Halfway there?

I can't believe I've been in the hospital for 3 full weeks! I'll be 31 weeks pregnant tomorrow. The best case scenario is delivering at 34 weeks, which is still 3 weeks away, so we're halfway there! Everything continues to look good on our daily monitoring and the doctors and nurses are pleasantly surprised that we've made it this far. Apparently, 75% of women go into labor within a week after an early rupture.

I'm so happy the baby has had these 3 weeks to grow and I'm trying not to complain, but this is so much harder than I ever imagined. I wish I had a fast forward button to get me through the next few weeks! As most of you know, I am not the kind of person who enjoys sitting around doing nothing. Chris has been wonderful. He's spending a lot of time with me at the hospital and putting up with my constant demands for food and other necessities (and with no complaints :-).

I hope everyone is enjoying the long holiday weekend. Happy Memorial day and let's all take a moment to remember those who lost their lives for our country. And I hope the next 3 weeks fly by!

The Nursery!

Chris and his parents have been working very hard the past week getting the nursery ready for Baby H's early arrival. Luckily, we had already ordered furniture and bought a bedding set, but it was still very strange not being there to help put it all together. They did a fantastic job and it looks beautiful! They painted the walls, added a chair railing and installed new closet systems in both closets. The glider is missing because it was damaged during shipping, but hopefully we will get a replacement in a few weeks. We also still need to hang some pictures and add a few personal details, but I wanted to leave something for me to do when I get home so I'll feel lilke I contributed something!

Nursery before. It's a small room attached to our bedroom. We used it as a TV/sitting room before.

Ready for Baby H's arrival (which hopefully is at least 3 weeks away!)

Check out the new closets!

Shadow and daddy admiring the new room.

We're still hanging in there

I said before that no news was good news and that's pretty much the case so far. Baby H and I are still at Northside and I'm very happy that he's decided not to come just yet. I had an ultrasound today and everything looks good. His movement is excellent and he's growing. The estimate is 3 lbs, 3oz and the prognosis is good that I can stay here and let him grow a few more weeks. I'm currently 29 weeks and 4 days.

For anyone who ever dreamed of laying around all day and being waited on hand and foot... trust me, it's overrated! I'm not complaining though. I'm grateful to still be here and will stay as long as it takes. I actually started working a few hours a day from my hospital bed and I never thought I'd be so happy to work. It really helps pass the time since I'm really not a fan of daytime TV. Thanks to everyone who has called, sent cards and come to visit. Having visitors is definitely the highlight of my day :-)

Chris' parents are staying with us (well, with him and visiting me) for a week and helping him paint and prep the nursery. It's a little strange to be decorating from the hospital, but I know they're doing a great job! We'll post pictures as soon as it is complete.

Day 7 Update

I'm on day 7 in the hospital on total bed rest, which surprisingly has gone by pretty quickly. The first few days were critical to keep me from going into labor, so we were relieved to make it through that. Now I am being monitored very closely for any signs of infection or labor. The baby's heartrate is monitored several times a day and so far he has been very stable. I also have twice a week ultrasounds to check his movement and fluid levels and they have looked as good as to be expected. I still feel him move around quite a bit, so the low fluid doesn't seem to bother him too much. I think we're going to have a tough little guy!

So, how am I passing the time? It's hard to get a good night's sleep in the hospital with the nurses checking on you every few hours, so I try to nap throughout the day. I also watch a lot of TV, a few movies and I have my laptop for web surfing, although it's difficult to comfortably use the computer in bed. I also have tons of magazines, books and I'm attempting to knit again (which reminded me why I quit - I'm not very good at it). I'm finally feeling up to having visitors and they have a few activities on the floor that I'm trying to participate in.

We're so blessed that our little one has so many people who care about him before he is even here. I'm prepared to be here for the long haul, so hopefully he will have at least a few more weeks to grow and mature. In the meantime, the doctors and nurses are taking great care of me and Chris has been spending a lot of time with me keeping me sane and fetching anything I need :-)

Baby H is coming early

I had quite an unexpected first Mother's Day. For no apparent reason, my water broke at 3:00 a.m. Sunday morning and we have been in the hospital ever since. The condition is called pre-term premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) and we had no indication of a problem until an ultrasound on Friday that showed a slight separation in the uterus that the doctor wanted to monitor the following week. The good news is that labor has not started and the baby can continue to grow and mature under very close monitoring. The biggest concern is uterin infection, which is very common after PPROM, so the baby will be delivered at the first sign of infection or if he decides to come on his own.

I am 28 weeks today and will stay in the hospital until I deliver. The best case scenario is that we can keep him in for 6 more weeks (until 34 weeks), but every week (and day) helps him grow a little stronger. We know we will have a premature baby, it's just a matter of how premature he will be, so we are trying to prepare ourselves as best we can. So far, everyone at Northside hospital has been wonderful and I know we're receiving the best care possible.

Chris and I appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers and will certainly need continued support in the coming weeks and months. We have a long road ahead, but for now, all we can do is try to keep me healthy and sane and take it one day at a time. I'll post updates as often as I can. I have a lot of time on my hands now, however, no update is probably a good thing since that means he's staying put!

Baby's first hiccups!

Just wanted to share another fun milestone. I felt baby H's hiccups for the first time this morning. It was quite a strange feeling... at first I thought it was just a tiny little kick, but then the 'kicks' continued for a while every few seconds. Pretty funny!

We have an ultrasound on Friday, so hopefully we will see a healthy, growing baby and get a few decent pictures!