Happy New Year!

Hello, everyone! I hope you’re all having a great New Year! I’m back in the hospital and only have access to post to the blog via Window’s Live Writer. I can’t actually view my posts because my blog isn’t allowed by the hospital’s firewall, so hopefully I won’t get home and realize I’ve made all kinds of typos lol.

I got to go home for Christmas, which was very nice. I actually went home (or rather to my parents’ house) on Wednesday the 21st. Nick picked me up at the hospital, and we stopped by the house on the way to my parents’ house so I could get a few clothes and craft supplies I needed. Nick grabbed the mail, and I had the most wonderful surprise in it! One of my dear friends that I met through blogging had sent us a Christmas card with some money inside! This was such an unexpected gift, and it was such a blessing! Nick had ended up having to miss a day and a half of work with me being in the hospital, and on the way home I was just telling him that we needed to be in prayer because funds in the bank account were running pretty low. What a blessing this wonderful lady and her husband were to us!

My doctor’s visit that Friday went very well, good blood pressure readings, and my amniotic fluid level was back at a 12, which is the magic number of where it is supposed to be. Friday night we had my family’s Christmas celebration, and I spent most of the day trying to finish up the gifts for that night without overdoing it. By the end of the night though I was worn out, and myself, my parents, and the girls were all going a little stir crazy with each other, so Nick decided to take us home.

It was a relief to get back to my own bed, and I tried to take it easy, although that’s easier said than done with a two year old. Saturday night we had a Christmas celebration at Nick’s aunt’s house, and Nick and I spent a few hours that night getting all of Morgan’s and Daisy’s gifts wrapped and under the tree.

Before going into the hospital, I had found Nick a few token gifts, nothing big, but things I knew he would like. We rarely get each other anything of any substance for Christmas, just because our money generally goes toward buying for the girls and everyone else, but we usually come up with something small for each other. I gave him the things I had for him, and he surprised me with the start of a Willow Tree Nativity set, complete with a stable he made himself! I’ve collected Willow Tree figurines for years, mostly getting them from family as birthday gifts, and I’ve wanted a nativity forever, but the price was always too high. He found the 6 piece starter set on sale at a little Christian book store, and he told me that he plans to buy me a new piece every year! I love, love, love the idea of this, and I was thrilled with the gift!

Sunday morning Morgan woke us all up bright and early, and we all piled downstairs for the girls to open their gifts. They loved everything they got, and I was pleased and relieved to find that they appreciated the handmade and thrift store items just as much as the few new things they got.

After they opened gifts at home, we went to his dad’s house, and that’s where Christmas got really interesting! I got some makeup that I’d been needing, and some body care stuff from Victoria’s Secret, as well as a curved shower curtain rod, something Nick had been wanting for our bathroom for ages. Nick got an airbrush kit, some golf shoes, and a couple of florescent light ballasts with extra light bulbs for our garage, something that we’d needed FOREVER.

Morgan got some pajama pants and some boots and some hair styling tools and some scrapbooking stuff. Daisy got a fuzzy pink rocking horse, a very sweet handmade snowman shirt and tutu (from my SIL R), and a cute pair of shoes (that she immediately put on the rocking horse lol). Then my MIL brought out the gifts Nick’s sister K had sent.

Now I’ve mentioned before that K and her husband are both very well off and very generous, but I honestly wasn’t expecting the level of gifts they got us this year. First of all, Morgan opened up a really cute pair of boots that she’d been wanting, and then she opened up…………..an iPad 2! And not just an iPad, but an iPad with about $250 worth of accessories, including Skull Candy headphones, a smart cover for the iPad, a car charger, and $140 worth of iTunes gift cards! We were stunned, to say the least, and we just about had to peel her off the ceiling!

Then my MIL brought in these two super nice rolling duffle bags, one with Nick’s name embroidered on it, and one with Morgan’s. Morgan’s was stuffed completely full of gorgeous clothes and shoes for Daisy, and Nick’s was completely full of clothes, blankets, etc. for Jack! There was also a very cool little toiletries case inside one of them for me.

THEN, my MIL handed me a card from K and her husband. Inside was a very nice check and a note that it was to help with bills! What an amazingly generous gift altogether!

When I got the unexpected card on Wednesday with the money inside, there was a note from my friend telling me that they were so glad to be able to be in a position to be of help to us, and they hoped that we would someday soon be in a position to pass the blessing along. We knew immediately that this was our opportunity to do so, and we began making plans to bless my brother and his wife, who have been facing some financial issues lately. The next evening we took them out to dinner, and while there they spilled the secret that they had just found out that they’re expecting their first baby! After dinner we stopped at Wal-Mart, and bought them their first baby gift, and it was so much fun to be able to treat someone else! We were also able to pay my parents back a couple of hundred dollars that they loaned us when we bought the Sequoia, and I know they were relieved to get it.

Anyway, back to the pregnancy…that day (the day after Christmas), my blood pressure at the doctor’s visit was a little on the high side, and the amniotic fluid level had dropped to 10. But things were not worrisome enough as of yet to send me back to the hospital, so she sent me home again with orders to drink lots of water and really stick to the bed rest. Other than dinner with my brother and his wife, I did just that. My mom came over the next day to watch the kids for me, and I only got out of bed to move to the couch just before Nick got home.

My next doctor’s appointment was Wednesday. Despite all the continuous resting, hydrating, and low sodium diet, my blood pressure readings had continued to climb since the visit two days earlier, and I was concerned enough to pack a small bag just in case I had to be readmitted. It turns out that was a wise choice, because the visit showed that my amniotic fluid was back down to an 8, and the baby had dropped down to the 11th percentile on the growth chart. They estimated his size at 3lb 13oz. She me sent back over to check in again, and I’ve been here ever since.

She’s been doing ultrasounds every two days, and today’s indicated that we can likely only get another 2-3 days out of the pregnancy before we have to induce. She will do another ultrasound tomorrow instead of waiting till Tuesday. The good news is that Jack himself seems to be doing very well other than just being very small. Today we could see him sucking his thumb and making other little nursing motions, and his breathing movements are looking great. He’s very active, and is handling the frequent nonstress tests very well.

When she did the ultrasound on Friday she told me that she thought that if we could get to 35 1/2 weeks now we would have a take-home baby, which is a week sooner than she was  thinking before. I’ll be 34 weeks and 4 days tomorrow, so we’re within about a week of that now. I did take a tour of the NICU a few days ago, just to prepare myself, but I’m praying fervently that God gives him the strength and level of development needed to avoid us having to leave him here at all!

Last night Nick brought the girls down to ring in the new year with me. My brother and his wife and well as Nick’s sister R and her husband also came down. The siblings and spouses left about 12:30, but Nick and the girls stayed all night. That wasn’t exactly the plan, but Nick pulled out the pullout couch to lay down for just a minute, and in no time at all he was fast asleep. Morgan played on her iPad, and Daisy snuggled up next to me, and I just couldn’t bear to wake him up and send them home. I had the nurse bring us a couple of extra pillows and blankets, and Morgan shared the pullout with Nick and was asleep by about 2:00. It was really so sweet to have them here, and just the best feeling in the world to have Daisy’s little arms wrapped around me while she slept. My blood pressure was lower today, and I really believe that’s why!

Anyway, that’s what’s going on with us. I really, really, REALLY appreciate all your prayers and sweet comments, and I apologize for not having access to reply to them. Please do continue to pray for us – Matthew 18:19 tells us:

“Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.”

So I’m asking you to please be in prayer that our baby is born healthy and strong, with no complications resulting from his prematurity, and that we are able to take him home with us when we leave!