A Good Woman, A Good Cause

I've been here for 7 weeks and Russ and I have no doubt made some new friends while we've been here--nurses, housekeepers, security guards, doctors, patients, and folks from the cafeteria. One friend in particular is my nurse, Joanne. She has been my night nurse many evenings and is a lovely human being. She is working her last shift at the hospital tonight to return home to her husband and her life in Ghana.

(doesn't she look cute in her new Longhorn scrubs?)

Joanne is a nurse and midwife who has dedicated herself to mothers and children in Africa (and Austin)! She is part of an organization that raises money to buy formula for the surviving infants of women who die during childbirth, to support a community feeding program, to pay school fees for young adults, and buy basic goods for these families and severely ill women during postpartum. Donations are welcome and appreciated!

http://www.africanmothers.org/

Joanne's presence is something Russ and I look forward to. She is knowledgeable, kind, and a calm presence in our lives at this crazy time. She is one of the reasons our stay here has been "enjoyable." I can only imagine the impact she is making in Ghana.

The nurses organized a going away party for her and Julia and I were able to get out of our rooms and join them. I've been looking forward to it all week! They hardly recognized me with makeup and my hair halfway done. I'm so glad they allowed us to join them to say farwell to our nurse, our friend Joanne. She's made an impact on each of us and hopefully she realizes how special we think she is.

(Jackie, Chris, me, Laurel, Joanne, Julia, Stephy, Lily, Karen, and Sarah)
(Joanne, Chris, Laurel, Karen, Lily, Stephy, and Dr. DiStefano at nurse's station--Melinda, Annabelle, and Patricia are missing from the photo)
(Me, Dr. DiStefano, and Julia)
(Dr. DiStefano and Joanne)
(Russ poppin' the sparkling apple cider--thanks Lily!)

We are looking forward to seeing her again in June and meeting her husband too!

Goodnight Joanne!

Dearest Little One,

I'm not thrilled to be laying here, but I have been able to focus on you more than the "normal" pregnant woman usually has the time and energy to do. For a few weeks now, you curl up just so your cute little hiney (don't you love that I already know how cute it is?) sticks up on the right side of my belly. You know what? I pat your hiney when you do that! I love it! It's not an uncomfortable feeling, but I know it when it comes and your hiney is there every time.

When you wiggle around, I say, "Hi Baby!" and when your Daddy is here with me, he looks up and smiles and if he's close enough, he'll put his hand on my belly to feel you move.

I sure do enjoy listening to your heartbeat every day. I'm going to miss it when we're not here anymore. Some days it can lull me to sleep. It's so peaceful to hear you beating away in there. I've learned a ton about your heartbeat. It's good and strong and the nurses tell me that it looks great (but I know that already because they've taught me so much)! I know what a good strip looks like and what worries the nurses. You haven't done it much, but you HAVE done it. Stinker.

Your big brother things if he talks into my belly button you can hear him better. I think it's so cute and pretty clever too. You are going to love that boy (well, most of the time)! He calls you "his baby" and thinks that you are a girl some days and other days he thinks you are a boy. One day he said you were a girl but that he wanted a brother. He will love you up whatever you are.

Love,
Mommy

Heart Full of Gratitude

I started the day full of emotion. I could feel it sitting just under my skin, about to pop right out of my eyes. I knew I'd cry at some point and it started with texts and emails from friends and family.

I've always been a thankful kind of person, thankful for the amazing family that I have and loving married into I'm also very aware of my wonderful friends. This year though, I feel completely overwhelmed with thankfulness.

When you boil it down, I AM thankful to be here. Thankful to be celebrating my 50th day today. I am thankful to have 150 less days in NICU because I'm still here and still pregnant. Thankful to be 30 weeks and 4 days into this pregnancy.

I am thankful to the doctors and nurses who continue to take care of me and are thrilled at the lack of excitement going on in my room. It's a blessing to be boring here.

Yesterday was sonogram day and immediately the doctor commented on how big the baby was (YAY!). 2 weeks ago the weight was 2 lbs and 14 oz. We're shooting for 4 lbs. next week for our next weight measurement (and at the rate people are telling me I'm growing, I'm confident we'll get there!). We continue to see the baby practicing breathing, moving (LOTS of showing off for Dr. D yesterday), and saw the baby making sucking movements. My fluid went from a disappointing 3 last week back up to a 5 this week! I am thankful for all of the good things we're seeing on our weekly sonograms.

I am thankful for my precious little boy for hanging in there while Mommy's in the hospital. I'm thankful for Russ, Mom, and Karol for playing Mom (and Dad) while baby and I are in here cooking.

I am thankful for my family who went out of their way on this special holiday to visit and bring me "to go plates" even though the cafeteria was offering a special holiday meal. No thank you. It just wouldn't have been the same without Karol's broccoli cheese casserole or Grandmom's wild rice stuffing! Thank you!

I'm already looking forward to next Thanksgiving, being home with our family of 4, and being so incredibly grateful for the gifts God has given us. I'm looking forward to cooking in my kitchen, eating at the table with my family, and being very aware of just how blessed we are each and every day.

(Thanks so much for the family photo Katie, I absolutely love it. It was worth all 7 takes!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

New Tradition?

I tore this recipe out of the newspaper a week or so ago and wanted to make them, but didn't think it would happen. But... thanks to my sweet mother and one more trip to H.E.B., it did!!

Gobble, Gobble!!

Before:

During:



After:




Recipe can be found at my food blog, No Onions.

While You Were Out

While you were out Mommy,

I missed you AND I loved spending all of this time with my grandparents and Daddy!

Last night I made Aunt Robbye laugh by singing, "We will, we will....ROCK IT!"

Today Daddy called and I didn't want to talk to on the phone. Daddy called back and pretended to be Santa Claus to trick me. After we hung up, I asked Aunt Robbye if Daddy was Santa Clause.

Today I went to lunch at The Wagon Wheel with Nunny, Buzz, Aunt Robbye, and even Daddy met us there while he was working close by. I charmed all of the old timers that were there for lunch! The waitress walked up and I said, "What is your name? My name is Riley." I ordered some milk, all by myself, without anyone asking AND when the waitress walked away, proudly announced, "I'm waiting." Not in a rude way, but in a proud way to let everyone know that I was being patient.

Here are some other fun things I've done while you were out...

Helped Buzz and did a little leaf blowing,
did some digging,

played garbage man with leaves,

rocked out,

helped Daddy put the baby's dresser together,
and rode a horse at Abbie's birthday party.
Did the doctors and nurses say you could come home yet Mommy?

The Big 3-0!

Today is not my 30th year, but my 30th week! Another milestone met...how good it feels! Our next big one is 32 weeks.

This week according to http://www.babycenter.com/:

Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

This week according to http://www.thebump.com/:

As baby's skin smoothes out, her brain just keeps getting more wrinkled. All those grooves and indentations increase surface area, meaning more room for that oh-so-essential brain tissue. She's also adding some brawn -- her grip is now strong enough to grasp a finger.

And http://www.smartmomma.com/:

It’s getting fun to play with your baby now, even before she’s born. By week 30, her senses are fully developed so that she can taste, touch, see and hear. If you poke at her foot stretched across your belly, she may kick you back. You will probably find yourself talking and singing to your belly all the time now, as you wait for your baby to make her entrance.Your baby is now about 15 ½ inches long and weighs almost 3 pounds. Her brain is still developing, as her head grows larger to accommodate it. Early lanugo is starting to disappear, as she begins to gain fat deposits to insulate her body temperature. Her toenails and fingernails have grown long and her bone marrow is starting to function. Your baby can actually produce tears now, and she can move her eyes and head towards a bright light.

I'm thrilled with each moment of progress, each day of development, each blessing!

All I Want for Christmas...

is to have a healthy baby.
is to be home with my family.
is to see/smell/squeeze Riley in his pajamas and read books at bedtime.
is to sleep in my very own bed next to my very own husband.
is to take a bath in my very own bathtub.
is to walk in my front door.
is to kiss my puppy.
is to enjoy fresh air for more than 20 or 30 minutes.
is to hear Riley talking/singing to himself on the monitor in the morning.
is to make my very own coffee in my very own coffee-maker from my coffee cup.
is to do something FUN with my little guy.
is to do some holiday baking.
is to have a healthy baby AND have my life back.

Let the countdown begin. 30 weeks today, 4 weeks to go!

More Blessed and Less Worried

Today was a pretty worrisome day. Everything is okay, I just know it. I've been axious all day for the sonogram.

Lost a little more fluid than usual today.
Baseline (average) heartbeat was abnormally high.
My temperature was a little high.

All of these things added up to a little stress for me today. Then, our specialist called to say she had several emergencies pop up and a medical event this evening and wouldn't be able to make our usual Thursday sonogram, but that she'd be in tomorrow before noon. I totally understood, but was still worried and disappointed (I wanted Russ to be here and my nerves to be calmed).

Our nurse ended up calling the doctor and telling her all of the news and that she would feel better if we looked at the baby and didn't go another day without checking things out. She was going to squeeze us in.

There was indeed less fluid. I went from a 4.8 to a 3. Not the news I wanted to hear, but the news I expected. Dr. said that while it's not ideal, it isn't as critical now as it was 4 weeks ago. There was tons of fetal movement yesterday and she said that all of the movement could kick out some of the fluid. There is also the possibility that the fluid will increase now that baby has settled. I'm looking forward to next Thursday already...jeez!

We saw a full bladder (more fluid!), movement, breathing, and we even saw baby's eyes looking around!!

I am working on finding peace as we speak. Knowing that God has a plan for this baby and me. Knowing that we'll be okay and looking back on how far we've come. (We arrived 6 weeks ago at 23 weeks and 4 days. Today I am 29 weeks and 4 days--in case you couldn't do the math, I did it for you!)

Already feeling more blessed (and grateful) and less worried. Looking forward to Sunday's milestone of 30 weeks!

A Mother's Prayer for Her Unborn Child

A Mother's Prayer for Her Unborn Child

Blessed and Merciful God,
Thank you for the gift of life.
Thank you for the life of the child growing inside me.
Thank you for your love that is shaping and forming
this child's life into divine perfection.
Thank you for shaping this child's mind.
Thank you for shaping this child's bones.
Thank you for shaping this child's destiny and for writing up on his or her heart.
Thank you for filling this child's entire being with your loving light.
Thank you for knowing and calling this child's name even as it is being formed.
Thank you for showing me how to love this child even before it is born.
Thank you for giving me a healthy appetite for those foods that are giving and life sustaining
while this child is growing inside of me.
Thank you for keeping me from harm and danger while this child is growing inside me.
Thank you for peace of mind while this child is growing inside of me.
Right now I give to you all of my concerns for the health, strength, and well being
for the precious life growing inside me.
Right now I call forth your grace, mercy, and the loving light of your presence
to fill my being and sustain the life growing inside me.
Prepare me for this birth. Prepare my mind. Prepare my body.
Bless me and this child that its birth will happen easily and effortlessly,
under the grace of your peace.
Protect this baby in my womb wit your Love and care until the time of his or her birth.
I give your angels charge of this child.
I give you charge over my entire being.
I give you thanksgsiving and praise for this blessed life growing inside me.
May this prayer be lifted, heard, and accepted into the highest realms of all that is good.
For this I am so grateful.
And So It Is!
Amen.

Thank you Tara for sharing this with me. It means the world to me!

Tara brought this prayer to me my first week in the hospital. I couldn't read it because I was just a little emotional upon arrival. I was afraid for our baby. I was worried that if something were to go wrong that I wouldn't be able to handle it as gracefully as those before me. I was afraid of the unexpected, the unplanned, the "taken for granted."

Now that I've adjusted and know that God will carry me through any situation, I have read this prayer many times. After a week of adjusting to the shock of what was happening and the loss of control of what was happening in my life, I wrapped my head around our situation and accepted it. I am so thankful to be here.

I am so thankful for the people in our lives who have taken care of me and my boys. We are so grateful for the prayers and positive thoughts, they are a blessing.

Bedrest is Busy!!

In case you're wondering how I spend my days, you're in good company, I am too. I'm spilling it today and keeping a schedule:

6:45 Enter nurse practitioner. She comes in every morning to listen to me breathe, listen to my heart, push on my belly, check my feet for swelling, and ankles for pain. All is well, as usual, except for her cold hands!

6:50 Might as well go to restroom since I'm awake. Don't forget to wash your hands!

7:10 Look at email on Blackberry--delete overnight spam. IM with Russ for a few minutes--that was a pleasant surprise. I need my Snuggie--it feels cooler in here than usual. Is it cold outside?

7:30 I'm wondering about coffee. I don't drink it every morning in here and can't make it myself, so...I'm waiting on a nurse to come in OR I may have to call and ask very nicely for someone to start a pot of decaf. Bless their hearts. Bless MY heart that I can't make my own dang coffee.

7:50 Call to find out who my nurse is--Stephy! Call her and ask her to make coffee!!

7:55 IM Tina a little to0! Check email, blogs (completed a quiz on Bakerella's site), and Facebook. Anxiously awaiting coffee!!

8:05 Wonder what is going on above me. It always sounds like moving furniture. ALL DAY...until about 11:00 at night. WHY???

Wonder how Russ and Riley are doing this morning...is Riley being cooperative and sweet? I sure hope it's a good morning at home!

Hoping I'll have time to squeeze in some of the book I'm reading while I drink my coffee (hint, hint), AND have time to take a shower before Ellen at 9:00. (Boy, life is different in this bed...) There goes the furniture again...

8:15 Bathroom again...hands too. My hands are so dry! I try to keep lotion on them, but I go to the bathroom so often, it just washes off. Argh!

8:20 Get everything ready for shower. Coffee--anyone, anyone?

8:30 Stephy comes in with fresh water and ice (aaaah, thank you, but where's that coffee?). Temperature=97.5 and blood pressure is 114/56 and heart rate is 80. Good to go! Visit with Stephy a little--she's going backpacking in Argentina in the spring--what a wonderful experience (and out of her box, she's a little nervous)!

8:40 Stephy brings me a big ol' cup of decaf with the whole bottle of pumpkin spice creamer so I can hook myself up. Thank you! Aaaah.

8:45 Read from the funny book Kaley brought me "One For the Money" by Janet Evanovich, while sipping on my hot coffee in silence. Love the coffee, love the book! Thanks Stephy and Kaley!

8:50 Great interruption--a phone call from my sweet husband on his way to work. Not a great morning with Riley, but they made it through. Back to my book and coffee...

9:00 Finished chapter 5, turned on Ellen, but still working on coffee. I"ll wait until after she dances to get in the shower. I love her AND her D.J.! Ellen and I like to dance to the same kind of music. I wish I could be dancing right along with her, but for now, I have to sit, watch, enjoy the music, and giggle! Oh NO, her back is still bothering her...she danced last week!

9:10 Awww jeez...she's dancing to The Pussycat Dolls today. Yuck on them, not Ellen and her dancing!

Call Stephy and ask for clean sheets and towels. I like to have them change my sheets while I take a shower. I sure wish that happened at home too!

9:40 Out of shower, excited about the clean sheets! All dressed up and nowhere to go.

Called "Room Service" and ordered French Toast, strawberries, and cottage cheese. P. Diddy is on Ellen...which means I may have missed Robert Pattinson while in the shower. I did not know that Ciroc vodka was P. Diddy's vodka (is that his name today?). His vodka is made from grapes and other vodkas are made from potatoes.

While in the shower had the thought that there is NO need for exfoliation while in the hospital because between the towels and washcloths, you're exfoliated and in dire need of a heavy moisturizer (sure wish I could reach my feet and back a little easier). I'm about to put my night time moisturizer on my face it's so dry in here!

10:00 While waiting for breakfast, delete a few more messages from my overwhelming inbox. Down to 179 unread messages and 2, 230 messages in my inbox. This is a problem, I know. Lots of them are recent photos and videos of Riley that I haven't been able to save on computer at home, but it's still a problem...

10:15 Breakfast is here!

10:20 Stephy called to see if I was ready to be put on monitor. I'm not--still eating.

10:30 Potty break, brush teeth, moisturize

10:45 Monitor baby's heartbeat and monitor contractions. This is such a peaceful time for me each day. On occasion, I still have to press on the heartbeat monitor so I can hear the heartbeat better. Sometimes I have to momve the pressure because baby is squirming around so much. I feel lots of baby movement at this time because I'm really focused on it. Also, I think baby's not crazy about me pushing on his/her space. I usually turn the volume down on the t.v. and pay attention to baby's little heartbeat. We're listening for accelleratoins and decellerations. D-cels aren't bad, but they are a little worrisome. Because I have low fluid, when the baby moves around he/she may compress the umbilical cord, which slows the heartrate. We want the heartrate to pick back up to speed quickly. As baby gets older, we hear fewer of them, but it's not as frightening as it was when I arrived.

I also take this quiet time to pray sometimes, or to think about baby growing big, strong, and healthy.

Often, the nurses show me the strip (the heartbeat tracked on paper) and tell me how good it's looking, or explain what we're seeing. Several of them have mentioned how you can look at the strip and see how baby's matured in the 40 days I've been here!!

11:15 Potty break! Plug in my leg compression thingy's. I'm supposed to wear these to prevent from getting blood clots because I'm just sitting here. They're not my favorite thing, but I do wear them. Sometimes.

Russ calls to chat about his insurance updates through work on his way to Burnet.

11:30 Call Mom because Russ would like to request some of her homemade chicken noodle soup. Can't talk long because the urge to pee hits me like a ton of bricks. Back to the bathroom...unplug legs from compression thing first. Jeez!

Plug legs back in.

Giada's on Food Network! Cooking with kids--baked macaroni and cheese cupcakes (with veggies)!

11:40 Called Karol to catch up and try to solve the mystery of the missing pajamas. Talked about baby stuff and all the things that still need to be done. Jeez!

Housekeeping came to clean room--not Virginia though, she does the best job!

Lots of talking on the phone right now to occupy my time--Russ, Karol, Mom, trying to schedule doctor appointments, sign up new baby for pediatrician, etc. Wheeee! Thankful for the time to do this I guess--normally I'm teaching Math right now...

Ina Garten is making a yummy looking soup, but I've had mute on for a while.

1:10 Where does the time go? Potty break! Pediatrician's office is out to lunch...and they're 10 minutes late.

1:15 Man, I wish I worked at a pediatrician's office answering phone's so I could have an extra 15 minutes for lunch every day. Still no answer.

1:30 Stephy in for vitals--blood pressure and temp. all clear. She brings more water and ice, bless her heart.

1:40 Butt hurts. Time to go sit in the rocker, by the open window and read another chapter of my book I guess. Better take a potty break while I'm up!

2:10 Mom calls to tell me about the goodies she bought Riley at Lakeshore. Good times!

2:20 Karol calls to tell me she bought some preemie diapers and a little preemie outfit.

2:25 Surprise visitor comes in to visit. Her friend (and someone I know) is visiting her niece down the hall in ante-partum. Small world!

2:40 HUNGRY! Call Stephy and ask her to warm up my Dan Dan Noodles that Russ brought me (Thanks, Babe!) Stomach's growling!

Called Russ to tell him about visitor and patient down the hall.

2:45 Dan Dan Noodles!! Gotta love being pregnant (with an ever-growing belly)--so hungry and 5 bites later you're stuffes. Don't worry. I'll take a break and then eat some more.

Visitor returned with her friend to say hello and that we were in they're prayers. How sweet it is!

Volume up on t.v. while I wait for Oprah. Cooking shows or HGTV between Ellen and Oprah usually. If they're lucky, I'll hear them.

3:30 Want to eat more, but absolutely can't.

Looking at baby stuff online! Maintenance comes in to hook up a DVD player for me. Says he's going to see what they can do to get a mini fridge in here. Just like home-ha!

4:00 Stephy's here to put baby and I back on monitors. Oprah!

4:35 Off of monitors, "Baby looks great today!" nurse says. Yay Baby!

5:03 Russ is here, surprise!! He's going to finish reading the paper and I'm going to pay some bills online.

5:20 Blood pressure 105/53 and temperature is 98.5. All good! Back to paying bills.

5:30 Potty break and wheelchair ride outside with Russ to feel this cold front.

6:00 Potty break. Back in bed!

6:10 Blog hopping. Admiring Tina's photos at http://www.shotofwhimsyblog.com/! Stephy came to say "Bye!" Who will my night nurse be? Will we get lucky and have Joanne?

6:45 DanDan Noodles take #2!

7:00 How I Met Your Mother

7:10 Joanne came for blood pressure and temperature. All good! Got to hear about her birthday weekend and we talked about having babies in Africa. (She's here working a few months while her husband is in medical school in Ghana. Her last day at the hospital is Nov. 30 and she will be missed!)

7:40 Mom calls to give a report on the evening. All is well at home, thankfully. He ate well, played outside, Mom made him some hot chocolate for after his shower, and she's breaking out a new puzzle.

7:50 Potty break. Go through pile of mail.

8:30 Big Bang Theory! Joanne stayed to watch.

8:40 Potty break

9:00 Taylor Laughtner on Jay Leno!

9:15 Riley called while reading books in bed.

M: What books are you reading?

R:Maisy at the Fair, Shapes and Colors

M:What pj's are you wearing?

R:White with monkeys and lions and giraffes.

M:Goodnight, I love you so much!

R: I love you so much!

9:20 Visit with neighbors!

10:00 Back to bed, potty break. Russ heads home. I miss him already.

10:15 Back on monitors--heartbeat good, no contractions. Take prenatal vitamin. Visit Joanne.

11:00 Call Russ and tell him goodnight. Take Ambien. Do I watch Jimmy Fallon or read?

Potty break!

Goodnight...