The All Fun Family

I'm pretty sure everyone who reads this already knows, but I should probably officially announce on my blog that I am pregnant. I'm now 28 weeks, actually, but it has been a long time since I have had a chance to blog. I am having another girl, which I am so excited about. I would like to eventually have a boy (although the odds are not in my favor, seeing as this will be my parents' 8th granddaughter out of 9 grandchildren), but for now I am completely content with girls.

This pregnancy has been a little different than my first pregnancy. I was definitely sicker at the beginning, a lot more moody, and more tired, but I have had less heartburn. When I was around 22 weeks pregnant with Callie, I had a little scare with early contractions, but it turned out to be a bladder infection. Two and a half weeks ago, on a Sunday, I woke up with cramping pain and contractions. My doctor said I should head to the hospital to get things checked out. I was a little concerned, but I figured it was just another infection that could be taken care of with an antibiotic. Well, it was no infection. They did a test (a very painful, horrible test) to see if I was in labor, but it came back negative. Everything seemed to be fine, except that I was having that pain and frequent contractions as if I were in pre-term labor, so the doctor decided to treat it like pre-term labor.

They gave me a series of drugs, trying to stop the contractions and to prepare the baby in case she came early (antibiotics in case I was positive for strep B, steriods to help her lungs develop more quickly). Before each drug, they would tell me some possible reactions, and I pretty much always had every reaction. I hate drugs. They do not get along well with my body. At one point, they progressed to a drug that required an I.V., among other things, and it took them 11 tries to find a vein for the I.V. My veins are hard to find (it's some hereditary issue), but it's never taken that many tries before. They finally found a drug (magnesium something or other) that stopped the contractions. They planned to keep me on it for 24 hours and then stop it to see if the contractions returned. If they did not return, they would send me home with a pill to prevent contractions. While I was on the magnesium, I started having chest pain, so they stopped the drug and decided not to send me home with anything in case I had another adverse reaction. My doctor said I needed to be on bed rest at least for a few weeks and then I might be able to increase my activity after that.

Well, that next Saturday, I once again woke up to the same pain and contractions. I waited a few hours, hoping they would go away, but the contractions got closer together and started to get more painful, so I headed back to the hospital. Thankfully I didn't have to be admitted again. They just checked everything out again (it all looked fine), and sent me home with a pill to stop/prevent contractions. At my doctor's appointment that next week, my doctor said I need to stay on bed rest at least until I'm 34 weeks when the risk for long-term problems from an early birth are greatly diminished.

I was told that science does not yet know what causes pre-term labor, but there are a number of things that can irritate the uterus. I'm pretty sure my issue came from the week leading up to that day. I had a lot of projects going on for church and home and became quite stressed. Also, Jason had recently started a crazy schedule of studying for his CPA exam while going to school full-time and work part-time, so the level of stress in the house was pretty high. The couple weeks after the original incident, I could tell when I did too much or when I got stressed because I would start to get contractions and pain. Even thinking about things that stressed me out seemed to irritate my uterus.

Although this whole ordeal has been scary and it's not very fun being stuck on a couch all day, I feel greatly blessed for many reasons.

Through that whole ordeal, the baby's heartbeat remained strong and she remained very active, as if nothing fazed her. She's still safely growing inside of me.

I have had an overwhelming number of family members and friends who have volunteered to care for Callie, make us meals, bring me entertainment, etc.

I have an incredible mother who dropped everything, drove down from Idaho, and stayed for two weeks to take care of our family.

My dad has rearranged his work schedule so they can come down every Monday-Wednesday (my dad is working on a project down here for his job).

My two wonderful sisters have supported me, comforted me, and advised me (they have both been on bed rest for pregnancies. the funny thing is we have all been on bed rest for different reasons).

My sister-in-law, mother-in-law, and cousin have all agreed to help out with Callie every week.

My incredible friend (who is my sister's sister-in-law, but I consider her family) has agreed to drive down from Ogden every Friday to take care of Callie and hang out with me.

My awesome Relief Society has agreed to bring us some meals every week.

My Braithwaite grandparents have loaned my mom a car so she can do our shopping and other errands while she's down here.

My Grandma Black has brought us meals, beautiful lilies, and has made frequent calls and visits.

My parents just had internet set-up in our house and are paying for it so that I have a link to the world and something to do every day. (YES! I FINALLY have internet!!!)

My loving husband has been amazing through all of this. He has so much on his plate right now, yet he still takes care of Callie and I on the nights and days when no one is here, and still has a smile on his face even though I know he is absolutely exhausted.

Aside of all of these blessings, my Father in Heaven has also blessed me with strength, a great feeling of peace concerning all of this, patience at the situation, gratitude, and optimism.