Ohhh Baby Alison...

Oh my dear baby girl... you sure do like to keep us all on our toes!!

So Friday April 5th I was working and stood up from my desk to go to lunch and started to get some pretty bad pain all on the left side of my uterus. It made it hard to walk and was kind of weird. So I decided to just lay down for a little bit and see if it would go away. Well it didn't, the pain got worse and started to go around my back and down my leg and stuff and then I started to get contractions. Dr Ofori had just left the country on family business matters. He is the only OB/GYN in town and I was so scared and didn't really know what to do. Dr Dickens is my old OB and she works in St George as a hospitalist but only a few days a month so chances of her being at work were really slim but Chad had me send her a message anyhow to see and sure enough she was working!! I felt so much better. She told us to head up there and get checked out. So off we went. The pain subsided but I was still having regular contractions so they hooked us up to monitors, did some tests and took some blood. One of the tests is called a fFN which looks for a hormone that is released when labor is possibly coming. You want a negative result, if you have a negative result then the chances of you going into labor in the next week or two is only like 1%... well, we got a positive result and with the contractions that's made us all worry a bit so she decided it would be best to admit me for 24 hours and give a round of steroids to boost Alison's lungs in case she decided she wanted to come early. She also put me on meds to help control the contractions. We had a full ultrasound to check on her, she's measuring a little bit small but nothing too concerning. They estimated she weighed about 2lbs 5oz at that time. The meds worked and both of our stats were good the whole time so they released me. I have to take the pills every 4-6 hours and I'm on bedrest.

I had a follow up apt with the high risk Dr and Dr Dickens the following Thursday. They did another ultrasound and looks like she grew a little and gained 1oz (I had hoped she would've grown a bit more than that) they also rechecked my cervix length and it doesn't appear to be changing much which is really good. It's a little on the short side, it should be at least 3cm and it was 2.8 at the hospital and then 2.7 when I went in for the follow up so not too bad.

Yesterday (the 16th) I had my appointment with Dr Ofori. He and Dr Dickens are good friends and she had already spoken with him and filled him in on the happenings. He seems to think all of this is due to my uterus having issues and is pretty confident baby Alison is going to hang in there until full term. He said since Rex was full term that's good news and we should be optimistic. He still wants me on bedrest until 34 weeks. At 34 weeks they wont do anything to stop labor if I happen to go early. They'll just give me magnesium which promotes brain development and sent me to St George (we don't have a NICU here so if she's early we'll have to try to make it to St George otherwise the neonatal team will fly down and get her and take her to St George - that thought makes me sick, I cant imagine not being with her) BUT he doesn't think we should have to worry about that.

This whole bed rest thing is really taking some getting use to. It's really strange for me to not be able to do anything at all and be stuck in the house all of the time. Chad has been absolutely amazing. He takes such wonderful care of me and Jadon. It's been a crazy past couple weeks. His dad ended up in the hospital for a couple days but is home and doing well now. An at home nurse comes every day to help also a physical therapist and someone to shower him come a few times a week as well which gives Sharon a break so that's good too. My parents have also been a HUGE help. They take care of Rex a lot of times and my mom helps around the house and hangs out with me when I shower and stuff. I'm really thankful to have the people I have in my life to help me. Ivy has been amazing at being there for me even though she's far away. She lets me vent and always checks on me and makes me smile. Lots of love around me. Really helps me. Bed rest may sound like a lovely break to a lot of people, but it's really not all that splendid - first of all you're put on bed rest because something isn't going right, and that's the last thing you want when you're pregnant. Secondly, it can be frustrating and difficult to cope with not being able to do things on your own and it's hard when Rex wants me to pick him up or change his diaper or do things to for him that I just can't do and I have to tell him no. It's hard. Third, it's not exactly ideal to lose my income for several weeks. I have 3 weeks vacation which I had planned to use when Alison arrives but I'm taking that now and then looks like I'll be dipping into unpaid FMLA time for a couple weeks... I'll be on FMLA after she arrives for a few weeks. I'm thankful that I do have the vacation time and we have a little money set aside and Chad makes enough to cover most our bills, so although it might be a bit tight for a bit, we'll make it. In the end we know we're doing what's best for Alison. Every day she stays in me is important - I remind myself that right now I am the only one who can take care of her so although it's really hard to not help around the house and help with my little dude others can help with that.

I've got another Dr apt in 2 weeks. So 2 weeks of not getting out of the house, we'll see how bonkers I am by then haha!! My parents bought us a new patio set that is nice and cushioned so when the weather is nice I am able to go outside and sit for a little bit at least. So that's pretty nice :)

Anyhow, that's the happenings as of now... the babyshower is in 2 and a half weeks! I'm SOOOO excited. Nicole has put up with all my weird request and ideas and everything and she's made some super cute stuff. I helped her make the invitations that she designed... they are beautiful and everyone compliments on them. She's super creative and such  a sweetheart. It's been fun planning and doing all this shower stuff with her. I know it's going to turn out super cute. It'll be a little odd not being able to walk around and mingle with everyone and stuff but it'll work out. That's definitely an outing I'm looking forward to!!

If my dang phone would email the photos I would add one of Rex having his mickey mouse in a diaper. He's really into "Baby Alison" he talks about her all the time and gives her loves and even makes his stuffed animals give her hugs and kisses. He really is the sweetest little dude ever!! He's going to be a great big brother :)

Wow that's super long, oh well, hope you all are doing really well!!

xoxox
D