Nursery Progress

I got a lot later start on the nursery than I wanted and we didn't get very far by the time I was put on bed rest. We got the crib and book shelf assembled the weekend before. And we got the dresser assembled the day before I went to the hospital. Other than a friend getting the upholstered rocker glider into the room for us a couple days later, we didn't get anything else done. Once I got home I asked my mom if she could come sew all the items I had planned to sew myself. But then my dad was scheduled for bypass surgery in a few weeks and only had two weekends available before his surgery. I didn't think my mom was going to be able to come before because they were going to have many things to do around the farm to get ready before my dad had surgery. And I knew his recovery was going to take many, many weeks so I didn't think she would be able to come after his surgery for a long, long time. I thought about my options and really only had two. Pay someone to make everything I had planned to make myself since I had already bought all my fabric and materials. Or buy store bought, un-customized, mass produced items which was not my top choice. Then my mom informed me and my siblings my dad had canceled his surgery and she was coming that weekend. I wasn't sure how much we could get done with me on bed rest not able to help and trying to explain to my mom what I wanted as most of the sewing I had planned had no patterns and were basically in my head. Plus my mom and I have different sewing styles so I was also a little worried about that. One thing about being on bed rest is you have to give up a lot of control which if you know me well is not easy to do.

So I quickly created a to do list for me and my mom to follow and designed some of the items in Microsoft Publisher just so we had drawings and measurements to go by. Thank God my mom is a busy bee worker. She got half of my sewing done the first weekend and we got the remaining sewing done a second weekend. Probably the most labor intensive sewing was the curtains I designed for the nursery. They took the longest of all the projects but man they look amazing as you can see from the image to the left. Many friends and neighbors helped us with spray painting items, washing baby clothes and bedding, organizing and arranging things for me in the nursery and gathering supplies I didn't previously purchase. Roger even got in on the action many times helping my mom to cut fabric, hanging décor pieces and putting items up and away for me. We are pretty much done now with setting up the nursery except for a couple simple items. You can see more pictures of the nursery by clicking on the curtain image above. Now we are just trying to stay on top of washing and organizing clothes we receive and organizing gifts as they arrive. And we have turned our attention to getting ready for Lady Mo’s arrival by creating our birth plan, packing a hospital bag for all three of us, setting up the bassinet/play pen, installing the car seat in the truck, sanitizing and washing all the breast pump parts and bottles and organizing a cabinet in the kitchen for baby stuff. Although we are trying to be prepared I am sure there are many things we have forgotten or just don’t know to do yet. I guess there’s only so much preparation we can do. ~ Holly

Hospital Bed Rest

While I was at the hospital Roger had me set up with my phone and his laptop so I was well connected. My mom and I emailed many times a day. One day she asked me if I can get up and walk around at all and what I do all day at the hospital. Here was my response back to her.

"Nothing except get up to go to the bathroom & take a shower 2-3 times per week. I have the laptop. My friend Amber gave me a gift subscription to Netflix so I can watch movies & TV show series on the laptop. I could do it on my phone also but that's too small. Here's my typical day:

I get up every morning at 7am. I can't sleep any later in here. It’s hard to sleep here. Then I go to the bathroom & wash my face real quick while I’m in there. When I walk back I open the blinds to the window. Then I get back in bed to call in breakfast, brush my teeth, put on my moisturizer, etc. I watch the local news while I’m eating breakfast. When they start repeating news I turn it off. When I finish eating I call the nurse and they bring me my meds, stool softener and multi-vitamins. Then they flush my saline block which is the IV in my hand, but I'm not connected to a drip… it always stings. Then they hook me up to the fetal monitor and I have to be on that for at least 20 minutes unless the baby is not cooperating and I have to stay on longer. Every time since I’ve been here this visit she doesn't cooperate and I’ve had to stay on an hour. And when I start that I also put on the leg compressors and keep those on for 4 hours to prevent blood clots.  After I get off the monitor, I usually check my email for work and home, which sometimes distracts me for a while as I go back and forth with people about stuff. In between I check Facebook and I get lots of texts from people asking me how I’m doing or asking/telling me stuff. I read a chapter or two out of a book of mine. My OB or MFM (maternal fetal medicine dr) come in at any time of the day to check on me. They ask me lots of questions. I ask them questions. We talk for a while. Then they leave and go put everything in the computer that's right outside my room. The nurses come in at different times of the day to check on me. Then all of a sudden it's 11-12 so I order lunch. It takes about 30-40 minutes for meals to arrive. It’s delivered to me in bed. I have to wait for someone to move the empty tray for me. Usually in the afternoon someone comes to visit me. If my tray is still here I ask them to move it for me and if I need anything done I’ll ask them to do it for me. While I have visitors I don't check my phone or email or Facebook or texts or anything. I turn on my side and have them sit in a chair next to the bed so I can give my back a rest from sitting up all morning. When they leave, I check everything again, email for work and personal, texts & calls I missed while I had a visitor, Facebook, sometimes I play a game on my phone or laptop. Sometimes I watch a movie. Then about 4pm I lay back and rest my eyes and turn to the other side to rest my back again. Sometimes I fall asleep, sometimes I don't. About 5pm I put on the leg compressors again. If I haven't fallen sleep I get bored so I call in for dinner so I eat and am done when Roger gets here. He gets off work at 5pm now but does stuff at home when he gets off so he doesn't hit too much traffic coming up. While I eat I’ll watch HGTV to pass the time. When he gets here I turn off the TV and he either eats dinner here if he brings something or he'll eat at home before he comes up and we'll just talk about the day, what the OB's said, what happened if I had an ultrasound, etc. He does stuff for me like helps me take a shower if I need one, brings me stuff I remembered needing and puts it where I want it to go. About 7:30-8pm I call the nurse for my evening meds and to get on the fetal monitors again. They flush my IV again. As soon as I get off the fetal monitors, I wash my face in the bed and Roger brings me a towel to dry off. We usually have a last snack together. He helps set me up for the night if I need his help. About 9pm I take off the leg compressors. Rog leaves about 9:30-10pm sometimes later because he doesn't want to leave. I brush my teeth in bed. Call the nurse for Ambien so I can sleep. Turn everything off. Read a little bit and go to sleep. I wake up 2-3 times every night to shift as my hip hurts laying on one side for too long and I turn over to the other side. Then I start all over again the next day. Same old, same old usually. But sometimes interesting things happen. Like when they order an ultrasound. And I found out this morning there is antepartum social hour every Monday and Thursday at 4pm so I will start going to that if I am here. They do a craft or activity so that will help the time go by also. I think I’m going to watch some You Tube videos and try to teach myself how to French braid my own hair. I can do it to other people but can't do it to myself and no one I know knows how to French braid so I never get my hair French braided. I figure this is a good time to learn."

So that’s the jist of hospital bed rest. Boring. I’m so glad to be home. ~ Holly

Wow, Are We Behind Or What?

Yes, we are truly behind on this blog. Not only was our last blog post on March 9^th, well over a month ago, but a lot has happened since. I promise to try to stay up to date on the blog. Today’s post will be as short as possible to catch up and I will also post some belated blogs about everything else soon. Sorry.

As you know from our last post on March 9^th, I have a complete placenta previa and was prescribed pelvic rest. Well, two days later on Sunday, March 11^th I woke up during the night to go to the rest room and as soon as I stood up I felt something going down my legs. Yes, it was blood. Thank God we had asked what to do if I bleed and knew what to do. Roger called 9-1-1 and an ambulance took me to Texas Women’s Center. I was admitted into Labor & Delivery (L&D) triage. I bled one more time right when we got there. But it stopped. I stayed in L&D for the night until I was considered stable then moved to the antepartum floor for observation. My doctors told me I would have to not bleed for a few days then I could go home. A few days to them ended up being six. I had a couple ultrasounds there and also saw the maternal fetal medicine doctor I was referred to. I was discharged on March 16^th.

I was sent home on modified bed rest and told this was strike one. The first night home was nerve wracking but I didn’t have any bleeding. The second night home I spotted and called the on call number and my OB told me to lay on my side, drink lots of water, try to relax and keep an eye on it. I spotted the third and fourth night home. During the morning of the fourth night, I woke up to heavy bleeding again. We called the on call OB and she told us to come in. I was admitted again on the morning of March 20^th. Same drill as before: L&D triage, L&D overnight, moved to antepartum, six days of no bleeding, a couple ultrasounds and discharged on March 26^th. 

This time I was sent home on strict bed rest and told this was strike two. If I bleed again heavily it will be strike three and I will have to stay at the hospital on bed rest until Baby Mo is born. Either, then by emergency c-section if the bleeding doesn’t stop or if we make it to full term and have a scheduled c-section on Week 37.  I have been on bed rest just over six weeks and home for just over four weeks with no bleeding. Praise God we have made it this far. I will start week 32 of my pregnancy tomorrow which means we have four weeks of bed rest left. So we need all the prayers we can get for me to stay stable on bed rest and for Baby Mo to keep growing well which she has been. Thank you for all your prayers and support. And I will post about bed rest, follow-up appointments, ultrasounds and everything else soon. ~Holly