69 Degrees with the fan on, and it's still too hot...

We have had quite an exciting time!! A few scary moments and some funny little things going on in this pregnancy...

It started on May 28 at our second non-stress test (NST - monitering the baby's heartrate, movement, my heartrate, and uterus movement) where the nurses noticed that my uterus was contracting slightly, but rhythmically, and was termed an "irritated uterus." I wasn't feeling any cramping, but they decided to check things anyway and did an fFN test (fetal fibronectin) where they are looking for a certain protein that is present when labor is beginning, then they did an ultrasound of my cervix to see if it was starting to shorten. My cervix was still a good 4 cm long and closed, but was starting to funnell, meaning it looked like it was starting to try and open up. That evening my fFN test came back negative for the protein and not likely to go into labor for 10-14 days, so I went on home, relaxed. Until that night...I started feeling contractions, here and there, some uncomfortable, others just tight but not travelling all the way up my uterus. So I went to bed hoping things would calm down. 6 AM and still contracting, and now about every few minutes. Some lasted just a few seconds, other's over a minute and by 8:00, they were pretty strong and every 1 1/2 minutes. So in we went for an emergency NST.

Indeed, contractions were there and I was put on a 48 hour medication to stop them and sent on home and told to stay off my feet. I did as told, and although things calmed way down, I still felt "tight" and had occasional contractions that would start down low and work their way up, warping my uterus into a baby shape on the right, and a bulge on the left.

Saturday night, Nich was at a gig at the lake, and two sweet friends in his class, Laura and Lisa, were at the house hanging out and making sure everything was ok. At 5:00 PM I had gotten the familiar tightness and called Labor and Delivery where I was told to drink a liter of water and give it an hour. I did better :) I drank all I could, kept my bladder empty, and layed around until 9 when it was clear it wasn't going away. Another phone call and Laura, Lisa, and I went to the hospital. Sure enough, contractions! By the time Nich got to the hospital around midnight, I was admitted and had a cozy room for 23 hours.

23 hours turned into 4 days, 3 medications, 8 NSTs, 2 super painful steroid shots to help develop the baby's lungs in case he decided to come early, lots of blood drawn, a cervix that was funnelling on and off, and several ultrasounds to check amniotic fluid. And now, I'm HOME! This medication is working quite nicely and I only have a few contractions a day! It is sooo nice to not feel a constant tightness, and so nice to sleep more than 30-45 minutes at a time! I was getting my 9 hours of sleep over a 24 hour period, and now I'm getting 9 in about 10 hours during the actual NIGHT. How awesome!! Of course, I am on "modified bedrest" which means I don't have to be horizontal, but have to be leaned back at least, and I have bathroom privileges. But my whole life is on the couch, and poor Nich has to do EVERYTHING. He's studying for Step I about 12 hours a day while having to feed me every hour and a half (my blood sugar has to stay up all day now), take care of 3 dogs, run errands, do cooking, cleaning, water plants, laundry, all that fun stuff. I can't carry anything heavier than a water bottle, so he's in charge of moving all my stuff from bedroom to living room twice a day too.

BUT, baby's doing GREAT! If all goes to plan, we only have 9 weeks more, and it's totally worth it :) If only my dreams would stop being so scary these days...that would be nice - I'm sure it has NOTHING to do with the added stress...ha ha ha!

Here's our little angel who just has to stay happy and healthy in there for a few more weeks. This is from one of the ultrasounds checking the fluid, which was always a good amount:

So, on a side note, I'm one hot chick. Ha ha ha! We're convinced it's my medication, but I am HOT. Hotter than a regular pregnant lady hot. I used to be wrapped in a blanket at 73 degrees, and now that I'm back from the hospital, I'm dying at 69 degrees with the fan blowing on me. I can't even sleep under sheets, and I am constantly flushed. That must be the infamous "glow"... We refuse to turn the air down more, since it'll already cost a fortune to keep this house at 69 all day, in June and July! Also, I've noticed my butt...it has shrunk! Ha ha ha! I think it melted off.