**This little title was written 12 weeks ago when I fully expected to have 16 weeks left and I was trying to stay all kept up with life as it happened. I guess it could read "The Possible Last 12 Weeks" or "The Actual Last 12 Weeks"...but time will tell! ;)
(For the record, there are far more pictures and details in this blog post than the others because I had far more time on bedrest -at the hospital- to get something like this done. But it sure was fun to look back on a full 12 weeks of memories before adding Will to our team!)
Our sweet B-dad was home with us for an amazing 10 days, and we squeezed in as much fun as we could (which did NOT include taking him to the airport and dropping him off...although Bryleigh was very excited on our way there, she wasn't sure why she wasn't going, too). Our sweet little girl has had a back and forth battle with all of her health issues since July 4th weekend, and some flares up tend to pretty much consume all of our time (and energy...and tears...and everything else). This one sadly included 2 trips to the pediatrician's office and a whole lot of prayer (and tearful phone calls to my momma)!
We've had some BIG things going on in the past 12 weeks, including the beginning of B's school year!! We had our first "parent duties" when we attended her Parent Night for orientation and then Meet the Teacher with her the next day. We are SO excited that she is getting to go to school this year, especially with it being at our very own church. Bryleigh and I normally have a "Not first day of school" party, but since she is actually going this year...we had a last day of summer party!!
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| B-dad was home for Bryleigh's 2nd day! |
Equally as big as Bryleigh's first day of school was our first (and last) official vacation as BCBPartyof3! We wanted to be sure we spent some time, just the three of us, before Will's arrival, and we realized we'd never really taken an actual vacation with just us. We were headed to Conroe to celebrate our sweet nephew, Tate, and his 5th birthday, so we decided to just keep on 45 and head to Galveston!
We cut the trip a little short, but continued the fun at home since daddy still had one day off, complete with his favorite place to eat with his friends in North Carolina and a trip for the girls to get sno cones...Will really wanted one! ;) We also made our very first pot of Hopkins County Stew for the season!
The week after vacation, we jumped right back in to a full schedule! BSF got kicked off with our leaders workshop, and Bryleigh enjoyed her second week of school, along with lots of silliness, good food, and not so fun diapers (again).
We love getting to spend time with DeDe and Poppa B, whether it's B-girl time while we go out on a date, or a rainy Saturday afternoon of cooking football and watching whatever sport happens to be on at the time...sometimes even more than one at once!
Bryleigh and I were SO excited for BSF to get started! This is our third year, and it has been an absolute blessing to us each and every week. Our first full week included Leaders Meeting, B's school, BSF class day, and our genetic testing to wrap up the week.
Bryleigh and I weren't the only ones having fun!! Daddy filled his weekends with football and Poppa B time at Jerry World, but they also took a trip to Sooner Nation to watch OU take on Ohio State. This was a football game they'd been talking about for MONTHS, and it was so awesome they got to see it in person!
Our first full week was also one of the tougher ones for Bryleigh. We were so thankful that Mimi was here to help us both. I don't normally share a lot of pictures on social media, but I do take them from time to time, and looking back through those days, I thought I'd share a little bit of what a "Diaper Daze" week (that's what I've come to "lovingly" call our periods of not so fun days) looks like - it's a lot of snuggling in between diaper changes, it's a lot of baths, and even a shower when the bath doesn't do the trick. ;)
Brad and I went on our last date before Will arrives...although we didn't know it at the time! While he was home during the week before a weekend conversion in NC, and thanks to some BEAUTIFUL fall-like weather, we decided to make a last minute trip to the Rangers game, where our (heavily discounted) tickets included access to the Capital One Club. We didn't know it was the last date, but we sure did enjoy it!!
Another "last" that we had, even though we didn't know it at the time was some FUN last times with just the THREE cousins. Soon they'll be adding a fourth to their craziness, and I'm not sure we'll be able to keep up with them all! We had so much fun watching Abby and Mandy cheer under the Friday night lights, followed by a full Saturday morning of Larry's Donuts, time at the zoo, and lunch at the new SHAKE SHACK in Dallas!
That weekend was our last "normal weekend" before bed rest, and it wasn't even that normal considering our B-dad was out in North Carolina for his conversion with work. The next week started with a trip to Bryleigh's GI doctor on Monday for a follow up and some new treatment options while we wait to hear back on testing (which came RIGHT in time considering she was ASKING to go to the doctor on Sunday :( ), and Tuesday was our leaders meeting for BSF, followed by lunch at Taco Bueno with daddy since he was home...and then, everything changed!
The BumpDates...
Week 25 was another appointment week, complete with our 1 hour glucose test. Will was measuring TWO full weeks ahead but has a strong heartbeat and things are all looking good! (I DID pass the gestational diabetes test, but the blood work showed I do have anemia again, which was not a surprise with the hyperemesis.)
For some crazy
reason, week 26 decided to bring along some crazy pregnancy insomnia with it,
and I was over it about as quickly as it started!! It also brought the
beginning of acid reflux type symptoms that I was thankful had NOT made an
appearance this pregnancy. Will decided to continue his hours long dance
parties that have been going on since about week 18 or 19. I'm really not
sure the boy is going to ever sleep when he gets here!
Week 27 was not
one of my favorites, at all. I had crazy contractions, and some other
issues that I've dubbed "TMI," even for my over-sharing self!
Sometimes pregnancy is just not fun OR easy.
We officially hit
the "appointments every 2 week" mark at 28 weeks. At our appointment,
Will had hiccups!! Bryleigh thought it was hilarious, and it made it incredibly
hard not to laugh while the monitors were still on my belly...which made
everyone in the room laugh. He was also back to measuring right
on track!!
The first week of BSF/week 29 was very busy,
but one of the best parts was that Mimi and Pappy came to town and helped us
completely rearrange furniture in 3 different rooms to make room for our Will!
They are definitely the hardest working people I know, and I am so very
thankful for them! Bryleigh and I came home from Bible Study and Brad's office
was officially the guest room, and the guest room was completely empty and
ready to become Will's nursery.
Obviously after so
many appointments, Bryleigh has made herself right at home in Dr. Harris' office.
She loves going in to hear the heartbeat and chatting with all the
nurses! At our 30 week appointment, Will was back to measuring a week
ahead, and I got a flu shot...Bryleigh was quite concerned for momma's booboo!
Week 30 was also another week of crazy movements, morning, noon, and
night, keeping me awake, and reminding me he's in there and would like to be
out here!! We also spent some more time getting Will's room ready,
including getting his crib put together and a trip to Babies R Us for some
registry items.
Week 31 - (Sept 29) I would say that week 31 started out like any other normal week, but honestly...it didn't. I was completely exhausted and had major nosebleeds (that I've been having since week 6) that caused me to get up at least 3 times every night for 3 or 4 nights in a row. Will was CRAZY, moving non-stop, all the time, and then on Tuesday...the contractions started.
The Bedrest BumpDates...
On Tuesday
evening, I wasn't feeling well at all. We had planned on taking a trip to
the grocery store, fixing some dinner, and then getting ready for the rest of
the busy week, but when I sat down, contractions seemed to pick up (instead of
get better like they have this whole pregnancy). After the third one, I
looked at the clock so I could time the next one if it happened to come...and
it did. So I downloaded an app to time and count contractions, and by the
4th or 5th one, the app was telling me to go to the hospital!
I still wasn't
convinced. I mean, these were GOING to stop, right?! But I messaged my
mom and husband to let the know what was going on, and (thankfully) Brad was
adamant that I call the after-hours line for my doctor. The doctor
suggested that I drink 3, 8 oz. glasses of water, take 2 extra strength Tylenol,
and take a warm bath. I was to call back 2 hours after all of that was
done if my contractions continued. And they did. They had gone from
about 5 minutes apart, to 2 and a half minutes apart, lasting about 1 minute
each. I started getting ready even before we heard from the doctor,
because I knew what he was going to say...but I still fully expected to crawl
back in to MY bed sometime that night and wake up there the next morning.
We got to the
hospital and quickly checked in to our room where our nurse and a resident did
a thorough (PAINFUL) exam and got me hooked up to the monitors that verified I
wasn't crazy and things were more serious than I was even imagining.
I went in at 31
weeks and 5 days pregnant. I was already 2 cm dilated and 50%
effaced...pretty sure I wasn't there until I was 40+ weeks pregnant with
Bryleigh. Our doctors wanted to be aggressive to make sure we could do
our best to keep Will in a little longer, but in case he did come early, we'd
be as ready as possible. I was given an IV drip to help with any
dehydration, along with magnesium to try and stop the contractions, and I was
also given antibiotics to treat any infection that might harm Will during
delivery and 2 steroid shots (24 hours apart) to speed up his lung development.
Getting both of those steroid shots in was a huge answer to prayer.
The next 36 hours
are a blur for me. My body could barely tolerate the magnesium, but
coming off it meant more contractions, so it was a constant back and forth
battle to keep it all managed. It seriously felt like one long night, not a night, a full day, and another full night.
Thankfully we
kicked week 32 off with a little bit of a party - Our night nurses came in to let us know that
I had stabilized enough to come off the mag and that I'd be moving upstairs to
the antepartum unit! PRAISE THE LORD!!! (and I was FINALLY able to eat!!!)
Life in room J711
was a roller coaster ride. Some days went exactly as expected with
good monitors, little to no "extra" contractions, and no unwanted
side effects. Other days had different things from not passing monitors
and needing an IV, to lots of extra contractions, to feeling flat out sick. I spent a
few days where I slept more than I was awake, but overall, we were very thankful
to keep our little guy inside and growing stronger every day!
The days consisted
of monitoring in the morning and evening until we both met all of our criteria,
medicine every 6 hours for contractions (but only after blood pressure and
temperature checks - my BP has to be higher than 90/50 to be able to take my meds...and sadly, it was too low on some occasions or JUST right on others), other meds at other times, and sonograms twice a week.
At least 2 different doctors came in each morning, and we had a team of
nurses and assistants that would help us throughout the day. One thing is for sure, we felt completely cared for the entire time we were on Floor 7!
We were definitely
in a routine by the time we hit 33 weeks. We knew exactly what to expect
each day, we knew what was required to meet the criteria, and what I needed to
do if I wasn't meeting those (to avoid IVs and other interventions). We
were also counting down the days to be home with our Bryleigh Girl! It seemed to be an up and down roller coaster with positives and negatives each and every day. Some days I'd wake up feeling pretty good, and other days I'd barely wake up, sleeping most of the day or having far more contractions than I'd care to (or the doctors for that matter...), we also had our share of VERY long monitors when Will wasn't behaving (or my uterus wasn't behaving). Brad got to where he was able to know what was going on based on the noises he heard from the monitor as opposed to looking at the strips.
Our sweet girl was in good hands the whole time we were at the hospital, whether it was with my mom during the week, fun times with Pappy on the weekends, or fun adventures with DeDe and Poppa B - they brought her up to see us at the hospital, took her to eat her favorite foods, and spent some time at the park!
Week 34 hit on Thursday, October 20, 17 days after we went in to the hospital (and three days before my birthday). We had been counting down to that day since about 2 hours after being admitted when they let us know that was the EARLIEST we'd be leaving. We started the morning with a quick check to make sure I wasn't dilated anymore (Praise the Lord, still a 2!), followed by a final sonogram (loved getting to see our little guy twice a week on the big screen), and then one last time on the monitor. Once all of those pieces checked out, we got our discharge orders and prescriptions, loaded up ALL our stuff, and headed HOME!!! Brad has lovingly dubbed the final weeks... "King Size bed rest" ;)
We got home JUST in time to celebrate my birthday. Brad's parents came over on Saturday for Hopkins County Stew and college football watching, along with a yummy Nothing-Bundt cake from DeDe! Sunday was sausage balls for breakfast (my favorite), getting to open my surprise from Brad and Bryleigh, a little bit of bed-rest-cheat-time at the park with B-girl (where I got to break in the new camera), but mostly, resting on the couch and meds every 6 hours!
Bed rest at home wasn't the easiest. I wanted to be up helping, taking care of myself, and especially taking care of Bryleigh. She's been in the middle of a flare up since before we even went in to the hospital, so that was the most challenging part (being away from her at the hospital AND being at home with her but not being able to help). But we made the best of some very tough situations and had as much fun as we could...complete with MORE birthday cupcakes (thanks, Mimi!), a prize for B girl (Beauty and the Beast), and lots of play time!! ((Also, Brad figured out a new med schedule where we only had to wake up ONCE a night, instead of twice!! I take nifedipine every 6 hours to relax my uterus and slow down contractions.))
35 weeks was a BIG goal for us - it meant that I would not have to be re-admitted to the hospital (unless delivering), no more chance of needing magnesium, and no automatic trips to the NICU for Will (under 4 pounds and/or less than 35 weeks means they go no matter what). So we celebrated hitting that milestone! Week 35 at home was a lot the same - bad diapers for Bryleigh, lots of laying on the couch for momma, and doing the best we could to still have fun, but we did have some fun things during the week - including sweet friends and family bringing us meals, Bryleigh and Daddy going to church, and Bryleigh's last solo Halloween!
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| LOVE comparing the two pregnancies/bumps! So fun to see!! |
I also had some very tough days fighting off contractions. Sunday (35 weeks 3 days) around 1:15 they picked up again pretty strong and were about 2 minutes apart. I did EVERYTHING they had told me to do and nothing seemed to be working, so we at least did what we could to be ready for another hospital trip. Although they won't stop Will, we still aren't quite ready for him to be here with us...or HE'S not quite ready, actually, so I still do what I can to try and keep from going in to labor just yet! We're so excited and anxious to meet him, but we are hoping that he comes healthy, strong, and happy!!
(Did I mention Brad had surgery during week 35?!? Oh yes...life wasn't crazy enough, so we decided to throw that in too! Actually...it was on the calendar before all of this happened, so we decided to go ahead and get it done.)
And we officially made it to THIRTY-SIX weeks!! We have NO idea what to expect about the next few weeks, but we are ready and excited to meet our little guy and start making our memories as a family of FOUR!!
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