25 weeks today!

Not much to report today besides that Elijah had a great second day at preschool yesterday. He also got a good report from the dentist! It was his first time there and she just did an exam (no cleaning) because of his anxiety when it comes to anyone dressed in medical-type attire. He had no cavities and his teeth looked great! We will bring him back in six months for a cleaning.



We have some cleaning/organizing to do here at home this weekend and that is the extent of our plans. Well, I will be "helping" from the couch/bed while Dan does all the work. :)

Another funny Elijah translation:
chiropractor = "pie-tractor"

24 weeks, 5 days - dr visit

We received some good news and some bad news at the doctor's office this morning. Mostly good news! I'll start with the not-great stuff:

- Bed rest continues, probably until delivery. :( This isn't what we were hoping for, but we do realize it is what is best for the baby and so it shall be! I will continue to do work from home, as I have been told that doing work from my office is not allowed.

- I have gained 20 lbs! YIKES! I'm calling Ben & Jerry to complain. :)

See? Not much bad news. We came away with tons of good, though:

- On days when my contractions are behaving (usually the 48 hours following my weekly progesterone shot) I can CAUTIOUSLY move around a little bit more. Mostly I just have to stay close to the couch and listen very closely to my body.

- The baby is growing really really well. He is measuring a couple days ahead of schedule and is in the 55th percentile for overall growth (1 lb, 10 oz). FIFTY-FIFTH! I wondered if there was an extra 5 in there, but that number was right. We are by no means used to such a wonderful, HIGH number!

- I do not have gestational diabetes.

- My cervix is nice and long. 4.4 cm! Even longer than it was at the last check, which I thought was strange (yet wonderful).

- The progesterone shots do seem to be helping my contractions. We are all pretty certain they would be way worse right now without the shots.

So the plan is to keep on doing what I'm doing. My doctor said typically what happens is that delivery occurs about 10 days after the last progesterone shot is given, which is at 36 weeks. I pray to God that my body hangs in there for that long. If it does, then we are looking at a late May delivery. That is three more months of bed rest, which really does sound awful to me but I continue to focus on the big picture.

Elijah got a great night of sleep last night for the first time in what seems like a million years. His bright eyes and good attitude this morning were a welcome change from the crazy behavior he has been showing us for the past few weeks. It is amazing what some good sleep can do. Now he is ready for Preschool Day #2 tomorrow!

First day of preschool

Elijah had a great first day of preschool! His teacher said he did great, with the exception of a few seconds between each transition time. Any time they switched activities, Elijah would start crying for "Dad." (Yes, it breaks my heart a little bit that he wasn't calling for me.)



I cried for the first 30 minutes he was at school, but eventually found peace about it. I'm glad to have Day 1 behind us and I'm sooo very glad that he enjoyed the majority of his day.



The cute Elmo backpack we got for him is too small to fit his folder in, so we will have to find another one. And, can you see his medical ID bracelet? Having this on while he was away comforted me somehow.



Our little boy came home exhausted. We are hoping for a good, restorative night of sleep for him tonight. He needs it!



Can you hear my big sigh of relief about having this day behind us? I've literally been dreading it for months. It's good to have lived through it and to know that Elijah is going to be just fine. No, more than just fine. School is going to be great for him!

Some new favorite Elijah pronunciations:
ask = "axe"
cactus = "tackus"

Tomorrow morning is my big doctor's visit! I have absolutely zero idea what she is going to tell me. My contractions have been extremely unpredictable (really good days and some bad days, too) for the past couple of weeks, and I don't know if that is good or bad. We will see!

Birthday pics!

We kept Elijah's birthday celebration this year as simple as possible since I am on bed rest. He adores Thomas the Train, so we got him a few Thomas balloons and a Thomas cake.



The decoration on top of the cake didn't last long. His eager little fingers grabbed the train off of there in about a half of a second.





He had fun opening his presents and got some really great gifts.





We got to spend a little bit of time with family and friends.



I always love the look on his face when he realizes that everyone is singing to HIM. :)



This year, for the first time, he enjoyed trying to blow out his candles.



And who knew this would be so exciting, but he actually enjoyed his cake and ice cream this year. He looked like such a big boy, using a utensil and everything!





It was a fun, fun afternoon! Thanks to those of you who were a part of it and who helped with it.

And tomorrow is Elijah's first day of preschool. YIKES!!!!!

Three years old

Turning three meant that Elijah had to go to a well visit on Friday. Dr. Judy was sooo very proud of the progress he has made in the past 6-12 months. She could hardly believe that he was walking around and talking. It was probably the most "normal" well visit we have been to yet. There were zero concerns, Elijah is doing great, come back when he is four! His weight was 29 lbs (15th percentile) and he was 35 inches tall (7th percentile).

We had a few people over to our house yesterday to celebrate Elijah's birthday. He had a blast playing with his cousins and eating his Thomas the Train cake (he actually liked cake this year!) and getting loads of attention. I did WAY too much moving around (naughty me), but it was so nice to see our little man have such a fun afternoon. He was totally wiped out by the end of the day and he is still overly tired and cranky today. He gets extremely overly stimulated when he is around a lot of people and it always takes him a few days to get back to his normal self.

My contractions followed the same pattern as last weekend after Friday's progesterone shot, which is great news! I have only had a handful of contractions every day since Friday, so we'll see what happens in the next few days.

We have some photos from our day yesterday and I will get those posted tomorrow. I hope you all had a great weekend and THANK YOU so much for all of the kind comments you have all left for Elijah on my last post!

Happy 3rd birthday, Elijah!

Today is our beautiful, steadfast little boy's third birthday. The past three years have been such an incredible journey for us, thanks to our amazing firstborn son.

I will always remember the day he was born as clear as can be. It was scary, exciting and reassuring. My very first thought upon seeing him was that he could not possibly be more perfect. My second thought was, "Everything is going to be ok."



On his first birthday we were on the front end of a very scary two-month journey, which thankfully ended with a successful heart surgery. I will forever think of this time as one of the scariest of my life, but God had amazing things in store.



His second birthday was a good season for our family. It marked the beginning of an unbelievable growth spurt in every area of Elijah's development. I will always remember the time between his second and third birthdays as being the year of great progress.



And here we are! Now Elijah is three years old and we continue to love him beyond words. He is the first child of ours to steal our hearts and he has changed us in ways that we never thought possible.



We love you, Elijah! HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY birthday!!


Now, EVERYONE READING, we would love it if you would leave Elijah a happy birthday wish in the comments section! I plan to print all of the comments out for his baby book, so the more, the better!

(And yes, we are up this early!)

Three weeks down

Here are some of Dan's creative photos, taken of my couch-resting. :)



Notice the gray hairs?



Today marks three weeks of bed rest! For the most part I have gotten over feeling sorry for myself. It has been easy to fall into that when I spend the majority of each day alone. I am almost at viability (24 weeks), so that helps to lift my spirits immensely!

Elijah's third birthday is this coming Saturday, the 20th. I have a lot of emotions wrapped up in that, including: How will I manage having a (very small) party for him and make his day as special as possible but still lie on the couch? How is it possible that three years have passed since this amazing little boy was born? Turning three equals PRESCHOOL NEXT WEEK, which makes for a very worried mama. See? Overthinking everything!

Elijah has been extra snuggly this week and he hasn't wanted to leave for daycare in the mornings. :( I LOVE the extra snuggles I have been getting, but it makes me sad that he doesn't want to leave me. I was an extremely shy child, and I never wanted anything to do with anyone except my immediate family. I sometimes see traces of that in Elijah (not near to the same extent) and it makes me sad. I remember how scared I would get to be away from my family and I don't want Elijah to have those same feelings. I think my past is the reason I work so hard to make sure he gets a lot of exposure to other people and places.

I have been doing as little as possible from the couch this week. Contractions are holding steady at about 10-12 per day. I'm praying for another reprieve on Friday after my seventh shot. Things are going fine otherwise. I just finished a great book called Modoc by Ralph Helfer. I am not at all an animal person, but the elephant in this book (true story) is the most amazing creature to ever live! I cried and cried and could not believe the amazing life this elephant lived. If you enjoy reading, I highly recommend it!

I'll end with some of my favorite recent Elijah pronunciations:
Bicycle = "bike-cycle"
Zephy (name of a train on a cartoon he watches) = "Fluffy"
Chipmunks = "chin-ups" :)
Cereal = "sid-all"

23 weeks, 3 days

Well, well, well. My contractions started back up late last night and into today. Nothing alarming, but I'm getting a few more of them than I was at this time last week. My best guess about the break from contractions I had over the weekend is that Friday's progesterone shot helped them to hold off for a few days. Hopefully that continues to happen every week, and hopefully the reprieve time gets longer and longer. Who knows!? So today I'm back to being the couch's best friend.



My boys were so good to me yesterday! They made me feel like a pretty special mama on Valentine's Day. I got a bunch of new comfy clothes, which is the absolute perfect gift for me right now. Elijah even insisted on trying on some of my new socks. :)



Dan made a DELICIOUS meal last night after Elijah was in bed. It was one of the tastiest meals I have had in a long long time.



Crab legs, filet mignon, creamy potatoes and salad with sparkling pomegranate juice. All followed by ice cream, of course.



Elijah woke up at 4:37 this morning. I'm not sure we will ever get to a place where he sleeps in late ("late" = past 6:00). Maybe he is doing us a favor and preparing us for the new baby? By the way, he is STILL saying he wants to name the baby Zooter. He has been extremely consistent with this answer, which is pretty funny.

The couch is getting jealous, so I better sign off now. Thanks for checking in!

Miracle?

Something pretty miraculous has happened over the weekend. It is now Sunday late in the morning and I have only had FIVE contractions since Friday morning at 9:00! I don't know if my sixth progesterone shot helped or if it is just an answer to prayer, or maybe both. Whatever the cause, I am extremely happy! I never never never expected them to start getting better like this.

This morning Dan gave me my first pass in almost three weeks to get out of the house since my tummy has been so cooperative. I joined my boys on their Sunday outing to the play area at the mall (Dan made me lie down on a bench like a homeless woman). I didn't have any contractions while I was there, but I did have the feeling like I should get home and lie down after a bit so I am back to the couch. I think I will call my doctor in the morning to see if I can move up my re-evaluation appointment. It is supposed to be next Wednesday, but hopefully they will let me come in this week sometime. I hate to get too hopeful, but the thought of possibly resuming a semi-normal lifestyle in the near future makes me very excited.



Happy Valentine's Day! Dan and I plan to do our traditional steak dinner at home tonight. This will be our second Valentine's dinner on bed rest. :) I hope everyone is having a nice weekend. Thanks for checking in on us!

Oh, one last thing. Elijah's wake-up time this morning was a glorious 5:30!!

Preschool visit

My contractions cooperated yesterday morning, so I was able to make it to Elijah's preschool visit. We went into the visit already exhausted (more on that below), so I had a feeling there would be a few tears and I was right.

Elijah did fine with the non-structured activities. Play time and snack time went great! :) Any time the teachers asked him to become part of a structured activity, he just cried and cried. I'm thinking this is probably pretty normal for a three-year-old just entering preschool. All of the other kids in the class have been there for at least six months, so they have had plenty of time to adjust to the routine.



Elijah is BY FAR the farthest behind in gross motor development out of all the kids in the class. He is also BY FAR the smallest. I couldn't believe how huge some of those kids look compared to our peanut! I also feel like he was one of the farthest ahead as far as cognitive ability goes. I felt I got a good sense for which areas of development will be exercised the most while he is there.

It was fun to observe play time because that is when Elijah was the most comfortable. He is such a gentle kid and he does not initiate any sort of behavior that will cause conflict. He loves to play on his own, but if someone approaches him he happily interacts with them. He is a really good-natured kid and people seem to be naturally drawn to him.



It was difficult to hear my little boy yell "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" through his tears when he got uncomfortable, but I think that us being there probably didn't help with that. It is going to take him a while to get used to that setting, but I really feel preschool is going to be sooo good for him. I am very glad I was able to sit in the classroom yesterday (there would have been little that would have kept me from going). I feel much more at-ease about his start date on February 23rd.



I don't know what in the world is going on, but Elijah has been waking up sooooooo early in the mornings. You would think that I would be all rested up, being on bed rest and all, but I am exhausted! We are all exhausted. We all get out of bed looking like it is 10:00 at night because that is how we all feel. This morning I almost freaked out when Elijah's wake-up time was 3:00!!!! When he gets up early like this we turn the monitor way down (can't turn it completely off thanks to croup) and we do our best to sleep through his talking and singing. We never get him out of bed before 6:00, but it is hard to get quality sleep when he is wide awake in the next room.

We don't know what to do. We feel like we have tried everything, but he just wants to keep getting up earlier and earlier. We never give him any sort of stimulation before 6:00, and we have even experimented with different bed times. And we are so so tired. Even if I catch a nap in the afternoon, I am still constantly exhausted. Poor Dan is walking around like a zombie most days.

We hope you all have a great Valentine's weekend! Thanks for checking in on us, as always.

Two weeks down..

I have noticed a definite increase in the frequency of my contractions this week. I have to be super careful about how much I move around and how many trips I take to the bathroom. I'm still having under 10-12 contractions per day, but that is because I am lying on my side and not moving much for a lot of the day. Once Elijah and Dan get home, I usually get up a little bit more than I should.

One thing I have continued to do is put Elijah to bed at night. Dan does all of the lifting, but I do the fun parts: reading, snuggling, praying and talking. I would be a mess if I couldn't have that time with my little boy every day and I'm very thankful for it. It keeps me happy and feeling semi-normal.



We will see how my contractions are doing in the morning, but I'm still hoping to make it to Elijah's preschool classroom with him and Dan. I hope it works out. I very much want to be there.

The days are surprisingly passing pretty quickly on bed rest. Working from the couch in the mornings has helped. I am trying very hard not to think too far down the road, and that helps, too. It also helps having a sweet, spunky, funny little boy to spend time with.



Elijah's cough is getting much better and is hardly disturbing his sleep anymore. Although, he IS still waking up at ridiculously early hours every morning. It doesn't matter what we do with his bed time. We are finding that he is just naturally an early riser.

My cold, which turned into an ear infection, which I believe turned into a nasty sinus infection (my first!) is slowly improving. I am finally starting to be able to taste and smell again, and my ears are feeling less plugged every day.

Dan has been working a lot and doing a lot for Elijah and me in general. I am extremely thankful for him. A lot of the time I feel bad for burdening him, but I know he doesn't see it that way (thankfully). He is a (very tired) good husband and dad and we are lucky to have him caring for us!

22 weeks, 3 days

Just doing my bed rest routine on this snowy Monday. Dan is doing some work for a friend today and Elijah is at daycare. My contractions have increased a tiny bit over the past couple days, so I'm keeping a close eye on them.

Two of the big things we had planned in February were/are supposed to happen this week. Dan and I were going to take an Elijah-less trip up north to spend this coming weekend together in a cozy log cabin. We had to cancel those plans which is kind of a bummer, but obviously taking care of the baby is priority.

The other big plan for the week is still going to happen as planned, I think. We are set to take Elijah to his preschool classroom on Thursday morning for a visit before his official start date on February 23rd. I really really really want to go along for the visit, so if my contractions are under control that morning, I will go. I want to see first-hand what his classroom is like and I want to see Elijah's reaction to it. I have a lot of emotion wrapped up in this whole preschool ordeal, and I think being able to be there on Thursday will help me with some struggles I am having. We are praying for my contractions to behave that morning!

That's all for now! Thank you for checking in!

Sunday afternoon

Early Saturday morning I woke up feeling like someone was stabbing knives into the right side of my head. After writhing in bed for a bit, I decided to head to the ER to at least get some help with the pain. It was excruciating! The doctor said I had a "raging ear infection." Seriously? I don't think I have any memory of ever having an ear infection in my life. I started some antibiotics and took some Extra Strength Tylenol and 24+ hours later I'm feeling better. I still can't taste or smell anything, which is kind of strange.

Elijah and I are both still making non-stop coughing music around the house. Hopefully this week brings health for both of us. I can't decide if the sickness has made bed rest worse or better, but I'm ready for it to be done.

Dan has a menu planned for the Superbowl tonight and I'm wishing I was able to taste some of his yummy snacks.

An Elijah funny.. Yesterday I told him that Dan would have to fix one of his dvds (that he calls "D-D-Ds") before he would be able to watch it. By "fix" I meant that all of the gooey fingerprints would need to be cleaned off of it. Elijah said, "Fix? Ok!" and walked to the kitchen junk drawer. He opened it and grabbed some tape out and brought it to me. "Tape, Mommy. Fix!" :)

We have been watching WAY too much tv lately, way more than I like for Elijah to watch, but I really don't know of many other ways to pass the time in the situation we are in. We are trying to play a lot of trains and puzzles but we can only do so much of that. This morning Dan took Elijah to the play area in the mall to run around a bit. I hate that I couldn't go along, but I'm glad the two of them were able to get out of the house.

Elijah is napping so I think I will go try to nap for a bit, too.

From the couch

This is what happens when I'm confined to a couch. I take pictures of the walls. Sorry, no Elijah pics today. Maybe tomorrow.



Friday night is pizza and movie night in our house. Elijah gets excited about going to the movie store and picking out a movie. He was a little too excited about it today. Instead of taking a nap, he said "movie store!" from his bed about a hundred times.



Right now we are waiting for the pizza to cook while we watch A Bug's Life. Elijah stole a few "peppa-nonis" from the pizza and he is munching on those.



As you can probably guess, we don't have much planned for the weekend. Just some more movies and snuggling and couch time.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

21 weeks, 6 days

Last one from this series of photos..



I'm still trying to cough up both of my lungs. I think Not-Zooter is wondering what is causing all of the earthquakes.

Speaking of the baby, I asked Elijah again the other day what we should name his little brother and AGAIN he replied, "Zooter!" I guess he has his mind set on it. :)

Elijah has been so full of imagination lately. This is something that is pretty new, and it is really fun. I heard him calling out for Randall the Monster (from Monsters Inc.) in our laundry room the other day. And for the past week or so we have heard the funniest/cutest conversations coming from his bedroom before he falls asleep at night. He sings songs, talks to people, talks to himself, repeats lines from his favorite books. I just sit and smile at it all. I love that kid.

Bed rest is getting a little bit less tearful. Every time I start to get upset I think about the little person in my tummy and how he NEEDS this right now. Soon this chapter will be behind us and I will be so glad I listened to the doctor. I started doing some work from home this week and strangely, it has been good for me. It's a nice diversion and gives me a sense of normalcy. One of the things I have felt bad about lately is inconveniencing my employer and coworkers, so being able to do some work takes a little bit of that burden away. And again, I have to focus on the baby. Everything goes back to him right now.

Contractions are still doing ok (5-8 per day) as long as I am taking it easy. Dan is still willingly coming home to me. Elijah is enjoying his days at daycare with his girls Molly and Paige. The baby is still kicking and enduring all of my coughing. And right now it is 2:00 so that means it's time for ice cream!

Croup: Season 2, Round 5...and other

Elijah got croup last night, as I suspected he would. Same drill, same outcome. All is well and now he has a cough.

I'm pretty sure I'm the crabbiest I've ever been in my entire life. I am not feeling like a good wife (AT ALL) or a good anything right now. I feel constantly overwhelmed by a lot of things swimming around in my brain. I'm surprised Dan is still willingly living in this house with me.

My appointment this morning went fine. My cervix is "high and closed," which is excellent. The doctor said I was a "topic" at this week's staff meeting. Of course I was! :) I'm sure I will continue to be from here on out. Anyway, I'm just supposed to continue doing what I'm doing. Laying very low and getting my weekly progesterone shots. My next big appointment is on February 24th and the outcome of that will determine my bed rest fate for the rest of this pregnancy.

Thanks for checking in on us!

The good

This photo is a few months old, but I love it.



Yesterday was the sickest I can ever remember being as an adult. Today is better. The fever and fatigue from yesterday are gone, but the coughing and stuffy nose are still hanging around. Last night I heard a few tiny coughing episodes coming from Elijah's room in the middle of the night, so I have been praying hard today against another sickness for him. Especially this sickness that I have right now.

Some good things I'm focusing on today:

Lost premieres tonight!

I can't wait to see Elijah in a few hours. I was a pretty sick mama last night so I didn't have much energy for interacting. I'm excited to interact a bit more with him tonight.

I have the best, most patient husband in the world. I am so thankful for everything he does for Elijah (and baby) and me.

Not-Zooter is kicking a lot today. I remember loving that feeling when I was pregnant with Elijah and I love it this time, too.

I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, and that means I get to leave the house!

Tomorrow marks one week of being on bed rest. Three weeks to go and hopefully no more than that.

I'm going to start doing a little bit of work from home tomorrow, which I think will help me feel a bit more normal.

We have Ben & Jerry's Americone Dream ice cream in the freezer! :)

21 weeks 3 days, but who is counting?

I am trying to make as few photoless posts as possible, so I hope some photos from the past few weeks are ok for now. :)



One good thing about the past few days is that I haven't had much time to dwell on my bedrested state. I have been a miserable and sick lady. I think Elijah is starting to wonder who the big lump on the couch is who won't stop coughing and complaining.

It was confirmed again for me that staying in bed/on the couch really helps my contractions. When I was on bed rest with Elijah, not even rest kept them at bay, so this is a nice change. Of course, I'm still only 21 weeks along so maybe that has something to do with it.

Before the sickness struck this weekend, I had a moderate emotional breakdown. I feel like it should be easier than it is for me to focus on the positive aspects of this whole situation. It has been really easy for me to get caught up in the not-so-fun parts. I'm worried about a lot of things, so I'm trying really really hard to take this one day at a time. We have/had a busy February planned, so I'm trying to readjust my thinking about some things.

I keep telling myself that this could be SO MUCH WORSE. It helps when I think of the big picture. What could possibly be better than helping a new little person enter this world? We are making some sacrifices now so this little man can have a place in our family. I can't wait to meet him, and I will do whatever I can do to make sure he arrives in our arms safely.