 11pm, and man we were tired. Pat was so accommodating and we got to stay in their wonderful guest room for the night. We left the next day around 9am and finally made it to San Antonio around 1pm. We dropped our stuff at the house and headed to Momo's house where the family was making cookies. Momo had lunch prepared and everything - wonderful to come home to!!! Everyone investigated my belly and said I was small, but I expected that :)

My shower was on 12/23 and it was wonderful. Don't get me wrong, I was a little bit concerned about the lack of notice people had, but it really went well. A lot more people came than I thought. Kari, Lori, Kelsey, Mom and Dad King, and my mom really worked hard getting set up for the shower. People started arriving right before 6pm and had chicken salad to eat and some other yummies. I made my rolo treats and Oreo truffles, yum! They were a big hit, as usual. I was proud :) It was EXHAUSTING talking to everyone but I was glad to do it. I probably sat down more than the normal honoree does but I was trying to follow my "modified bedrest" orders. It was wonderful seeing everyone - lots of Baker's family came and lots of our friends came as well, which was so nice. Then, Kari had me start opening presents. People sat around and watched me and it was a bit unnerving but fun. I was glad that it was a couples shower so Baker could sit with me and help unwrap. He had a cute comment for almost every gift, like, for some burp cloths, he said "well, that's the cleanest those will EVER be!" haha. I think my husband is so funny. When all was said and done, we got some great gifts. I mean, people really did come through and get us some great stuff off of our registry - USEFUL stuff! I mean, I got a lot of clothes but I really did get a lot of other things as well. YAY! Baker gave a really great "thank you" speech the way that only my husband can, and it was so touching.

Christmas Eve was filled with wrapping presents and hanging around the house. We went to church as well, which was great. We went out to Momo's church and it was a great service. Christmas Day was wonderful as well. LOTS of present opening and a speech from my mother in law about how "next year we can't go overboard", which she says every year. We spent a few hours at home and then headed out to Momo's house, where Christmas ensued again :) I think my parents were a bit overwhelmed but at the end of the day, they had a great time. They left the next day before we headed out for the Sauer party. The Sauer party was fun, and I enjoyed visiting with people, etc. but it was nice that we didn't stay TOO long because I was really starting to get exhausted from all of the activities that Christmas involves.

The next few days, I really did rest around the house. I was just overtired from everything. I made sure I was drinking tons of water, laying around, all of that. I even turned people down when they wanted to do something - I just felt like I needed to recover.

So we went to church on New Years Eve and I had 22 contractions in 1 hour. It was insane. I couldn't stand up when I was supposed to stand up, I just had to sit there and contract. It was terrible. I just concentrated on getting to go home soon and lay down and drink a bottle of water, hoping that would help. And honestly, we got home, and didn't give it long enough to work - I was clearly in a crisis. My mother in law got on the phone with the closest hospital to see if they'd take me directly into L&D, warned them that I was coming, and Baker took me in.

I got there and they put me in a bed in triage and hooked me up to the monitors. I was contracting over and over again. A nurse came in and checked my cervix, she said that I was 1-2cm dilated and 50% effaced. I was totally freaked out by this news because that was clearly a change from when I was in Ohio. So then, they were deciding what to do with me and the nurses came back in saying that I was having late decelerations of the baby's heart. Not good news. They put me on oxygen. I was trying to keep it together and so was Baker, but I started crying - I thought the baby was coming and so did the nurses. Before I knew it, they were admitting me and putting me on magnesium sulfate. Luckily, this hospital was really nice and I got a really nice L&D room. The mag sulfate slowed my contractions but made me feel like crap. They brought in a portable ultrasound and checked my cervix and the baby - my cervix was shortening and thinning, but baby looked fine, so that was good. They put a catheter in me so I wouldn't have to get up to pee - yikes, that doesn't feel so good. The first night I swore I had to pee the whole time but I finally got used to it. So my mother in law came to visit me, and Baker stayed with me through the night. My first night was really bad - I had gotten demerol and phenergen and though I slept a bit, I woke up vomiting twice. Luckily, the nurse came quickly but Baker had to take care of me. Thank GOODNESS he was there. It was so comforting having him there. He was so sweet to stay with me. I saw the doctor at about 3am but I honestly don't remember much about seeing him except that he said that I would have to stay for awhile.

The next day, I saw the perinatologist, Dr. Mc.Farland, and another OB that ended up being my primary doc, Dr. Cr.ockett. They were very nice but laid down the law - I was going to be in the hospital until they could control these contractions, and I would not be allowed to go back to Ohio for the remainder of my pregnancy. It was hard news to take, but I knew it was the right decision, and so did Baker. So Baker spent as much time with me as he could, but on the 3rd, he had to fly home. My wonderful brother got him a flight with his rewards points, it was so incredibly sweet of him. Baker hated going back while I was still in the hospital, but we really had absolutely no choice. He has to go on with his education.

So I stayed in the hospital and talked to Baker as much as I could. They weaned me from the Mag sulfate, I started contracting, they turned it back up - I think that happened about 3 times over the course of my stay there. The first few days in the hospital, I was almost magnesium toxic. It was awful, I could hardly lift my arms, couldn't move, and the worst thing was that I couldn't even focus my eye muscles to see anything! It was really tough. I was laying there watching TV but I didn't even feel well enough to care what was on TV. Cindy, Kari, Kelsey and her friend Brian came by a lot to see me, and even brought me food, drinks, etc. It was so sweet.

So finally on Tuesday Jan 6th, I was seen by Dr. McFarland. She told me that she wanted me to come over to her office and take a look at me and the baby with her ultrasound (which she said was better) to get a look at things. Oh man, that was an adventure. They took out my catheter and unhooked me from the monitors - I was free for a few minutes! They wheeled me over to the office and dropped me off. I swear, I probably scared the other patients - I needed a shower and I was in that ghastly hospital gown! They got me back right away, had me fill out paperwork, and did my ultrasound. I got to see my little Patches on a 50 plus inch plasma TV. It was wonderful. He is SO cute, I am dying to hold that little one. My cervix was measuring longer than they thought and baby looked great. He's still a little small, but not worrisome small, and I'm small, so doc said it was okay. So. Dr. McFarland recommended my release! But then I sat around in the waiting room again waiting for the nurses to take me back to L&D. I had to wait awhile because they had an insane day over there. It was awful - I was pretty sure that I was flashing the people behind me but I wasn't sure what to do about it - I couldn't fix it without making it worse. So I just sat there feeling really uncomfortable. They finally came to get me and I can't tell you how happy I was to get out - to lay around somewhere comfortable and get out of that bed. To be able to shower. To not have the catheter anymore. I had to wait around for my (new) regular OB to come around on rounds and release me, but Dr. Troy came at about 2pm and allowed for my release. I was ecstatic. Got my stuff together and got the hec outta there. We got my medicine (Nifedipine, otherwise known as Procardia) on my way home along with some Palapas :) It was great.

So my first few days home, I mostly slept and stared at the TV. I had a hard time adjusting to the meds - I had a headache for the first few days and it was BAD. I knew that it was bad when I couldn't even sleep the headache off! Plus, every time I took the meds, I had to go directly to sleep. But, I finally started to get used to it, and on Thursday night, Baker came to visit me! I was so happy to see him. I wasn't allowed to go with the in laws to pick him up from the airport, and he came in and I was just overwhelmed with emotion at seeing him. He was just so happy to see me looking so much better and feeling so much better. He bought a Winnie the Pooh toy for me and got it out immediately, and said that he wants me to sleep with it so that when we give it to the baby it will smell like me. SO cute. So totally sweet. I can't believe I am married to such a wonderful man. We stayed up really late talking and it was just so wonderful :)

I loved having him here way too much. We took the in laws to the airport on Saturday morning - they went to a wedding. We grabbed breakfast at a our favorite pancake place (shhhh!!!) and came home. We lounged around together all morning and it was just luxurious. We just watched Monk all morning and I cross stitched. Baker went for a run and then we went to see "Yes Man" at the movies. (again, shh!!!). It was so fun to do that together. We came home and Kari came over to visit. When she left, we went to get dinner at California Pizza Kitchen (picked it up) and I quickly tried on bras at Victoria's Secret so that I knew what the hec bra size I wear now (since my bras don't fit). I am so excited that I am up a whole cup size, yahoo! Baker was excited too haha. Then we just ate our dinner at home and watched TV. It was just so nice to be together.

Then at around 10pm we got a text from Baker's aunt asking if it was okay for them to come over - well, of course, but I didn't know they had people with them! And here I am looking like crap. OH well. They were all kinda tipsy, it was funny. They left and we stayed up for awhile having fun together. Baker had to get up early the next day and get on his flight. I woke up really sad, cried in his arms about it, voiced my fears, all of that - and oddly, it made me feel better.

So Baker is gone now and I'm sad. We're trying to work out the next time he comes and all of that - it's not easy for him to get here, flights aren't so easy to come by. We'll just have to do the best that we can. We have some Continental miles but those aren't easy to use. Southwest is neither economical nor efficient for the flights we need, so that's disappointing. We'll make it work, we have to.

So I just spend my days on the computer, watching TV, cross stitching, reading, all of that. It's not a bad life but it is frustrating for a type-A personality like me. I think my spirits are relatively high given the situation. I am just trying to concentrate on keeping little Patches in there for as long as I can and the rest will fall into place - right????

Pictures - enjoy!