What is next?

So, it has been a rough couple of days and I have had a hard time not feeling sorry for myself and asking "so, what is next?" I realize things could be so much worse and I should be grateful to have a healthy baby in my belly, a healthy 3 year old, and a wonderful husband, however, I am tired of pregnancy complications. I always wanted to be that pregnant lady that looked so cute in all of her maternity clothes, who "glowed", who continued exercising throughout her pregnancy, and who was able to go about life without skipping a step. This, unfortunately, has never been the case for me.

I had a doctors appointment last Thursday and was telling my OB that I had been feeling so much better and that I had had a pretty good couple of weeks. I knew as soon as those words came out of my mouth, I was setting my self up for something miserable. And the following is a rundown of our latest pregnancy related issue.

On Wednesday, I was awoken by strong contractions and severe back pain (which I attributed to back labor) at 2:00 am. I tried everything to get things settled down before I started timing the contractions (dose procardia, bath, position change, walking, back rub). Unsuccessful in my attempts, I then pulled out the cell phone to start timing, as a 32 week 4 day pregnant lady should not be having more than 4 contractions an hour. So, timing began at 2:15ish. Sure enough, contractions were coming every 5-6 minutes and seemed to be getting stronger. GREAT! So, I phoned the on-call doc, which I am sure they love the 3 am calls, and she wanted me to head to the hospital. By the way, I am sure my poor OB is so over me and this pregnancy. So, with it being 3 am we had to pack up a sleeping Sophia and head in. Once in the hospital and hooked up to the monitors, the doctor came in and checked me (1-2 cm dilated), so not a huge concern. I was given Terbutaline in two doses which seemed to settle down the contractions , however the back pain continued and seemed to be getting worse. Clearly, the back pain was not back labor, so now this became our next issue. I had an OB ultrasound and the doc wanted an ultrasound of my kidneys. Sure enough, increased fluid around my kidneys, more so on one side than the other, blood in urine....All indicative of a kidney stone. So, Wednesday afternoon, after many hours of extreme discomfort I was hooked up to a morphine pump. It seemed to help quite a bit and I was able to stay lying down in order to monitor the baby's heart rate (I couldn't lay down for more than 2 minutes prior to pain meds). Pamela and Dale came down to help us out with Sophia, thank goodness! On Thursday morning at 7:30 am the urologist came in to speak with us. The original plan was to place a stent in to make it easier to pass the stone, however the urologist was reluctant due to me being so close to full term. Instead of risking early delivery he decided to treat me with oral pain meds, antibiotic, and hope that I can flush the stone without any "procedure". So, that is where we are now. I am home in bed, back pain continues though not as severe as Wednesday, and the baby is still moving a lot.

The good news:

On the OB ultra sound the baby was measuring 34 weeks (By my calculations 33 weeks)

She weighs 4 pounds 11 ounces, which is great.

Her heart rate has been awesome.

The nurses at the hospital were awesome and did everything they could to get me more comfortable.

So, here we are between 33-34 weeks. The baby looks good. I will just have to endure a few weeks of discomfort and then hopefully we will be a healthy and happy family of four. Until next time........

Sophia-isms

Sophia: "Why is daddy sick?"

Me: "Oh, he has a little stomach bug."

Sophia: "Daddy has a bug in his stomach? Ewwwwwwwww."

Me: "Sort of."

Long night

Oh my, last night was a rough one. Not because I was having contractions but because I was completely in charge of everything at the house and of meeting all of Sophia's needs. Josh got a major case of the flu bug. Poor guy was super sick, and I knew it wasn't a good idea for me to get anywhere near him. That is all we need is for me to get sick and dehydrated, with him sick, and to have a 3 year old fending for herself. (Although, I think she could manage). So, I slept upstairs with Sophia in her full size bed. I have done this before in my pre-pregnancy days and it was a little short on space. But, last night, it was a LOT short on space. My big self didn't seem to even have enough room to turn over. We had installed side rails on Sophs bed and I couldn't remove the rail on my side without straining myself sooo.....I had to leave it on. The good part is, I didn't fall out of bed. The downside, lack of room. Anyhow, we made it through. Josh still isn't feeling great and I might have slept 2 hours total. Sophia is doing good though and she looks refreshed. We just have to make sure that Josh is the only one that gets sick so needless to say i have been carrying around hand sanitizer and cleaner. Until next time......

"Snacks-snacks"

Today, Josh and Sophia are headed to what Sophia refers as "snacks-snacks" aka gymnastics open gym. She was so proud to put her sparkly tootie on and go swing on the monkey bars and play in the ball pit. Until next time...

32 weeks

Well, we will have made it to the 32 week mark in this pregnancy this upcoming Friday. Much, much better than 21 weeks when these preterm labor issues began. I realize this blog was designed to inform family and friends about the goings on in Sophia's little life, however i feel it necessary to include information on this pregnancy as it has had a major impact on our family and our daily lives.

I had my 32 week appointment yesterday and everything looked really great. The babies heart rate was in the 150s and I am measuring just a bit shy of 32 weeks. The doctor doesn't expect that this will be a very big baby. Sophia was only 6lbs 9ounces. Knock on wood, but I have really been feeling pretty decent. I still have contractions but I must be getting used to them. What I notice more now is the back pain. Now, I am sure a lot of this is due to the years and years of running up and down a basketball court. I am sure the excess weight gain isn't helping things either. I will not say how much weight I've gained, but lets just say that those women who only gain 20 pounds during their pregnancy would not allow me in their group. Oh well, I can worry about that after we have a healthy, full-term baby girl. I think I have been going through my "nesting" phase the last week or two. I have washed probably 100 newborn-3 month sleepers and onesies, I have washed car seats, swings, crib sheet, diaper bags, and I even took a stroller apart to wash the fabric overlay. Thank goodness we have a heavy duty washer and dryer. My doctor did tell us yesterday that I will continue taking Procardia (for contractions) until I reach 37 weeks. I stopped taking this medication with Sophs when I was 38 weeks and ended up walking into my scheduled OB appt dilated to 6 cm. So, history known, she wants me to stay on until we are sure this baby will be full-term. That is an easy assignment. I am hoping however that she will allow me to maybe get out of the house around 35-36 weeks. I am in desperate need of a Wal-Mart run for baby essentials.

Sophia has been doing great. She is such a little mommy. Since we have brought the swing into the house, Sophs has been putting her baby dolls in it and swinging her "softly". Sophia makes sure to give her baby sister kisses every time she leaves and before she goes to bed at night. I do have to remind her to be gentle. She is going to be such a great big sister. She wants me to "hush" (push) the baby out soon. I regularly remind her that the baby has to cook a little longer.

We are getting closer and closer to completing our little family. We just pray that everything will continue to go smoothly and that all of us will stay healthy and strong. Until next time.....

SHOOTER!!!!

This summer sophia has really developed a fondness for her miniature basketball goal. She and Josh play a game where if she can make three in a row he will twirl her around by her arms (I know, real safe, right?) Anyhow, Sophs just loves it and gets so excited when she hits that third shot. After the final shot she runs over to Josh and yells "SHOOTER" while slapping him a high ten. Now, I realize that it is the coach in him that is loving every minute of Sophia wanting to shoot hoops. Josh's tactics didn't work as well when he attended summer practices for the High school girls. He coaches on the high school team and they are holding daily summer practices. Anyhow, Josh was asking who got extra shots in the day before and nobody answered. He then told them, "Sophie Sabol got 100 jumpers in and she is only three years old". I think his comment was met with a few smirks and a few rolled eyes. His following comment cracked me up. He then told his high school girls "If you make three in a row I will spin you around by your arms". He cracks me up. Can't you imagine a bunch of 15-18 year old girls listening to this story. Josh definitely knows how to lighten the mood.

Back to Sohps. Now, I know in previous blogs that I have explained Sophia's affinity for "tooties". This hasn't been a fleeting phase. She continues to strip her shorts and t-shirts off as soon as she comes home from school and put on a "tootie". After donning the "tootie", activity may range from dancing, to riding the four wheeler, to shooting hoops. These pictures capture the essence of Sophia Sabol perfectly, a little princess-a little tomboy.

Until next time....

July 4th weekend

Sophia had a great 4th of July this year. She got to spend some quality time with her "boo" and "papi" (Matt and Karen, aka josh's folks). So many nicknames! Anyhow, she was home from school on Friday and woke up super early and the the first words out of her little mouth were "Boo and papi coming today?"....Matt and Karen made it down on friday afternoon so Sophs was stoked. Karen was sweet enough to make me a birthday cake (I'm 29 now!!!scary...). We also set off some fireworks in the backyard. Now I am a bit skittish when it comes to fireworks so I wasn't so sure this was the best idea. My only comfort was knowing that we had a trained fire chief right there if something went wrong. I did not expect however for one of the fireworks to shoot up in the air 200 feet and explode (as in professional fireworks size). The police were not called, thank goodness.

On Saturday, Josh, Sophs, Matt, and Karen headed off to the Children's Museum (Not me, still on house arrest..I mean modified bedrest....whatever, same thing.) They had a great time. Josh, being the history nerd that he is was excited to see the king Tut exhibit. Sophia, not so much...She did have a great time at the children's area and she even brought some moss back home that she cloned. Hmmmm...where can I put some cloned moss????? Unfortunately it rained most of the evening on Saturday so we held off on fireworks. (Are you sensing my disappointment?)

Boo and Papi headed back home on Sunday morning. Sophia wanted them to stay for "5 months". She loves spending time with them.

As for me, nothing new. A little Gilmore Girls, Friday Night Lights, TLC, sudoku, reading....BORING!!!!! But, I am almost 31 weeks so in the big scheme of life, I am doing pretty good. The baby is moving like crazy and I think that Josh and I are going to have our hands full if her activity now is any indicator of how she will be when she is out of my belly. Sophia has found a baby in her belly as well and she will tell you that "when I am awake the baby sleeps". Josh says "That is cute now, but not so much at 16."

Until next time.....