Mad over Mad Men

I got a chance to start watching all the episodes of Mad Men since I've been home. It's pretty good. Not what I thought it would be actually. It's geared more towards male characters than I thought. Some of the situations are a bit funny/ironic because of the 1950 era. For example, everyone lights up all the time (even pregnant lady) everywhere. Drinking and smoking at work 24/7. Even lying in bed. Imagine how that'd be now. These baby boomers must all had either liver cancer or lung cancer or all the above after everything's said and done.

The styles are interesting. Though, I don't know if Banana Republic's Mad Men line is any good. Maybe pencil skirt and blouse is what I'd like. Hot pants? I'll have to go look up this line and see for myself.

On a baby note, we are doing good so far. The days go by more faster at home. We're on our way to September! I now need to hurry up and buy last nursery decor items online. That reminds me, I'll need to check out what clothes to separate out for baby for hospital and home.

Week 31

It's been a few days at home and it's been very nice. Easier access to things and seeing my family has been great. I get to resume reading bedtime stories to Lil' M which is great. At least I don't miss out on things like that now. I know it was hard on Big M to have to coordinate time to visit me in the hospital (every other day). It's not like it's completely easy with me on bedrest, but it should be a lot more convenient for him.

To celebrate our 31 weeks, I went to the doctor's follow up appointment. So far it was fine. I guess I'll be going every 1.5 weeks moving forward. Did I mention I'm SO happy to be home?! ;)

Home Sweet Home

I was discharged last night after dinner. It was strange to sit in a car and see the city again. I was so excited to go home. As soon as I stepped foot inside the house, I can hear Lil' M squealing "Mommy?!". Then, my little munchkin comes running out from family room with a huge grin and gives me a big hug. I miss our home and family so much.

Big M prepped our bedroom to make it comfortable for my bedrest stay. I appreciate it. He got me a tv so I can watch in bed during the days. We never had a tv in our bedroom since we got married (7 years ago) b/c he believed that would cause insomnia if you do other things in the bedroom other than sleep. Well, it worked! I was an insomniac before we lived together. I used to have tv in my bedroom. It's nice to have now, but who knows how long it'll stay here. Probably until I'm done. TV is not all that anyways.

It's nice to be home. I'm trying to get used to it. I thought I was still hooked up to my former BFF last night. Lil' M stops by my bed to say hi to me. I swore I thought I heard the sound of the heart rate monitoring machine early this morning. Did I tell you I'm so ecstatic to be home?! :)

We're Going Home

Oh-em-gee!!! My dr. just stopped by and asked "Do you want to go home?" Drs. wanted me to get weaned off magnesium (through IV) once I hit the 30 week mark. So, they slowly weaned me on 8/21 and monitored me the same day and had a little hiccup. Basically, on 8/23 (completely off mag/IV), on top of the nifedipine every 6 hours, I had to take the another form of this pill, but meant for "use as needed". I was feeling bummed about it b/c I wasn't sure if that meant it wasn't working. However, what ended up was that they increased the dosage of the (every 6 hours) pill and it worked enough after that. I'm nervous, but my Dr. came by today and said as long as I don't have any physical changes and some contractions I don't feel that nurses see when I'm monitoring may not mean anything.

As long as I'm bedrest like I am in hospital and I will be on these pills, it s/b fine. Let's cross our fingers and hope I'll be fine at home and stay baking this little lady in my oven a little bit longer! <3

Week 30

We made it to week 30! I didn't realize I've been here for one month already. Let's cross our fingers for continuing weeks in the late thirties. Unit 2 is definitely moving alot. Since she's getting bigger, I feel her moves a lot more and sometimes I can't sleep. Just glad she's an active baby. It felt like it kinda went by fast for 4 weeks to go by. Now that I hope for another 4 weeks to shoot, it seems so far away. I look forward to all this passing successfully and resume my life. This has been rough, but I learned life I'd definitely not about obsessing over petty things.

I'm doing good on my striped blanket, just a little lopsided on the sides. Oh well, it's my first blanket. Today, I started learning to do a baby's beanie. We'll see where it takes me.

Keeping Sane

Happy Sunday! Well, Unit #2 (baby) had been very active and actually stays in one place because she's bigger now. She has occasional hiccups and reminds me of Lil' M when I was pregnant with her. Seems that she still hiccuped as a baby, too. I guess I may have another hiccuper!

We're doing ok. I'm just trying to keep my boredom down. Thanks to YouTube, I've self-taught myself to do a striped crochet blanket. I totally undid my blanket two times. Not bad for a first timer. My SIL & MIL brought me enough books and yarn to occupy my time. Surprisingly, I don't really watch that much cable tv. It's on just for some background noise. So much junk on tv!

Well, let's hope for a non-dramatic Sunday.

Week 29

Today's Unit 2's week 29. Looking forward to hitting the 3x weeks! Today's been long and tiresome for me. First morning baby monitoring went well (9:30 am-10:30 am). However, I was contracting too much and had to take nifedipine pill which resets the contraction monitoring to another hour. Usually I only get it at the night monitoring not daytime. Anyways, that pill wasn't doing such a great job today. So, had to take a new set of pills. Yay! I took indocin. That resets the clock for another 30 minutes. By the time I was done, it was 4 pm. After that, I had my US.

Cervix got a bit longer, but Specialist said not to hold on to that too much because my cervix is "dynamic". It can shrink or increase depending on when they do the US. Baby is good; weighing at 28 weeks at 29 weeks. Not a surprise b/c I most likely won't have a huge baby like with Lil M. Got to see some cool 3D pics of her. First thing sonographer commented was on her full lips! Ha! Same thing like Lil M. Man those full lips sure are strong in our genes.

I'm tired and grumpy today b/c I've been stuck lying down all day being monitored. I was feeling sleepy and gassy because I couldn't sit up too long after lunch since I was getting monitored right afterwards.

Specialist pretty much said I'm pretty much gonna be in hospital at least until 34 weeks if I can get weaned from magnesium. One day at a time...

Our 7th Year Wedding Anniversary

Today's Big M and my 7th wedding anniversary. Big M and Lil M visited me today and we had a nice dinner (Chilis' ribs!) and he surprised with some Nothing Bundt Cake. Not just one, but four cakes of different flavors to pick from! I ate the white chocolate raspberry one :). I'm glad to see them today. I never thought I'd be celebrating my wedding anniversary in a hospital. Se la vie.

First Crochet Class

I went to my first crochet class today! At first, I couldn't get it down and eventually I did ;). I'm doing the single crochet style for a blanket. I'm gonna do a purple one for Unit 2. Since the class is only once a week and I only have one line done, I'll have to self teach myself through YouTube before next week's class if I want more than a this string.

We'll see how far I go with it. I'm excited to do this!

Waiting

Yesterday's US showed my cervix got shorter. The Specialist that scanned me had a witty humor (that I normally like). He said "Yup, almost nothing there" and "Looks like you're ready to have a baby". That is not what I wanted to hear! So, I asked the nurse in the room more details. She confirmed I am shorter and my hospital routine prob. won't change.

I didn't expect to get discharged (at least at this time) because the past 2 nights I was having 6 contractions in one hour during my monitoring sessions and so I had to take a Nifedipine pills to further slow down contractions. Given this, I don't see how they'd wean me off magnesium. Therefore, I'm stuck to my BFF and in this hospital. I'm still waiting for my doctor (was told tomorrow) to give me the long term news.

I was OK bracing myself for the fact that I'm not going anywhere, but when my nurse asked me if I was OK, I didn't feel OK despite what I told her. That moment I felt sad. I'm not going home-I'm not going to see Big M and Lil M daily. I know things at home are being taken care of, but I know it's draining Big M and I'm scared Lil M will be weirded out by having me back when I do come back. So far, she's pretty emotionally stable. Thank goodness.

I feel grumpy today. Last night's monitoring sucked. Started at 11 pm and ended at 2 am. The nurse that night kept asking if I felt the contractions. No, of course not; I'm trying to sleep!!! My contractions don't hurt (so far). Also, waiting for my doctor's response is keeping me on my toes. I'll keep you posted.

OK, here's what the monitoring process looks like:

--monitor machine spits out a graph of the monitoring.
--2 belts on my tummy to monitor baby's heart rate (blue block) and contractions (gray block).

28 Weeks

I made it to 28 weeks! Nervous about what my doctor's gonna tell me today. I should be getting an US today. I hope I haven't gotten worse and just stayed stable since the last time they saw me. I pray (never prayed so much in my life until recently) that I'm progressing. The baby is good so far from the monitoring. She was moving alot last night when I was sleeping ;). My own lil gymnast. Hope she stays put for a little longer.

Thank goodness I have family and true friends to support me through this or else I'd be an emotional wreak. I believe health and psychological being go hand in hand. Mind over matter. I'm lucky I'm not a hormonal person in general, so this helps my situation in remaining calm.

I learned that the friends that I thought were my friends are truly there for me. Even if I can't physically see some of my gfs, I appreciate that they k.i.t w/me regularly. I know there's not much anyone can do for me, but keeping me in high spirits is all I need. Love you my friends and family.

OK next to my BFF (see past post on who my recent BFF is), I also have to blow into this Incentive Spirometry machine every other hour daily. It's an exercise to help expand my lungs given I'm on bedrest. I hated it when I first tried it b/c it was hard. The more I tried, the more I'm getting better at it.

Visitor/TV Sunday

I thought I was going to be solo today b/c I didn't intend to have Big M and Lil' M visit since they already have for past two days. And I thought there was a needlework class today.

Nopes-I was told Lil' M wanted to see me after watching a scene from Totoro where the mom was in the hospital. She was reminded of her own mommy I guess. She kept asking Big M if she'll see me today. :( How can I say no to that? Ok-I'll see them for lunch then! :)

Since the needlework class wasn't actually on Sundays, then I let my boss know that she could visit me b/c she asked earlier in the week. She came when Big M and Lil' M were almost on their way out. I wanted Lil' M to meet my boss (LG) for the first time. LG's so sweet; she gave Lil' M her first Easter bunny and blanket set when she was born. Been meaning for them to meet and here was the opportunity.

So LG and Lil' M meet and it was a cute meeting. LG stayed and chatted with me for a bit. We had good conversations and she brought me a potted orchid and a scrapbook picture frame holder. She's such a caring person. I'm SO blessed to have been able to work for such a caring person. I mean overall (not just b/c she brought me gifts). She's supported me through tough work times when I was first hired into her team and have k.i.t. with me during this leave. She's a devout Christian who is not pushy and truly cares about people. I highly respect her and I was certainly OK with her visiting me. It's been a long time since I liked a boss.

So after her visit, I ended up watching more TV than I normally do in a day. I saw:

1) Toddlers & Tiaras: I know I know-why would I watch this mess? There was nothing to watch and it helps me learn "what not to do" w/my kids! Ha! I so do not condone kid pageants. I was so disgusted at how these parents push their lil girls to look like 36 year old bimbos fluttering their lashes and shaking their stuff! What kind of positive message does this send to these kids? I kept thinking of Lil' M. I was not digging how this one toddler (3 years old) got some highlights up into her baby hair. What the heck?

2) Office Space: LOVE IT! For the thousand time ;). I watched it like it was the first time every time. Sad, but it's spot on w/various office personalities. My fav line has always been from the "Michael Bolton" name bit. ;)

Anyways, here's my new live friend:

Overcast in Daygo

Man, my window view this morning sure matches my mood (gloomy). It's overcast right now. At one point, I was ready to take a afternoon nap and saw the pretty clouds outside my window made me feel calmer.

I'm not feeling too cheery this morning. I had to take another Nifedipine pill last night and my muscles are achy. We'll see where the day takes me. I hope the day passes by fast today.

Sweet Visit

MAD visited me today and brought me Baskin Robbins coconut ice cream with some yummy nuts to enjoy with her! Loved it ;). Ice cream lover right here. I appreciated the company and talking about non-depressing stuff made it fun. Thanks for coming out. Made my day ;). Hope to see you again!

Feeling Like Myself Again

I confirmed that I was able to have shower privileges. Once my IV was changed out yesterday (they switch arms every 4 days). I took my first shower since I was admitted. I know-how can I go a week without showering etc? I'm not dirty/oily/sweaty and didn't care. Then, I saw myself in mirror and felt that my stringy curls (at one point had some breakfast syrup stuck on it!) and mumu gown look was getting old. I think I started to smell sweaty. Sorry TMI, but I really didn't care if I wasn't gonna see anyone but my family. Hmm almost reminds me of how I felt when I first had Lil M! I did shower regularly though b/c I was nursing ;).

So-I was disconnected from my BFFs and got my IV "capped" and my arm taped up like crazy. First time showering and washing hair w/just one arm! First time sitting down in the chair inside the stall, too. The warm shower revived me.

I felt less groggy and changed out into my regular/comfy/trusty t-shirt and pj pants. I feel like me and not some deranged patient.

Same night, nurse ended up giving me my first Nifedipine pill. I guess in addition to me being an irritable gal, so was my lovely uterus! During my routine monitoring session, I had like 6 contractions! My uterus was "irritable". So this does what the Mag. does, too.

Man from someone who has always feared needles/disliked medicines, I've sure had to face my fears recently! Like I said, everyday is a new day.

Sneak Peek into Senior Life?

Yesterday, I was granted "wheelchair access" to get out of my room and join the weekly hospital Arts & Healing class. This week's class was on making greeting cards. I looked forward to getting out of my room and seeing people (not necessary talk but just see).

So there were 6 of us prego ladies in same pre-term situation. I was wheeled out to the lobby area of same floor. We were sat in nice leather recliners w/a craft tray and the volunteers passed out the paper/craft supplies as needed. Some of us were hooked up to our BFFs (IV/Mag) machine.

There wasn't any real direction for what to do but seemed like the prego ladies were into it. At first, I thought it was lame and just started slapping things together just to get going. My theme was going to be a lavender/green"welcome baby card" to match nursery theme colors. Once I got into it, I was actually having fun. I felt awkward at first b/c I was feeling hot and the ladies around me were ESL or just not talking.

Eventually, I started to chat w/the gal next to me. Sweet lady-so we were both hopeful to see each other again and at these meet ups next time. I had fun. I was the only one wearing mumu gown lol. The next time I go to this, I'll be dressed normally.

I hope I can go to Sunday's needlework class! So is this what a life of a senior living in a old folk home would be like?Not sure how to take it.

You like?

Temporary Home

Week 27
Sigh. I made it to week 27 at hospital. I'm getting used to the daily routine here. It's nice to see the next day. The faster the days go by (even if I'm missing the summer), the longer I've been pregnant. Funny how my day's actually pretty full being in the hospital:

1) Change of IV bag. (2-3 times/day)
2) Change of Magnesium Sulfate bag (2-3 times/day)
3) Blood Pressure checks
4) Temperature checks
5) Baby heart rate & contraction machine monitoring (every 6 hrs).
6) Daily visits by doctors.
7) Random hospital staff visits (social worker/physical therapist)
8) Emails
9) Returning texts
10) Phone calls
11) Read book
12) TV (olympics etc)
13) Bed exercises

I think it's time for me to get out of my beautiful huge mumu of a hospital gown today...Once I get my IV change today.