Another day, another trip to the dr.'s office

Since I was still having contractions today I called the dr.'s office to see if my dr. still wanted to see me. Stupid question with an obvious answer - yes.

Went in at 2:45 today. Last week I was a -4 and dilated to about a 1. Today I'm at a -2 or -3 and still dilated to about a 1. Got the pleasure of having another non stress test. This time it picked up a few more of my contractions.

Result of visit: since Trav is gone 2/3 of the time, I get to be upgraded to "modified bed rest." This means I'm down when he's home and do the bare minimum when he's gone. Nothing with a lot of walking (specifically no taking kids to the park or zoo any time soon). To quote Dr. Fowers "If you're doing something that starts giving you contractions, do something else." This means I can sit & sew still as long as sewing in itself doesn't give me contractions! Which is good (see below). At least I'm not on strict bed rest! I was going stir crazy today & had to get out (so I went to see my cute niece).

Thursday is Literacy Night at the kids' school. During the day they can dress up as a character from a book. Since they read Indian In The Cupboard, I thought maybe Sam would want to dress up as the girl indian in the book. I figured I could modify the pillowcase dress & it would be a cinch. No go. She wanted a full on authentic indian dress. Um...no. Not this time. What did she settle for? Only a pioneer dress so she can go as Kiersten from the American Girl books. I told her she'd better wear the dang costume a million times or I'll have to kick her butt! When the girls at JoAnn's saw me & asked how I was doing, I said "This is me...on bedrest." A guy was walking up behind me and said, "Well I'd like to see you in a coma then!" No joke. I'm hoping the chaps my grandpa made my brother when he was between Caleb & Nash's age will fit Nash so he can go as the cowboy from The Indian In The Cupboard. I'm NOT making chaps!

Bed rest

I hate bed rest. I hate being told to "slow down and take it easy." I don't know HOW! I'm one of those people that has to be doing something even when I'm watching tv!

On Saturday I did actually take it fairly easy. I didn't end up doing maternity pictures because the weather wasn't great. My brother kept the boys while I went to town by myself. I was going to use my pedicure gift certificate my sister gave me, but they were booked that day. So, I went to JoAnn's and WalMart by myself (that NEVER happens!). When I got home my brother, the boys and I went and watched Sam dance at her Hype Hip Hop showcase. She did good. She had a lot of fun. I have a feeling she'll be wanting to go back next year too.

On Sunday Caleb woke up around 9. I just put cartoons on for him & hung out on the couch. I was having contractions already. So, around 11 I decided to get in the tub to see if they'd stop. Unfortunately getting in the tub only made them worse. Once I was out of the tub I started having contractions that were so bad they stopped me in my tracks. I had flash backs to when I was pregnant with Nash and my water broke & contractions started coming 1 minute apart. The contractions weren't consistent in their time apart, so I just laid down on the couch and called my mom (Trav had to head to North Dakota at about 5 that afternoon). My mom convinced me to call the dr. I argued that maybe I should wait until the contractions were consistent. Mom argued that it might be too late by then.

Luckily, my own doctor was on call. He reminded me that my protein test had come back negative and that was good because it meant that I was "unlikely" to deliver in the next two weeks. I told him I had been nauseous since the contractions had started too. He asked if anyone at our house had been sick. I told him "not even slightly" (which is HIGHLY unusual for this house!). He told me that if my contractions became 10 min. apart or closer (six in an hour) or they got worse, to go into the hospital. He told me to stay off my feet, drink enough to stay hydrated, and keep what food I could down. He said that if my contractions continued, to make an appointment to go in and see him this week and he'd check me out.

So, yesterday my mom came and got the kids (despite feeling like junk herself). My brother brought the kids back around 8 and spent the night. He helped get the kids to school today and pick them up as well. He's staying again tonight to help me out tomorrow. My home teacher brought me dinner tonight too. Theoretically Travis will be home tomorrow night (late, but tomorrow). Lucky for him! Just in time to join in all the chaos and fun!

Since I'm still having contractions today I'm planning to call the dr.'s office tomorrow and make an appointment for when Travis is home. I'm crossing my fingers that I won't have to stay on bed rest for long. I think I'll go insane! I've contemplated hauling all my bow stuff into my room since there is a plug right next to my bed. However, I don't think a hot glue gun and a water bed are the best combination! Guess I'll have to have my brother move the couch closer to the wall so I can "lay" on the couch & do bows!

Caleb cracks me up

Anyone that has spent a great amount of time with Caleb knows the kid has quite the imagination. Ever since we went to Yellowstone last summer, he's had a love of "The Buffalo". There are a few kept here in Hyrum that are right next to main street and every time we go by them Caleb points them out. When asked what the buffalo says, you'll get the reply "Buffalo, buffalo, buffalo". Last night Caleb just wouldn't go to bed (getting to be quite the ordeal to get him there). Finally around midnight I thought if I laid down by him he might zonk out. Off we go to my bed. He was still talking up a storm, so, I went with it.

He proceeded to inform me that his dad is in fact NOT working, he's hunting. When I asked him what he was hunting, he told me "Buffalo (surprise), chickens and goose." I asked him why his dad was hunting buffalo. The only reason I ever got out of him was "because." I asked him if he thought dad would shoot a buffalo. "YES!" Guess I should've expected that answer. I asked him what his dad was going to do with the buffalo after he shot it. He told me "Him bring it home and cut it up." I asked him why he thought I'd want a stinky, dead, cut up buffalo at our house. He looks at me, very serious this entire time, and says "I kick it's butt and run away." Oh! That explains everything!

I couldn't quit giggling through the entire conversation. He kept going on about it for around 20 minutes. I thought this morning he wouldn't say anything about it. That's what I get for thinking, right? Nope. He's still set that his dad is buffalo, chicken and goose hunting. I told Trav he better bring a buffalo home! Good luck finding one of those!

3 hours at the dr.'s office....

Today I had a dr.'s appointment. Little did I know it would be such an adventure. My appointment was at 2:15 pm. I left the dr.'s office a little after 5 pm.

Part of the problem was that the person in front of me had "a procedure" done that took way more time that it "should have". Hence, I wasn't taken back until 2:45 pm.

My blood pressure looked good. My weight? Well, let's just say I've gained 8 lbs in 2 weeks. NOT happy about that. That means I've gained 53 lbs so far. Yeah, I said FIFTY THREE. I'm fairly certain I'm going to hit the 80 lb mark this time. Any takers?

Baby's heart beat sounded good at 144 bpm. Nurse asked how I was doing and I told her about the killer contractions I had ALL DAY yesterday. We're talking I even got into a warm tub to see if they'd stop & they only slowed down a bit. They were back again today too.

Dr. Fowers comes in. Decides that he wants to do an exam & check for protein. If I have protein then it's a red flag indicator for preterm labor. Great....Get the exam done and he checks me. He said she's still sitting pretty high but that he thinks I'm dialated to a 1. He said it's hard to tell for sure because she is high. I'm at a -4 too. Hmmmm...second urine sample. Urine sample turns up clear of protein - that's good. Belly measurement = 34 wks (same as 2 wks ago). Dr. thinks it might just be the way she's sitting?? Still makes me about 3 wks bigger - normal for me is 2.

Dr. puts me on the non stress test machine for around an hour. Baby's heart beat was between 129-192 which he says was good. I just hope I don't have to do the non stress test again. I had to have it done like 4 times with Nash because the kid never moved around (gee, I think being 9 lbs 4 oz might have had something to do with that??). It's SOOO boring! Next appointment I'm taking my book!!! Was SUPER DUPER glad I didn't have Caleb with me today. Oy! That would have raised my blood pressure for sure!

Dr. says "I'm not putting you on bed rest yet, but take it easy." Should've asked him to clarify what "take it easy" means. Does that mean don't go out & rake up wet leaves & use the snow shovel to throw them in the garbage again? Or, does that mean slow down some while your husband's gone & then really slow down when he's home? Probably shouldn't carry Caleb anymore? Not that I carry him much now. Probably shouldn't prime the boys' room downstairs...bummer, now I have to wait for Travis to do it (sigh...that could take AGES!). Probably shouldn't do my spring cleaning...sigh again. I don't do "take it easy" very well if you can imagine! Especially with 3 kids and no husband around. Perhaps I can get the kids to help out a bit more now?? Doubt it!

On the bright side, Dr. did say "You really probably only have about 6 wks left." I'll take that over 8 1/2 any day!

Here's to hoping the annoying contractions stop soon!

We're good at random...

31 weeks with Brookelyn...

30 weeks with Caleb...

I think I look a lot bigger with Caleb at this point than I do with Brookelyn. I feel like I'm carrying her more like I did Nash - all up front and only pregnant in the belly. If you look close at this picture, you can tell my ankles have started to swell. Right now, I still have ankles! Even my face and arms look pregnant in this picture. Maybe it's because it was about the end of May in this picture?? Just glad I'm not looking quite this pregnant with Brookelyn right now!

Samantha danced at the MC Caprielle Review on Friday...

We love, love, love the 3 barrel curling iron Great Grandma & Grandpa Reeder gave her for her birthday. We've used it LOTS and LOTS!

Last night Caleb fell asleep fast once he sat down and quit moving. He just looked too dang cute to not take a picture of! I think I have the most pictures of him sleeping than either of the other 2! Guess he just sleeps kinda funny!