35 Weeks - Dealing With Anxiety

We had a follow up appointment with Dr. Reich today. They took my blood pressure (which was a little higher than it's been but not alarmingly so... "white coat syndrome," I guess), measured my uterus, and listened to Henry's heartbeat (it was strong and steady). When the doctor came in she asked if I'd had any more bleeding and if I had an appointment for another ultrasound scheduled to check my placenta. I told her I didn't because we had thought it had moved. So, she recommended I go back to the perinatologist at 38 weeks to check it again.

I was a little surprised after the bleeding from last week that we were even talking about me still being pregnant at 38 weeks. So, as she was writing the orders for that ultrasound, I started talking to her about all of the things I wrote about in my last post - my anxiety, not being able to sleep, feeling like I should have stayed in the hospital... all of it. And, of course, I got really emotional. I told her that I felt like a time bomb and that the anxiety was really getting to me. She was so great as I sat there and basically lost it. She seemed somewhat surprised that I was feeling so anxious since it is the first time I've expressed it to her but she completely understood why I would feel this way. She understands that this sort of situation that is totally out of my control can be really difficult to deal with, especially for someone who likes to believe they are always in control.

She told me that she obviously couldn't prescribe anything for my anxiety at this point but that we would work together to figure out ways to manage it. And that if I felt more comfortable there that she could readmit me to the hospital at any point, that we didn't have to wait for me to bleed again. I told her that I wasn't sure that was what I wanted (the thought of being away from home and Oliver and Brian isn't appealing) but it was good to know that it was an option. Today was really the first day I was home alone since I got home from the hospital and I was surprised at how very nervous I was about that. I didn't think I would mind but, it turns out, I'm freaked out by being alone right now in case something happens.

One of the things that has been most difficult for me is sleeping at home. Both bleeding incidents have occurred in the middle of the night so I go to bed every night terrified that it will happen again. And I'm up and in the bathroom every 30 to 45 minutes to make sure it hasn't. In order to make sure I get any sleep at all I have been taking Tylenol PM every night since I got home from the hospital and I was worried that I shouldn't be taking it that often. She assured me it's safe and not to worry about it and to do what I could to get some sleep. Tylenol PM (obviously) doesn't keep me from getting up throughout the night but it does make it where I can easily go back to sleep after each of the dozen or so trips to the bathroom.

I then asked her some of the questions that have been weighing on me. I felt totally confused about where the bleeding was coming from and spending time on Google (such a bad idea) was just making me more confused. She said that she thinks that what led to my bleeding was most likely marginal placental abruptions, that the amount and type of bleeding I experienced only really occur when there is an abruption. That seems worrisome but she assured me that up to a 1/3 of the placenta could detach before the baby would notice and that since I have stabilized so quickly both times and Henry hasn't shown even an iota of distress either time that she feels confident that we will be fine, even if I do bleed again. Speaking of the blood, I asked her whose blood it was during the incidents. She told me it was "fetal blood," meaning it's Henry's. That wasn't really what I wanted to hear because it has been so much blood both times but again she pointed out that Henry has never shown that either of these incidents has bothered him in the least.

So, Dr. Reich told Brian and I to think and talk about whether we would feel better with me in the hospital. We're going to give it the weekend to mull it over and see how I do on my own tomorrow.

Other than that the plan is as follows: At 38 weeks, I will go back to the perinatologist to check the placement of the placenta. If we can verify that it has moved more than 2 cm away from the cervix, then I will be allowed to wait to go into labor naturally and attempt a vaginal delivery (I'm not sure at this point that a drug-free birth is in the stars for me, but I'd still rather avoid the major surgery if I can. I've never had surgery before and it scares me). If it has not moved, we will schedule a c-section probably in that next week. If, however, I bleed again before I make it to that ultrasound appointment, then we will deliver via c-section immediately.

She then asked me if I would feel better if I spent some time on the monitors today so that I could hear again how well Henry's doing. I told her it would so I spent about 30 minutes listening to his heartbeat before we left the office. She looked at the record of the monitoring and said he looked "perfect." I am feeling much calmer after both writing about what I've been feeling and talking to Dr. Reich about it. I still don't think I'll be sleeping through the night any time soon but I also don't feel like I could have a panic attack any moment either, so that's progress!

Home Again

Dr. Reich came by on Friday morning as I was being monitored (they took me off of continuous monitoring but they were doing a one hour non stress test at the beginning of every nursing shift) and asked if I wanted to go home. Without giving it a second thought I said yes. We talked a bit about what the perinatologist had found. Dr. Reich didn't seem quite sure that what he was measuring as the edge of my placenta was, in fact, the placenta and not a clot (although I specifically remember him telling us that he could see blood flowing through it and that wouldn't be the case if it were a clot). Either way, she is convinced that the issues created by my low lying placenta have not completely resolved themselves and that I am, therefore, at risk for another bleed. She also wants me to be prepared at this point for a possible c-section since if the perinatologist's measurements are correct then the placenta is not far enough away from the cervix to attempt a vaginal delivery. She said we could continue to talk about it but that at this point she feels more comfortable with a c-section. She did leave open the possibility that we will check the placenta again and if it has actually moved then we can try for a vaginal delivery.

She said I could go home but that I was to be back on the strictest bed rest and that she would prefer I not be left alone in the house. I told her I didn't think we could swing that all the time and she made me promise that if I were home alone and started to bleed that I would call 911 and not sit around waiting for someone to get there to take me to the hospital. She said that if I bleed again before 36 weeks, then I will be admitted to the hospital and will stay there until they can do a c-section at 36 weeks. If I bleed after that mark, then they will do a c-section as soon as I get to the hospital. She seems to feel that Henry will be making an early appearance as opposed to a late one. I set an appointment with her for Wednesday of this week and then waited about an hour to get my discharge papers.

I've been home since Friday afternoon and have been following doctor's orders. I'm not sleeping well at all - up every hour or so to go to the bathroom. I keep feeling like I'm bleeding again but luckily that hasn't been the case so far. I keep getting calls and text messages and emails asking how I'm feeling so I've taken some time to think about it and here's how I'm feeling (in all it's messy grandeur. I will try to disguise the messy with the clever use of bullet points):

• I feel like a ticking time bomb. Like we are all just sitting around waiting for me to go off again. I rush to the bathroom ten to twelve times a day (and even more at night) convinced that I'm going to find more blood only to discover that detonation has been put off a little longer.
• I'm devastated by the idea of having a c-section. Oliver's birth, while perfectly fine, was not the birth I had originally wanted and I was looking forward to trying again (with more support and preparation) for a drug-free birth. I was also looking forward to experiencing going into labor again. This is the last time I will be pregnant and therefore the last time I will get to experience labor. I am also terrified of the idea of having major surgery. And I'm terrified at how long recovery will take. And I'm pissed that if I do have a c-section, then I won't get to hold Henry right away. And, please don't try to comfort me with how it's better for me and for Henry. My rational side knows all of that but letting go of the labor and birth you had imagined is an emotional thing and I need my time to mourn what I thought was going to be but now seems impossible.
• I'm wondering if I made the right decision about leaving the hospital. Maybe it would have been better for me and for Henry to stay where we could be better attended if/when I start to bleed again. I know that hospital bed rest would have been difficult on me (and on Brian and on Oliver) but part of me keeps feeling like maybe that's the best place for me.
• I'm anxious for the days to move ahead. I feel like my body is no longer the best place for Henry and that the sooner he can come out, the better. I'm wishing I were two weeks further along than I am so that we could just get him out of there. 
• I feel like I've been robbed of the "normal" experience of my second (and final) pregnancy. All I am is a bundle of nerves now. I'm not enjoying the kicks and jabs Henry gives me so much as I am freaking out when he's not giving them to me. I have also been robbed of the last few months of our being a family of three. Ever since that first bleed, my time with Oliver has been restricted to watching movies, taking naps, and the occasional game of smash the cars on the couch. I'm angry that we're not getting to go and do things and cherish the few remaining days of it being just the three of us. 
• I feel guilty for all the extra work my bed rest is meaning for everyone else, especially Brian and my mother. And I feel guilty for the stress it's putting on Oliver, who is having more tantrums and dealing with more separation anxiety than I think he might otherwise be. I'm depressed about not being able to help out around the house at all and I feel like a burden to everyone. It was bad enough when I couldn't be alone in the house with Oliver but now being told that I shouldn't be alone, period, is something I'm finding very difficult to adjust to.

I'm sure there's more if I take the time and keep thinking about it but I'm exhausted and want to take a nap. Despite all the negative feelings above, I do feel lucky that Henry and I are both doing great at this point. That he is continuing to grow and thrive despite everything that has happened.

Edited: Ooh! Thought of another. I'm trying not to dwell on this but I am angry about the mistaken measurements at my ultrasound a few weeks ago. If not for the "all clear" I would have remained on strict bed rest. I don't think this ultimately had anything to do with my bleeding again (it was probably going to happen again) but I'm still in that place where I'm looking to assign blame for why it happened when it did again and I'm trying to avoid thoughts that put the blame squarely on my own shoulders.

Well, damn...

Maybe I should have stayed superstitious?

I woke up Tuesday night/Wednesday morning to go to the bathroom. I got back into bed and immediately felt myself start bleeding. I rushed back to the bathroom and relived my experience of eight weeks (exactly) prior. Blood was pouring out of me once again. I woke Brian up and he immediately called Liz over to sit with Oliver. I wasn't feeling Henry moving but I also knew that I was pretty jacked up on adrenaline so I focused on getting dressed and calling the doctor's office. Once I finished that I got some cold water to drink and a piece of chocolate to eat (cold and sweet things usually get him moving). Liz was there by that point so we got in the car and I started chugging the cold water and poking him. He gave me a little kick before we had even left our neighborhood so Brian and I were both relieved. He continued to move here and there on our trip down to the hospital which helped to keep us calm.

We got to the hospital and were wheeled up to Labor and Delivery (by a clueless ER nurse who thought we were there because I was term and in labor). They got us in a room and got the monitor out and found his heartbeat right away. They tried to get an IV in my arm and finally succeeded with that on the third attempt (so many bruises). They didn't start a drip or anything, though, but did draw some blood to run some tests.

In general, the whole experience was markedly less hectic than the first time. Some of that was because we had been told that I could bleed again (although, honestly, after eight weeks I had thought maybe I was one of the lucky few) but most of that was because Henry is now 34 weeks along - a world of difference from the 26 weeker he was last time. The nurse told me at this point that if I were to go into labor, they wouldn't do anything to stop it. And since I was 34 weeks I wouldn't need to repeat the steroid shots that I received eight weeks ago since his lungs should be far enough along on their own. Up until 35 weeks, all babies are automatic NICU patients but she said at 34 weeks they are mostly just "feeders" and "growers" - meaning they are just there to put on some weight and to better learn to suck, swallow, and breathe all at the same time.

The doctor on call came in about an hour later with the test results. She said that the fetal fibronectin test came back negative. This test can supposedly tell you if the patient will go into labor in the next two weeks. I was a little anemic but not dangerously so and everything else looked fine. This led her to believe that I had suffered a(nother?) partial abruption of the placenta. She said I'd be in the hospital at least for 24 hours but that the baby looked great - his heartbeat was strong and he was responding well to the few contractions I was having (most of which I couldn't even feel). She also told me Dr. Reich would be in to see me later in the morning.

Brian went back home around five to try and get some rest and be there when Oliver woke up and Liz came up and sat with me. I tried to get some rest but couldn't get to sleep. Brian came back after he dropped Oliver off at school and we waited for the doctor. Meanwhile the nurse came and asked if I could feel the contractions that the monitor showed I was having. I told her I could but that they weren't painful. On the doctor's orders she started me on some fluid via IV since dehydration can cause contractions.

Dr. Reich came around ten or so. She said she was surprised to see me back as she had started to think that I was out of the woods but she was pleased to see how well Henry and I were doing. She ordered a consult with a perinatalogist to see if they could find a cause for the bleeding, told me I was cleared to eat solid foods and that she was transferring me to the stable antepartum wing since it didn't seem like I was going into labor. She wanted to keep me on continuous monitoring, though. She said I could get up to go to the bathroom and shower but that I was back on strict bed rest otherwise. She said someone from her practice would see me on Thursday but she'd be back on Friday and that if I'm stable at that point, then she might send me home.

My mom showed up around noon and they transferred me to the other unit soon after that. The perinatalogist came by and did an ultrasound. Turns out that my last ultrasound at the doctor's office was incorrect. My placenta hasn't moved as much as they said. It is only 1.28 cm away from my cervix. So, it's still low lying which probably explains the bleeding. He didn't see any other clots in there, which is a good thing but he did say that the bleeding could happen again. He also said it was possible for the placenta to move before I deliver but now I'm back to wondering whether or not I will have to have a c-section. He did some growth measurements on Henry and said that he is looking great. Measuring right on track (if not a little ahead). According to his estimates, he's almost six pounds already. Which means that if he goes the full 40 weeks he should be in the eight pound range like his brother.

I spent the rest of the day trying to relax. Brian and Oliver came by after school to hang out for a bit. My mom took Oliver home to put him to bed and Brian and I had dinner together. He left around 8:30, though, and I took a sleeping pill shortly thereafter and fell asleep. It wasn't the most restful night since I was hooked up to the monitors but I managed to get some sleep.

The doctor came in at six and said everything was looking good so she was going to let me come off the monitors (I thought she meant right away but she apparently meant at 11:30). She told me I had been having a bunch of contractions that I had been sleeping through. So, she warned me that I would be back on the monitors if I started bleeding again or if I started to feel contractions. I went back to sleep and got a few more hours worth.

At 11:30 they took me off the monitors and I immediately took a shower and put on regular clothes (I HATE hospital gowns. Why are they so big?!). I felt human again. So, I've spent most of today trying to get some work done and resting. I'm hopeful for another sleeping pill tonight to help me get some sleep and that Dr. Reich deems me stable enough to go home tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

Making Progress

This week was very productive on the "Get Ready for Henry" front. I got a few more things ordered that we need before his arrival (like cloth diapers because, yes, we're crazy and we're going to cloth diaper this kiddo, thankyouverymuch). I started our doula search (because, yes, I'm crazy and I'm going to try for a drug-free birth, thankyouverymuch). Our friends Dauphin and Kelly dropped off some of the things they no longer needed for their own bambino (like a swing and a bassinet and some bottles), which struck things off of my "to buy" list (so grateful!). But the biggest strides came this weekend when Richard and my mom came up to Austin to help us tackle the room that for the last ten years has been our office but will soon need to be the nursery/guest room.

When they arrived on Saturday morning, the room looked like this:

Not exactly newborn baby friendly. Although I guess he could just sleep in the car seat perched on top of the office chair. All of the books scattered on the floor and on top of the bed were destined for Half Price Books but that still left a couple of hundred more books in that room that needed to find new homes in our house. And, actually, by the time they arrived Brian had already boxed up all the books that were going away and loaded them into our car (he took them in on Sunday morning and we, surprisingly, got $250 for them. More than I expected). So, we could at least see the top of the bed.

Brian got to work switching around some bookshelves in our living room and finding places for the books that were to stay while my mom, Richard, and I trekked up to IKEA to pick up a bed and mattress for Oliver and a dresser for the nursery. Oliver has been sleeping in what was his crib (I converted it into a toddler bed last March) but we needed to boot him out of there so Henry could have the crib. Luckily, Oliver was really excited about the prospect of his "big boy bed" so ditching the crib wasn't traumatic in the least. I'm not sure my doctor would be too thrilled with the fact that I walked around IKEA for a few hours but it felt really good to get out of the house and be able to help with the baby preparations in some way other than gestating.

When we got home, Richard, Brian, and Liz got to work assembling Oliver's bed (a process that took about three times longer than I thought it would so the poor kid couldn't get to bed until ten. Oops!) and I camped out on the couch with Oliver, watching Dinosaur Train and recovering from the most physical activity I had had in almost eight weeks. 

On Sunday, my mom and I tackled the closet in what will be Henry's room, which took forever. It's a tiny closet but I had managed to cram a whole bunch of crap into it. I stopped to take a nap with Oliver (the best thing about his big boy bed, is there's room for me, too!) but spent pretty much the entire day deciding what to toss, what to keep (and where to put it if we were going to keep it) and what to sell from that closet. But by the end of the day, we had been successful in cleaning out the room and it now looks like this:

You'll have to forgive the colors in the photos above. I took them with my iPad. I promise the room isn't green-tinged. Anyway. The room is finally ready for paint. Well, that's not technically true. The room is finally ready for some minor repairs to be done to the walls and door and then it is ready for paint. But it's miles ahead of where it was on Friday. We're so thankful for Mom and Richard's (and Liz's) help this weekend!

Very Superstitious

I'm not usually a superstitious person. I don't fear Friday the 13th or avoid black cats or freak out if a mirror breaks. But ever since my stay in the hospital I've found myself struggling with an irrational fear of doing anything to get ready for Henry's arrival. I haven't wanted to buy any of the numerous things we need, plan the nursery, or get any of Oliver's old stuff out of the attic. I've been paralyzed with the fear that if I start making steps towards getting ready for the baby, then the baby might show up. And considering we hadn't done anything to get ready for him before I went into the hospital we are really facing a time crunch at this point.

So, I finally decided to try my best to shake this fear this week. I started small - buying Henry's car seat - and I'm trying to work up to bigger purchases and projects. And now I find my superstitious fear replaced by anxiety that there's no way this will all get done in the next seven and a half weeks. But I've made a list and am determined to start chipping away at it but I'm sure this song will still be running through my head.

Good News!

Brian and I went in this morning for another ultrasound to check my placenta and an appointment with Dr. Reich. Last time I had an ultrasound my placenta was 1.2 cm away from my cervix - still considered low-lying and still a concern with regards to the possibility of future bleeding. A low-lying placenta that close to the cervix would also mean that Henry would have to be delivered via c-section. While a c-section wouldn't be the end of the world, in the last few weeks I've found myself really nervous about the possibility. Major abdominal surgery is no joke and since I've been doing nothing but sitting around for the last six weeks (and with eight more to go), I was getting really concerned about how long it was going to take my body to recover from a c-section. (Truth be told I'm nervous about how long it will take me to recover from a vaginal birth at this point).

Before I went in today I tried to do a little research about how far my placenta would have to be away from my cervix to no longer be considered low-lying. I found numerous places listing anything from 1.5 to 3 cm so I went in with no real idea what number we were even looking for here. We got into the scan and the technician set out immediately to measure the distance. She marked my placenta and then my cervix, drew a line between the two and the computer spit out the distance ... 1.98 cm. Not bad and a definite improvement over the 1.2 it had been but I was a little crestfallen that it wasn't closer to 3. After getting that measurement the tech moved on to check on Henry's growth. He's looking great and measuring right on track (they estimated that he's about 4 1/2 pounds right now) and his heartrate is perfect. He is also head down and I now know for a fact that the thing that keeps stretching out the upper left quadrant of my abdomen is his butt.

We headed up to our appointment with the doctor and after a bit of a wait were finally in to see her. She came in with the films and immediately said: "Good news!" Apparently, in her practice a placenta that is 2 cm away from the cervix is no longer considered low-lying. While I am still (barely) under that number she feels confident that in the next 8 weeks the placenta will move even further away and it will not be low-lying when I deliver. This means two very exciting things: 1. I will most likely get to try for a vaginal birth (which means I can start looking into a doula and get serious about trying for a drug-free birth), 2. I no longer have to be on the strictest bed rest.

She told me that if I felt up to it, that I could try running an errand now and then. That I could drive and leave the house for an hour to an hour and a half at a time. Most patients probably would be happy with that and go on their merry way. But I wanted more. I looked at her and said: "Can I go to work for an hour and a half?" She looked at me like I was crazy but after I explained to her that I was starting to buy books for summer and had numerous rep appointments scheduled (just about one a week from here until my due date) and that those appointments only take me about an hour, she said I could try going back to work for a little bit at a time.

She said that I could try going into the store for an hour a day for the rest of this week and if it goes well then I can try going for an hour twice a day after that. But if I start bleeding again, I'll be back in the hospital until the baby comes. She doesn't want me lifting anything and I'm not to do any exercising. This amount of time at the store was more than I could have hoped for and honestly more than I need or feel comfortable doing at this point (for now I am going to stick to just going in when I have appointments scheduled) but I was so excited to hear that I could go back to the store. There's nothing like being told you can't go to work to make you understand your true feelings about your job. Turns out, I LOVE my job and I was missing the store like crazy.

So, around ten this morning she told me I could go back to the store for a bit. Where was I at 10:30? At the store, of course. I made Brian drive me from the appointment straight to my office. I have an appointment tomorrow and wanted to make sure my office wasn't too much of a disaster area (it was) and plus I was really excited. Everyone at the store was really surprised (and happy) to see me - including my boss who tried to send me home pretty much as soon as I got there. It felt great to be back there and the store looked awesome.

After I cleared off the top of my desk as much as possible, Brian and I headed to a celebratory lunch at Kome and then back home. I immediately crashed and took a two and a half hour nap. Being out and about is exhausting. I am going to be very careful to make sure I'm not overdoing it but being told I don't have to be confined to the house for the next eight weeks feels like nothing short of a miracle.

2012 - Year in Review

Since I let this blog lay idle for most of 2012 (and pretty much all of 2011), much of our life has gone undocumented. So, to rectify that, I'm going to take some inspiration from Laurie's blog and do a quick month by month recap of the last year in as far as I can remember what we did from month to month.

January - 

January was all about Oliver's health. We ended up in the ER due to wheezing (twice) and finally after a month of trying to figure out what to do about his breathing struggles he got a prescription for an oral steroid that he has been taking by nebulizer twice a day ever since (the prescription is for a full year so we are nearing the end of the treatments). We've only had one wheezing episode since we started the treatment so I think it's working.

February -

Brian and I ran in the Color Run here in Austin with Lindsey and Dauphin. A run self-proclaimed as the "happiest 5K on the planet" or some such nonsense.  A massive rain the night before the race left the race course a muddy, hilly mess. And they ran out of color so it was more like a forced march through mud than the happiest anything. And to top it all off, I was the only fool in our group to complete the entire course. Everyone else cheated. Awesome.

Afterwards my shoes looked like this:

which ended up being good news since it meant I was forced to go buy new shoes. Buying new shoes (and drinking too much wine one night while texting back and forth with Lindsey) led us to setting the goal to run a half marathon in Chicago in June. We even registered that night. 

At the end of February, I went to get what I thought would be a quick trim and ended up having all my hair cut off, a look that I quickly fell in in love with. 

March - 

At the beginning of March we went to the Zilker Kite Festival with Dauphin, Kelly, and Lindsey. We packed a huge picnic, brought a few kites (including the flying pants), and had a blast. It's such a fun event and the weather was perfect.

I got serious about my training for the half marathon - running the Cap10K towards the end of the month. I finished in 54:52. Not bad for my first "real" race.

April - 

We celebrated the knucklehead's third birthday with friends and family at our house. There were bubbles, cascarones, and freeze tag. Oliver had a blast. 

Brian continued to do an awesome job at UT Press and moved from his position as Assistant to the Director to Editorial Assistant, excited to get in on the editorial side of things. 

May -

May brought another health scare from Oliver. He started limping one day and wouldn't stop. A check with Dr. Google freaked me out enough to get us to the doctor ASAP. They ran a full blood test and did X-Rays trying to rule things out, including leukemia. Waiting for the test results was the longest day of my life. Turned out it was a strep infection, in his hip. Didn't even know that was possible but we were so grateful that it ended up being something easily treatable. It ended up being his first of two strep infections of the month (which brought us to a total of three for the year). 

June - 

June was our vacation month. At the beginning of the month, Oliver and I piled into my mother's minivan with her and my stepfather and we all set out on a road trip to Chicago. We had a blast on the road. Oliver did great. 

We were headed to Chicago for the half-marathon. On the morning of June 9th, Lindsey, her mom, and I all completed our very first half marathon. It was an awesome feeling and I was really proud of my time.

It was the culmination of  year of hard work that took me from looking like this:

to looking like this:

The day after Oliver and I got back from Chicago, Oliver, Brian, and I headed out to New Mexico to visit with Brian's parents and his little brother, Brad, and his wife, Gina. We had a great long weekend hanging out with family, exploring Los Alamos and feeding some alpacas.

It was a fun and busy month and at the very end of it we got some exciting and welcome news:

And, yes, Brian found out we were expecting another baby when I texted him the picture above with a message that said: This is a pregnancy test. Come home soon. 

Ah, technology.

July - 

July was a blur of exhaustion, nausea and nerves brought on by the first trimester of my pregnancy. Towards the end of the month we had our first doctor appointment and saw the flickering of the little bean's heartbeat.

August -

Two awesome celebrations marked the beginning of August - my grandparents 70th wedding anniversary and Kelly's baby shower. Both were so much fun.

The middle of August saw the arrival of my friend and co-worker, Meghan's, baby boy, Nikhil, which meant the beginning of her maternity leave. Having her out in the middle of bookfair season kept me crazy busy at work for the next eight weeks.

September - 

Oliver moved from the Dragonfly to the Sunshine room at school at the beginning of September. He has two great teachers - Rihab and Terri - and he has loved being in the new room since the switch (he still gets to see lots of his previous teacher, Chelsey, which helps). The Sunshine classroom is closer to a preschool type curriculum and he's thrived in that environment.

On September 19th, Dauphin and Kelly's little girl, Claire, made her debut. She was a tiny 5 lbs, 2 oz but absolutely perfect. Oliver loved meeting her and is still obsessed with "Baby Claire."

We celebrated Brian's birthday by driving to Lockhart with Lindsey for BBQ. 

October - 

October was a hellish month at work for me. I had two trips to make - one to Philadelphia and one to Portland - and two women's conferences, Texas Book Festival and some other things I had to take care of for Meghan's maternity leave. The good news was that the month passed super quickly which brought us to the big ultrasound that told us that we are having another little boy. Ended the month working 17 straight days and was really glad to see October come to an end.

November - 

We celebrated Thanksgiving down in San Antonio with my folks. It was a nice relaxing long weekend before the ground came out from under us the next week. A few days after we got back was when I ended up in the hospital and on bed rest.

December - 

I spent the month trying to adjust to bed rest. Despite the change of venue we had an amazing Christmas celebration with our family.

We had such a great year and we are looking forward to seeing what 2013 has to bring! And we are so grateful that despite all of the pregnancy complications we've dealt with in this last month, that Henry continues to thrive in utero and will be a 2013 baby!