Greetings

     So, if anyone out there was actually keeping up with this blog, I bet you thought I had the baby early, right?  Wrong!  He is still cooking for two more days!  So, what's been going on all this time?  Stress, that's what.  Right before Christmas my mom came to stay with us and became very ill while she was here.  She spent almost a month in the hospital, and I let my own activities (like blogging) fall by the wayside.
     Since my last post Mom has had a whipple procedure, a very serious surgery to treat pancreatic cancer.  She is home with me now, and feeling better, but will face the battle against cancer as soon as she is recovered enough for chemo and/or radiation.
     Also, I was in a car accident where another driver ran a red light and I couldn't avoid hitting her.  I ended up in the same hospital as my mother a floor down with contractions.  Luckily I wasn't othewise injured and baby was ok.  Since then there have been a few scares where I thought I was having this baby right away.
     So, now here I am two days out from my schedule c-section.  Every night the past few nights I've had contractions that I thought would send me to the hospital.  But I have hung in there because I must.  I have to get my mom to the doctor today.  And I have to wait until my aunt flies in to help us out tomorrow.  I've been lying down as much as I can and drinking as much water as I can force down.  The past month has been more stressful than I thought I could ever handle.  But I've done it, and I can do it.  And I've learned that I'm a lot stronger than I thought I was.  My next post will most likely contain a picture of a baby.  Love you all.

Baby Shower Decorum

     Last week a friend of ours held a shower for my friend, Christy, who is expecting about 4 weeks before we are.  It was a lovely, low-key sort of party that was really more of a girls' night in rather than a shower.  It was a lot of fun, but why - you may ask- did she not get a blowout shower like I did?  Because she has a child who is not yet three years old.  It was only upon the insistence of her close friends that there was a shower at all.
     I think this is an outdated custom we are best rid of.  Traditionally, you only get a shower for your first child, or sometimes if many years separate your children like mine (8.5 years).  It is assumed that you still have everything that you will need.  But babies are expensive.  There is always something you have given away or lost.  And what about diapers?  Wipes?  Formula?  And most of all --- what about the celebration of bringing a new life into this world.  It's just an exciting time.  Every expecting mom deserves a shower, whether it's her first child or her tenth.  We need to rewrite those etiquette books.  Who's with me?

Oy!

     I have a cold.  A big one.  No big deal, it happens.  But I can't stop coughing, and it appears that I have pulled a muscle in my giant stretched-out belly. Twice today I've had the dreaded "sneeze and scream".  Between the pregnancy and my blood pressure issues I can't really take anything, not that cough medicine has ever really helped me anyway.  So I plan on making some preggo-friendly hot toddies tonight before bed with hot water, lemon juice, and honey.  I sure hope it helps.  Feels like I'm being stabbed in the side every time I have the teeniest cough.  Looks like I'll be waiting out this bitch of a cold.

What Have I Been Doing?

     I just realized that I haven't posted in a couple of weeks.  Where the heck have I been?  Busy, I suppose.  And forgetful.  And as usual---a little worried.  That's just what I do.  At last week's doctor visit the nurse asked the doctor to come in and listen to the baby's heart on the Doppler because baby wouldn't be still long enough for her to listen.  Or at least that was her excuse.  When the doc came in she looked very worried and said that it sounded like the baby's heart at skipped several beats in just those few seconds.  She rushed me in for an emergency ultrasound while I silently freaked out.  We listened and watched baby's heart as he played around and practiced breathing.  Didn't know babies did that!  At that time, they only noticed one skipped beat in several minutes and the doctor also confirmed that if it was skipping at least it wasn't skipped in a crazy way as it would if there were an electrical problem.  But still, had to schedule a session on a heart monitor for the following week.  At about this same time I got the news that I had failed my glucose screening.  Ugh!
     So, this week has been busy.  Yesterday I got to do the glucose test again, but this time my blood was taken four times in three hours while I hung out in a waiting room for most of the morning.  Then today I went back to listen to baby's heart again.  Good news.  His heart sounds perfect.  Can't be thankful enough.  One thing to erase from my worry list.

     Also, had our baby shower!  The first I have heard of to be thrown by a man!  That's right, a male friend of Matt and me held the shower at his home.  He had it catered by our country club, and everything went off beautifully.  We had a great turnout, and got the most amazing gifts, and we feel so fortunate to have friends like we do.

Doctor Visit at the Scary Time :-O

     Yesterday I had my 28 week checkup.  It went well.  Very well.  So why do I drive myself crazy?  They did the glucose test to check for gestational diabetes.  Not so worried about that.  I really don't think I have it, and if I do...well...I know several people who did and it's fine as long as you're careful and follow doctor's orders.  They also did an ultrasound, where we got to see my darling baby boy sucking on his hands like a madman.  He's hungry, clearly, and can't wait to get out and get some real chow.  Baby looks great.  So, why am I worried?  My cervical length is back down to 3.1.  Doc says it's fine as long as it's over three.  But a few weeks ago it was at 4.3, so it has shrunk back down considerably.  However, it was right at three before then even early on, so I really shouldn't worry as long as my doctor doesn't...right?  Wrong.  I worry because that's what I do.  However, I will be a frequent flyer for the next month or so.  This is the precise time that I went into preterm labor with my son.  And he was born about a week and a half from now, so that's the reason for all my worry and the doctor's concern.  Can't imagine going through that again, and putting a wee baby through it.  So here's to keeping him in there!

     I've also completed my baby registry at Target.  I don't remember what I'll need, and I didn't use a list because they are so padded with things that they don't need but that the store really wants you to buy.  So I just took my registry gun and went down the aisles and registered for my favorite one of everything.  We are just going to have to figure it out as it comes.  I'm like a clueless new mom again.  But that's ok.  My first boy helped me to finally grow up.  And this one will keep me young.

How To Tell?

     The biggest contributor to my delivering early in my first pregnancy was that I had already dilated by the time I knew what was happening and an infection got into my uterus.  I had dilated not because of active labor, but apparently due to contractions that had been happening about once or twice daily over the course of many weeks.  I simply did not recognize them for what they were.  I had thought that it was the baby moving and stretching.  Doctors, books, and online info all said not to worry unless I felt more than four or five contractions in one hour.  I never did.  Not even close.  The only way I knew to call the doctor was when I saw a spot of blood, and by then it was too late and I had already dilated one centimeter.
     Now, much older and wiser, I think I can tell the difference.  I think.  I have started to get a similar "bunching up" sensation that I did in my first pregnancy.  I really don't think it's contractions, although if it is I'm in trouble, as I'm having several a day.  I asked the doctor about it before, and she said that not only is it probably just the baby moving, but that Braxton-Hicks contractions are much more common in second (and third, fourth, etc.) pregnancies.  How do I know?  So far, I'm listening to my instincts and I really think I'm ok.  And the progesterone shots are keeping my cervix strong so far, when it wasn't before.  But it's terrifying, as within a few days I'll be at 28 weeks, which is when I went into labor before.  And then delivered at 30.  All I can do is listen to my body and to baby and trust that if something is wrong that I'll know.  Anyone have any light to shed on this?

The Rebels of Paris

     It's finally done.  Starting about fifteen years ago my husband wrote a screenplay called The Fort Henry Man after trying unsuccessfully to sell it for many years I decided to turn it into a novella.  I changed the name to The Rebels of Paris and kept the story very similar to the original, just adapted into something meant to be read instead of seen onscreen.  It is both touching and funny, and an easy, light read.  The Rebels of Paris is now available in downloadable form to your Kindle from Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/The-Rebels-of-Paris-ebook/dp/B009YHQ0XQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1351779771&sr=1-1&keywords=the+rebels+of+paris and will soon be available in print form also.  I hope you all check it out!