26 & 2

Babies are looking good today. It's a shower day so can't wait to get cleaned up. Hoping to see Perinatologist later this evening so will post an update later. Hopefully it will be status quo and a same old, same old post. Remember, we like boring!

UPDATE:
Didn't want anyone to worry - Dr. S (peri) didn't come in tonight as we hoped. So don't have any news. Maybe tomorrow. G'Night.

Some might call it the "back breaker"

...particularly Mom & C. Here is the TINY couch that the two of them have been sleeping on, more nights than not. The one side pulls out and those back cushions fit on it to make it slightly longer. But where the pull out part meets the real couch, there's quite a hump that hits the back right in the WRONG place. We acquired two big blue egg crate cushions that apparently help a bit but it's not your plush pillow top mattress, that is for sure!



What they do for love and support for this big ole' pregnant lady. More than once I wish I could have offered them my bed and I stay on the couch. But I know that wouldn't have gone over well with the nurses. C. props his head up on one end and his feet hang over the other end, even when it's pulled out.

I will add however that despite his complaints and apparent bad back, he stayed here last Friday night (as he usually does on the weekends) and then played his career round of golf on Saturday ~ I tried to tell him it might be his "lucky" couch but he didn't quite buy it. A shout out to both Mom & C for being such troopers and staying with me occasionally. It's so comforting to have someone here, some of the time! Love you guys.

More later.

My very own gallery

So, we took some photos of my "gallery" in my room. Both to share with my readers, and for posterity for me. I don’t ever want to forget the kindness by everyone during this difficult time for our family. Cards come daily and I can’t even tell you how they brighten my day.



My “ART” corner includes pictures done by the Kelly family which are so bright and cheerful. There is also a picture from my adorable Godson Carter; it’s Dora the Explorer with a note on it from Carter & Baby Lizzie (written by Momma Orders of course). Oh, and we can’t forget the “velvet Elvis” card too. My cousin Jane sent a hilarious Elvis card saying “no room is complete without a velvet Elvis”. Only a Hodgdon would be so clever. I had lots of flowers too but most have run their course. There are a couple still hanging on – and they brighten my room so much.



I have hung up some of my favorite pictures of family & have a few in frames too; so I always feel surrounded by my support system. Looking out from my bed makes me smile now. Despite the fact that the cards sometimes fall off of the wall because the tape sucks (irritating), Mom, Chuck and my nurses continue to hang them back up each day. All of this stuff will go into a memory box someday when I get home – so that I never forget this part of our journey. Thanks for keeping me smiling gang – you don’t know how much you mean to me!!!

P.S. – I added a photo back on my “TEDS” entry – couldn’t resist. Pretty sexy eh?

HICCUPS!

Babies look great today; lots of hiccups (which makes my entire body convulse at the time) and kicking & flipping. It looks like they have shifted position slightly; I think they are trying to find their best position for the remainder of the pregnancy because they are quickly running out of room. Baby C is on my left side, breech, with his head in my ribs. Baby B is head down, more in the center of my body, with his feet in my ribs (aka, kicking Baby C in the head). And Baby A is head down LOW on my right side, getting a little squished by the other two. He’s kind of laying transverse I think. It looked like he had some fluid around him today, which is a good thing to help him continue to live. Every doc seems to have his own view of the fluid level though so I take each comment with a grain of salt. No false hope here but at least he is continuing to hold on so I can stay pregnant.

My belly is very lopsided right now since Baby C is taking up the length of my left side. I usually am laying on my left side since it’s so much more comfortable so when I’m lying down, the whole belly flops to the left. It’s very funny looking. When I stand up, it evens out though and isn’t quite so out of proportion. You can see from this picture that it’s lopsided. Usually everyone gets quite a kick out of this when they see me laying flat.



Here we go for another day. Breakfast just arrived. Yum, hospital food. Dad stopped by this a.m. on his way to work & brought me a crumb cake from Starbucks ~ better than hospital French toast any day!

IT'S A MILESTONE DAY

26 WEEKS TODAY!

That is HUGE for us. Thank you for all of your encouragement, prayers, kindness and faith in us that we could do it. I could never have made it without all of your messages and knowing that you were behind us all the way. We'll continue to be strong and get at least 2 more weeks out of this. You guys are awesome!!! Each and every one of you!

Babies looked great this morning and my cervix is holding strong and unchanged. Dr. H called my cervix "fascinating", as he's impressed that it is not opening or thinning yet. Can't say I've ever had a compliment like that before but I'll take it! It's another good news day for us.

There IS life outside of Room 215!

Well, a big thanks goes out to one of my fav nurses, Cathy, for taking me for a short wheelchair ride tonight. As nervous as I was, it was very rejuvinating to be outside of these four walls for a few minutes! It is a beautiful night outside and although the sun was already down, just to smell fresh air was awesome. We only ventured out for about 10-15 minutes; that's a start~ it was definitely good for the soul.

Thanks Cath - without your encouragement, I would have never gone!!! G'Night all.

Trying to keep the spirits up

Well yes, boring is good I suppose. But today, it’s really getting to me. It’s a beautiful day outside and my doctor wrote an order for me to go for a “wheelchair ride” and sit outside for 20 minutes. But I’m too scared. As much as I would like a breath of fresh air – at what expense? I wish I had more guts; but I’ll never forgive myself if bumping along in a wheelchair sent me into labor. Plus, I feel silly riding down there in a hospital gown; with these silly socks on. I dunno, maybe I’ll try it later this week if things continue to go well. I’m sure it would lift my spirits a bit but I’m a chicken.

So, for now, just trying to busy myself for the day. Not too much on tv on Sunday’s – especially in the summer. But kinda looking forward to the Redskins game tonight. Can you believe it’s football season already? Boy, the time has really alluded me.

I was getting ready to do my physical therapy exercises and I dropped the list of exercises and it went under my bed. Darn it. Have to wait until someone comes back in to get it for me. Physical therapy has been really great – they gave me about 10 exercises to do each day and they have really helped me to keep some of my strength up. I have a breathing spirometer which I am supposed to use several times per day which keeps my lung capacity up. It’s this tube that you inhale into to make a little lever thingy go up as far as you can. Darn thing looks easy but it’s a challenge! I finally this weekend got back up to the level I was on when I first came here. That magnesium really set me back like 2 weeks. Amazing how the body fatigues by doing nothing!

I also get a free massage twice per week. It’s just 10 minutes or so but wow, does it feel good. My body hasn’t really been too sore but occasionally I get that little crick in my neck or back from typing on my computer while lying down and it feels good to get it worked out. Monday’s and Thursdays I have that to look forward to!

For some reason, the L&D dept here has been slammed over the last 2 weeks. It’s uncanny how many babies are being born here! It’s kinda funny too because it wasn’t like we had a big snow storm or anything back in Dec/January when all of these babies were conceived. The only reason I bring it up is that all of my nurses are saying how burned out they are getting. Being an antepartum patient (that’s what they call us gals that are here trying to keep the babies in a bit longer), we don’t need too much attention so I only really see my nurses a few times a day. That is a good thing – but it gets lonely if nobody else is visiting at the time. I’ve enjoyed so many of the nurses over the last 2 weeks and it’s been fun getting to know them. They are just extra busy these days so they pop in for a second or two to check in and that’s about it. I get meds at 10 & 12 during the day and at 6, 10 and 12 pm during the night. Other than that, they put me on the contraction monitor for 30 minutes per shift and that is the extent of my care at the moment. Hopefully we’ll be able to hold this regimen for a while longer.

Tomorrow we hit 26 weeks – into the start of our 27th week – only 14 more days until 28 weeks! Until tomorrow...

Weekend Ramblings

We got to see the perinatologist last evening and everything seems to be going very well still. Babies B&C are doing great ~ their hearts and amniotic fluid look awesome. Baby A is hanging in there too - h/b is still good and he's holding strong. My anti-labor medication was cut in half yesterday so hoping for no change in contractions; so far so good. C. spent the night here the last two nights with me which was comforting. That is one of the things I miss the most - just sleeping in the same bed with my hubby. Of course, his back is shot from the couch - he left early for a tee time and hobbled out of the room half bent over. I told him, it's nothing a few practice golf swings won't cure :)

I just had my morning sonogram and nothing changed overnight. Everyone is hanging in there this morning. My cervix is also unchanged - music to my ears.

Nothing new to report - which is a GOOD thing. We like boring these days!

So the highlight of my day today is there is a Laguna Beach Marathon on today on MTV, starting at 9:30. I know, so silly that I'm hooked but I can't wait to watch it all day! Saturday tv is not great so it will be something fun to watch. It's a shower day today so looking forward to getting cleaned up in a while.

Enjoy the weekend all - looks like another beautiful day outside! 25 and 5 today ~ Only 16 more days until 28 weeks!

Here's another picture from this week - don't mind the rash all over my arms - it's spider angiomas which hopefully will go away once I deliver. Just another one of those weird pregnancy symptoms.

TEDS

Well, those of you who have been hospitalized for any length of time are certainly familiar with what TEDS are. They are these knee high white stockings that patients have to wear to help with circulation - as I read the writing on my Ted, it actually says anti-embolism stocking. Needless to say, these things are VERY tight, bright white and are probably mostly made of polyester so they don't breathe AT ALL! Not to mention that they are so ugly, it's embarrassing. My vanity has gone straight out the window for now.

On my shower days, I usually leave my beloved Teds off for the afternoon but a nurse always catches me and makes me put them back on before I go to sleep at night. Well, the other night, my nurse told me I needed to put them back on; obviously this is not something I can do myself at this point - I cannot bend over at all anymore so putting these on myself is utterly impossible. She then told me that she could not do it because she has arthritis so bad in her hands; she looked over at the couch and said "Dad, we need your help over here". As C. looked up, he looked like a deer in the headlights. Some of you may know about C.'s extreme dislike (I don't really think there is a man out there that likes the image of his wife in knee highs) for knee high stockings; well, it doesn't get much worse than these Teds. They are bright white so they don't even blend with your skin like the "nudes" we like so much. Since we've been married, I've been banned from even owning a pair of knee highs - must have something to do with his childhood memories or something. Of all things for me to have to wear here, he's mortified when he sees them.

Anyway, C. was such a trooper - he actually got up and helped put them on me. I wish we had a camera for this event; although I'm sure that is a vision ingrained in his brain forever and photos are unnecessary; along with all of the other images of me over the last few weeks that I'm certain he would rather forget forever. I wish there was some sort of amnesia drug that I could give him to make him forget all of these "less than sexy" images that he must have of me. The only place he sees me is in bed or on the bedside commode. Nice.

Anyway, I think I'll have to keep a pair of these Teds once we leave here, just for posterity. If nothing else, I'll be able to bribe C. with them if I need him to do something and he refuses - the simple threat of putting my Teds back on would probably scare him into doing anything I needed!

As an aside, the boys looked good this morning. They are reducing my dosage of Indicin (the labor helper drug) so hopefully I'll be able to hold through that and not start contracting. Should see the perinatologist again this afternoon so if there is anything worthy to report, I'll post again later. In the meantime, TGIF. Weekend is almost here!

One more thing; a big congratulations to my fellow triplet Mom Jen who delivered her babies last night at 33 weeks! She was flown out via helicopter to Johns Hopkins since the NICU here is full ~ I got word this morning that her babies were born last night and everyone is doing well. She had two boys and a little girl - one baby at 4lb, 11 oz. and the other two at 4lb, 8oz. That is 13.5 lbs of baby she was carrying around, at just 33 weeks! Wishing their family the best - a short say in NICU and a speedy recovery for Mom!

Great Quote

I came across this quote first thing this morning and thought it was so fitting; it came from my "Positive Thoughts" daily email. It couldn't be more true about life in general for all of us.

It is good to have an end to journey toward,
but it is the journey that matters in the end.