Our little Surprise!

This is about the best title I can come up with for this blog post! This one has been a surprise from the get go!

A recent pic of our sweet angle's face! (and big belly!) Look at those chubby cheeks! 

Let me give you a little background for those of you who keep asking...Are you ready? There may be some TMI, but people are asking so I'm just gonna answer all the questions I have gotten here, and maybe that will make it a bit easier for everyone!
1. Why on Earth did you have them so close together? Didn't you know that would cause so many complications?  Well there are several answers to this question.  Although I HATE this question and really don't think it is very kind of people to ask, here are the many answers to it! Number 1: we believe in this family that all children are a gift, and are put into our lives for a reason.  NOW with that said, this was the first pregnancy we were trying really hard NOT to have. Not that anyone should need  to know, but because everyone wants to know we were on two different forms of birth control (if you count all the old wives tales-well that brings that number to about 4-5! But those are old wives tales!) Yes, we still got pregnant. And that brings us to baby #5! God's obviously chosen baby just for us.  Our little surprise! Our special miracle! And that is something this baby will always be to us, a miracle and a gift no matter the outcome!
2. Did you know you would be put on bed rest?  Call it mommy intuition, but I kept telling people I didn't for see them letting me go (as hard as I do) for my entire pregnancy.  I had a feeling I would probably be told I couldn't work any more as we got closer to the due date, but I never dreamed I would be stuck in a hospital at 30.5 weeks, and stuck there until delivery date!
3. Why are you there? What happened? This is a good question...I am here for the moment strictly on precautionary measures.  I got here under somewhat false pretenses (meaning I didn't think I would be staying!) Story Time:  Thursday I was having some pain along my old incision line in the morning.  It went away and I thought I was in the clear. HAHA, NOPE came back with a vengeance that night, and it hurt to walk.  I just had this feeling something wasn't right.  Knowing I was high risk, but not wanting to freak out, I called the hospital.  They put me in touch with my Dr. since it was after hours.  My Dr. decided it was best that I come in for an ultrasound, that way they could check out my uterus and the baby and make sure all was good!  Well, as you know we have 4 small children, so I hollered down the stairs to my hubby that I was going to the hospital for an ultrasound and would be back soon.  They just wanted to take a look on the inside and make sure all was well.  YES I drove myself to the hospital, what else do you do when it is bedtime, and someone has to be with the kiddos? Plus at this point in time, I really just thought it would be an ultrasound, everything would check out, and I would be on my way home, and told to take it easy! I get the hospital, they check me in, and start me on fluids, and the baby monitor until the ultrasound tech can get there.  Dr arrives and notices I am having some contractions.  She ordered a shot to stop those in their tracks...Here I sit by myself thinking, well baby is fine so far from what the monitors say, they have given me fluid so there is no way I'm dehydrated, they have now stopped any hint of contractions I was having, so let's get the ultrasound done, so I can go home and go to bed (I had planned to go to bed early tonight, and I really didn't want to miss my early bed time HA!) Ultrasound comes in, says baby looks healthy and fat (estimated size at 30.5 weeks was 4lbs 5oz, which is a good sized baby for as many weeks as I have left!)  Now I'm really feeling good, ultrasound looks good, baby is more than healthy! I can go home now,...NOPE.  Dr comes in and says she is going to consult her friends and fellow Drs in Wichita just to make sure we aren't missing anything.  She then orders me a steroid shot, and Mag. (BOTH nasty drugs!) She returns about 10 minutes later, and says "Well we are sending you to Wichita via Ambulance.  Would you like to call your husband and let him know? We want you with a neonatal specialist there, and we are thinking we need to monitor you for 24 hrs, and we will know more." OK?! Small freak out moment, I thought this was just an ultrasound now like 4 medications in, an ultrasound, and like 7 sticks later, I am headed to Wichita via Ambulance, not really how I had my evening planned.  Time to call Greg..He of course stays calm, he gets to work on finding someone to come stay with the kiddos. (HUGE shout out to Aly for coming and staying overnight with them, so Greg could be with me in the hospital on such short notice!) Fast forward and we are in Wichita.  This means more Mag in the IV, more IV fluids, people come in and check on you every 30 minutes, I have strings and things attached to every place on my body.  Drs come and go, another ultrasound, and finally it is 330AM!, unable to sleep because of the constant interruptions and all the cords going every which way.  The kind nurse offered to bring me some benadryl to help me sleep! I have never been so excited to hear that I got to take a medicine in my life! LOL! They still continue to check on me, but luckily the benadryl has take a hold and I hear them talking, can answer about 1 word answers, and am back asleep! Thank goodness for some good rest.  530 am, Greg's alarm goes off, and he gets ready to head back home to take care of the kids for the day.  Again, we are still just thinking I'm here for 24hr observation and should be home by tomorrow am(Saturday!) at the latest! I tell Greg I will keep him posted, and to love on the kiddos for me, and tell them mommy will be home soon! (HA!) Can you see this just keeps getting better? 630am Drs begin their rounds, I start by meeting the residents.  Then about 730 the Neonatal Dr comes in.... Very nice Dr, but he gets to drop the bombshell, he says I will not be going home! Wait, what?! Did I just hear that correct, I am NOT going home until I have this baby?  You know I'm like almost 31 weeks, but that is a LOOOONG hospital stay, and I don't sit still well! He tells me why, and I have to agree that his reasons are correct, and it really probably is the best thing for baby and I, I just hate to admit it! Well, now it's time to call Greg and update him to the "new" plan! He takes it well, and says as long as you are ok, and baby are ok, we will figure it out.  I love my cool calm and collected man.  Well I can be a spazz, and he is just always so calm and put together.  God knew I needed that in a man, and what a special man he gave to me!! Now we get to work calling family, now that we have the story, and know the long term goals!  LONG story thanks for hanging in there, but now you know ;)
4. What are they watching you for?  They are watching me for any signs of any more pain (No I am not taking pain medication, as they want me to feel even the slightest change in my body!).  They are doing daily ultrasounds to monitor both my uterus, and the baby.  This is so if they see any change what so ever in my uterine thickness or in baby's movements, or detect a leak they can get to work immediately.  They are mostly worried since I started having pain that it is a symptom that my uterus is weakening.  They don't want me and baby an hour away and need emergency surgery.  So I am here, and being monitored and watched through out the day.  I am instructed to call with any change in anything, and if the pain strikes immediately to just pull the call light out from the wall, and that signals emergency, and everyone will come running!
5. What are the plans?  I am currently 31 weeks pregnant, they would obviously like to see baby in there as long as possible. NOW if something is to happen today or tomorrow they would get baby out ASAP! BUT the goal is to make it until at least 34 weeks with no baby (hence the strict bed rest, so I can't upset anything!) The Dr  is thinking that he would like to see baby here no later than around 36 weeks though, because they just don't think my uterus will be able to hold onto baby much longer than that, and they don't want me to go into any kind of labor on my own for fear of uterine rupture!  What this means is that I am stuck here for at least the next 3-4 weeks, and at the most about 6-7 weeks.  That is a lot of sitting for this momma, who is used to staying so busy!
5. How am I doing with all this? Glad you asked....I am doing really well.  The hard part: Being away from my family! I hate not being able to see them all day long, and give them hugs n kisses n snuggles whenever I want.  My kids and my husband are my world, and being far away from them is the HARDEST part of all! Other than that, this hospital gets boring, but when Greg gets back I am going to hopefully talk him into bringing me up something to do!  I know I am in good hands, both here with the hospital team and with GOD.  He has held me since day 1, and I know he will continue to hold me.  He gave me this miracle child, and I expect that he will show us all the way to the end, whatever and whenever that will be!  I have complete faith in him, and from the time I pulled into the hospital for my ultrasound to this very day, the song "Be Still and Know that I am God" has been stuck in my head.  And I can only guess it is there for a reason!
6. How are the kiddos? They are sooo excited.  They came up here yesterday to say good bye to me, and all they could talk about was going to see all their grandparents and great grandparents! They also talked about how excited they were that mommy was going to have a baby, and they can't wait to see it.  They are all rooting for a boy (it is a surprise!) so we shall see.  They are really being troopers, but they have been able to have daddy with them during the day,and now they get to be spoiled and loved on my family and friends, so they see nothing wrong with their end of the bargain!

 

7. How is Greg? He is good, he is such a calm quiet man. He can be hard to read.  But he is a rock that is holding this family together, and keeping us all in order.  He has arranged transportation to get the kiddos to MI to be with family.  He has brought me things that I need, and I'm sure come next week when he can chill a bit he will be thankful, and able to soak more of it in!  For now, he just tells me he is all good, because he knows the kids will be taken care of, he can still work, and baby and I are in good hands here in Wichita! What would we do around here without this wonderful, strong, quiet man, by our sides! I'm sure we would all be lost!

Well there is the really, really long version of our story.  I will keep you posted as we know more!  I have noticed I haven't updated this blog in forever so while I sit, with little to do, I will probably go on blog overload with updates on all my kiddos, and putting things up that I missed! Here is your warning! If you have any questions, I never have any problems answering.  Just know that I work in the medical field and nothing scares me, so your answer may be blunt or contain TMI but I will answer it to the best of my ability!