33 and 3 To Go

Besides suffering through a cold, the week was blessedly uneventful.

It is dawning on me that summer is over . . . And bit by bit I am beginning to understand that we'll be parents very shortly. I've been concentrating so much on getting through bed rest that I haven't intellectually or emotionally embraced how far along the pregnancy has come.

The nursery is ready, and I've made my list for the hospital bag.

The cats are in their own space of knowing something is up. Twiggy is oblivious, like she is to most things, but Corkie approaches the nursery very bristly and warily. She'll come into the room, stay near the door, and is on "constant vigilance" the entire time while in that room.

Week 32 - And That Ain’t Bad

The Best and the Worst of Bed Rest

As another week is checked off the countdown and as I have hit the halfway mark with the prescribed bed rest, I found myself pondering on the Best and the Worst thus far and thought I would share my earth stopping insights in no particular order.

Best
●Men’s tank tops that are size extra large. So comfy! And they grow with you.
●Fruit popsicles. I can always stomach one, even when nothing else works.
●Little heartbeat detector at the doctor’s office (you get to hear the heart beat and all the baby’s kicks). A nice reminder that this is all worth it.
●Finally learning to give up control of the little things.
●Netflix: Best movie watched so far “The Way We Were”
●Random phone calls/emails/letters/packages that people send to cheer me up.
●No more swollen ankles or feet.

Worst
●Broccoli-I have had so many different versions of this veggie that it is banned from the Sheila menu. Erik loved them all and will have to get his “tree” fix elsewhere.
●Feeling like the world is passing by you. Similar to how it feels when the city bus doesn’t have room to pick you up and passes you standing on the corner in the rain in your best party dress.
●Any medicine where the dosage lasts less than 8 hours (’cause that means you have to set an alarm and wake up in the middle of the night separately from any bathroom runs).
●Sciatic nerves
●Finally learning to give up control of the little things.
●Buying shoes a size larger than your usual size the weekend before being put on bed rest because the swollen toes won’t fit in the “regular” shoes. (See update on swelling above.)

Baby S “The Hiccuper”

A new or at least newly recognized development for our baby is that he hiccups all the time. Either that or he has uncanny rhythm already. We are pretty sure that it is at the most a combination of the two . . . with a heavy emphasis on the hiccups.

I am sure that wives tales abound for how to get him to stop, but for someone who spends the majority of the day staring at the basement room walls, it is a welcome diversion. Though, I must admit I wish that The Hiccuper would take a break at least a couple of hours at night.

We are all doing well. Every day I have two goals: 1) Behave and not stress and 2) Try not to drive Erik insane.

Week 31 and Going Strong

We've successfully completed another week and are grateful that the bed rest countdown is now at 5 weeks.

The following are more recent pictures. Week 31 is first.
















Week 28
















Week 27

Week 30 Update

At the last check-up, the doctor declared that all was going well. We were excited to hear the news and are eager for the next 6 weeks to pass.
Erik is in New Orleans for a bit, and Laurie is here to take care of me. She has done a splendid job, and we may not let her go back home when Erik gets back.

Today, as Erik is out-of-town, crusty cat Corkie tried to make room for a nap on my lap (I am the inadequate replacement because Erik is her favorite). Much to her consternation, she was witness to Baby S causing a ruckus and moving a lot. The startled look she gave my belly as the punches and kicks were visible was hilarious, and she quickly decided that my morphing tummy was not a place she was eager to recline on.

I am continuing to work as much as possible due to the doctor's recommendation that, "Sheila, given your temperament, I suggest you work as much as you are comfortable." I'm sure I have no idea what she means!

Today, as I was working, I came across a quote that resonated very much with what I have been currently thinking about and is the focus of my job right now. I'd like to share it with you.

“I really believe that each of us must come to care about everyone else’s children. We must come to see that the well-being of our own individual children is intimately linked to the well-being of all other people’s children.

“After all, when one of our own children needs lifesaving surgery, someone else’s child will perform it; when one of our own children is threatened or harmed by violence on the streets, someone else’s child will commit it.

“The good life for our own children can only be secured if it is also secured for all other people’s children. But to worry about all other people’s children is not just a practical or strategic matter; it is a moral and ethical one: to strive for the well-being of all other people’s children is also right.”
-Lilian G. Katz (early childhood educator)

Week 28 - Hurricane Ernesto and Pre-term Labor

As Ernesto was hitting the U.S., Sheila discovered she was going into labor. After a quick call to the doctor, Erik whisked her from DC to Reston where the hospital staff started magnesium and continual monitoring.

As magnesium relaxes all the muscles in the body, the nurse said that it might also relax the baby and he/she might be less active than usual. Nope, not this one. As Sheila was forced to be quiet and do nothing as she suffered through the tortures of the magnesium (not kidding or exaggerating this one), she was witness to the baby's ever increasing twisting and turning tricks, including "target practice" on the "button" that was the monitor strapped to her belly. (Baby S was also “caught” hiccupping for the first time.)

Erik, slated to his own torture of sleeping on the couch in the hospital room, did his best to make sure she was comfortable and spent his previously planned "do nothing" vacation days fetching ice chips and snacks for his wife.

Sheila and Baby S responded well to the medication and were given the green light to leave on Friday. In fact, when being discharged, Sheila and Erik were kept at the hospital 2 additional hours as the baby wouldn’t stay still enough to get the continual 30 minute heart-rate monitoring as required by law. They don't make baby monitors that follow the baby.

In all, the baby is fine (now at 3 pounds and 1 ounce), and Sheila is acclimating to being on bed rest for the next 7 weeks.

At the sonogram on Friday, Baby S did not cooperate during the photo shoot, and the results were incomprehensive shots of a foot kicking the forehead.