30 Weeks

I had an appointment with Dr. Reich the day after Christmas. It was just a quick appointment to check in on Henry. The doctor measured me and listened to Henry's hearbeat. I'm measuring right on track (although she did say that I'm carrying long - that is Henry's out of room moving up and needs to start moving out soon. Doubtful that will happen, though, since I never really carried Oliver very far out from my body either) and Henry's heartbeat is perfect. While she was listening to him, he moved and his heartrate accelerated. She said that's the sign of a baby with an intact central nervous system. That seems like really good news. 

Once again Dr. Reich seemed really pleased and surprised that I have continued to be "crazy stable" (as she put it). In two weeks I go back for another ultrasound to check the placement of the placenta. She said that if it has moved by then that we can talk about loosening some of my restrictions as far as bed rest is concerned. I won't be taken completely off of bed rest, though, because she's not sure that the bleeding was caused by the low-lying placenta. I've given up hope that I will get back to work before the baby is born but would love to hear that I can do a little more walking or something. The good thing about these appointments is that they remind me how serious of a complication we are dealing with here. As the weeks go by and nothing happens it's hard for my mind not to wander to thoughts of: "Is this bed rest thing really necessary?" Going to see the doctor and seeing how seriously she is taking this and how concerned she is with happened reminds me that I'm doing exactly what needs to be done. 

We were getting ready to leave when Brian remembered to ask her about my three hour glucose tolerance test. It had been over a week since I'd taken it and I hadn't heard the results. Truth be told I was glad I didn't get the results before Christmas. I didn't want to hear that I needed to drastically change my diet right before my mom arrived with German Chocolate Cake. Dr. Reich walked us out to her computer to see if she had the results. I passed! With flying colors apparently. Wasn't even close. Guess I was just having an "off" day during my one hour test. Brian and I high-fived and I said: "Yes! I'm going home to have some cake!" Dr. Reich said I did so well on the test, I should add some ice cream. I love my doctor. So glad not to have to tackle another major lifestyle change.

Christmas 2012

When I was put on bed rest at the beginning of December it put our Christmas plans in jeopardy. We always go to San Antonio to spend Christmas at my mom's house. My grandmother and uncle were planning to come down there and Greg was coming from Kentucky. But the doctor insisted that I not leave town during Christmas. She wanted me close to the hospital and close to her if anything went wrong. So with only four weeks to spare my mom set out to move the entire Christmas celebration to Austin. No small feat considering our house is by no means big enough to host six adults and one three year old.

Mom found a vacation rental house on homeaway.com that was close by our house, had four bedrooms, two living rooms and a full kitchen. It was also available and reasonably priced. So she emailed the owner to see if she'd allow us to put up a Christmas tree I the house during our stay (you can't have Christmas morning without a Christmas tree). The owner agreed so we had a place where we could all be together.

On the 23rd everyone made their way to Austin. Mom, Richard, Greg, and Oliver (who had been spending the weekend with my parents) from San Antonio and my grandmother from Midland (my uncle had been dealing with his own health problems and wasn't able to join us). We gathered at our house until the 3:30 check in time at which point Operation Christmas was in full swing. We spent the afternoon and evening decorating the tree, eating Vietnamese food from Sunflower and enjoying each other's company. The house was perfect with tons of room for us all to spread out and a nice big backyard for Oliver to play in.

We spent Christmas Eve hanging out at the house (obviously). Oliver and I took a nice long nap together in the afternoon. That evening we introduced Oliver to the movie Polar Express. He loved it (as we knew he would. He's been on quite the train kick lately). He opened his Christmas pj's and a new book (Pete the Cat Saves Christmas. It was quite a proud moment for us since he opened it and then exclaimed: Yes! A new book!). He dictated a letter for me to write to Santa and set out some cookies and snacks for the big guy and his reindeer and the headed to bed.

Oliver, Brian, and I were all in the same room Christmas Eve so as soon as Oliver woke up Christmas morning, it fell to Brian and I to keep him occupied until after seven when he could go downstairs. The first thing he wanted to do when he woke up was see if Santa had eaten the snacks he left so keeping him in the rooms was a bit of a challenge but we managed. When it was time he headed downstairs and was amazed to see that his snacks had, in fact, been eaten and that Santa had left him a note. And then the present frenzy began. Oliver was obviously very good this year - Santa took good care of him.

We all spent the morning opening presents and watching Oliver enjoy his new toys. That afternoon Oliver and I took another nice long nap. In the afternoon he continued to play with his new stuff. We set up his new train set and he played with it for hours. Seriously. I've never seen him play at the same activity for that long. It's like the best babysitter ever. We had a lovely Christmas dinner of prime rib and twice baked potatoes and dijon braised brussels sprouts and after Oliver went to bed all the adults had fun playing Apples to Apples. It was a great Christmas and I'm so grateful for all of my mom's hard work to make sure it happened.

Bed Rest and Follow Up Appointments

Everything continued to be stable in the hospital so I was finally allowed to go home on Saturday morning, December 1st. The Friday before I was discharged, Dr. Reich came by to check on me and she spent about 45 minutes answering all of my questions. She sent me home on strict bed rest and I was confused about what that meant. Basically it means that I'm to be laying down or propped up on pillows for as much time as possible. I can get up to go to the bathroom, I can take a shower, and I can make myself a snack or a sandwich but I'm not allowed to stand up for more than 15 minutes at a time and I'm to keep my walking to a minimum. Basically, I can hang out on the couch or in bed or I can go to the doctor's office. I obviously can't lift Oliver (in fact, I can't lift anything over ten pounds) and I can't drive. And I am to come back to the hospital if I have fresh bleeding, if I start to have regular contractions, or if there is a decrease in Henry's movement.

She told me it was very likely I would go full term if I followed the bed rest instructions and that if my placenta moves up and Henry turns around before I go into labor that I will be allowed to try for a vaginal delivery (I had thought maybe this whole experience meant I was an automatic c-section). She also said that most women experience more bleeding. I'm trying not to obsess over that piece of information but it's nice to know because if it does happen again, I think knowing it was likely to happen again will keep me calmer. She also said that she got more results from my bloodwork and now thinks that what happened was bleeding from the edge of my placenta as opposed to a placental abruption. Basically she ran a test to see if there was any mixing of my blood and his and it came back negative. If there had been a placental abruption that test should have shown some mixing. So, that's good news. I asked her for advice on diet so that I could avoid gaining a billion pounds on bed rest.

The thing that struck me the most during our conversation was how surprised she seemed to be by how well Henry and I were doing. I hadn't been having contractions (they stopped on Wednesday), I had had no fresh bleeding and we were very stable. Seeing how surprised she was with how quickly things had turned around made me realize how very lucky we are - lucky the bleeding stopped, lucky Henry is so strong, and lucky to be going home at all.

Since I've been home I've been trying to get used to my new restrictions. The thought of being on bed rest for the next three months is terrifying so I'm trying to take it one day at a time. I keep reminding myself that being on bed rest until March when he's due is the best case scenario and should be what I'm hoping for, not what I'm dreading. I'm worried about how hard my bed rest is going to be on Brian - so much is going to fall on his shoulders now - but he's been amazing. My parents have helped out and his mom came down to spend this week with us which has been such a help! She's taking O to school and picking him up and cooking for us and giving Brian a break which is so nice.

I've been cleared to work from home by the doctor which is a relief since it's the Christmas season. Plus, it helps pass the days. So, I get up in the morning, do as much work as I can, and then spend the afternoon waiting for Oliver and Brian to get home.

I left the hospital almost two weeks ago and have been back to the doctor twice since then. The first visit was short. She measured me and listened to Henry's heartbeat and asked a few questions. I was measuring right on track and Henry sounded great. I went back this week for a longer appointment. I had an ultrasound to check my placenta again (it's moved but not enough. We'll check again in four weeks) and took my 1-hour gestational diabetes test (I failed and had to take the three hour yesterday. Still waiting on those results). I met with the doctor and she seems really happy with how well I'm doing so we are going to see each other every two weeks instead of every week. I complained that she was taking away my one outing and she told me I could go see a movie if I wanted to. I don't know if I will because I feel guilty about being able to do that but not go to work.

So, all things considered, we are doing well. Trying to keep busy and passing one day at a time. I'm 28 weeks now and so grateful to have reached this point.

Parent Teacher Conference

Brian had a meeting with Oliver's teachers this week to discuss how he's been doing in school. (They do parent-teacher conferences twice a year with all the parents). Oliver has adjusted really well to being in school since he started back in August of 2011. He loves it there and is excited to go almost every morning. I was bummed to miss the conference since I love his teachers and would have liked to have visited with them in person but Brian filled me in on all the details.

Basically, they think he's brilliant. They said he is extremely verbal and has an amazing memory. Rihab says she has been teaching three year olds for 20 years and she's never known a kiddo with the ability to remember things - stories, events, etc. - like Oliver. They also said he is one of the most polite kids they've ever worked with, answering questions with: "Yes, please." and "No, thanks." They said he's usually in a great mood and does good listening. They said he gets along well with the other kids even though they all have their ornery moments.

He has a best friend at school named Hedia. She went to Taiwan with her family for an extended vacation and won't be back until February. Brian and I were really worried about how Oliver has adjusted to Hedia being gone. When Brian asked Terri and Rihab about it, they both began to laugh. Apparently, Hedia and Oliver are inseparable but all they do is fight constantly. So, I think the teachers are glad to have a break from the constant bickering.

Brian asked them what Oliver needs to work on and they said that while his gross motor skills are great, he could use some focus on fine motor skills - holding pencils, using zippers and buttons, etc. - so we are trying to find activities to work on those with him.

But all in all it was a rave. It was nice to hear that he seems to save his most difficult moments for us at home.

The Sunshines on a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch.

And here's Oliver's school picture from this fall (they bring in a great photographer and do the pictures outside so we end up with some awesome pictures):