With this being my monthly update about my sweet unborn baby girl I'm going to try to keep things as positive as possible....but let me tell ya....what I really wanna do is unleash the wrath of a worn out pregnant momma who is just DONE with the contractions....DONE with the pain....DONE with the insomnia....DONE with the nausea....DONE with the other slew of unpleasant symptoms that have reared their ugly head since Bella and I's last little stunt. Let me tell ya about that stunt. But first...let me take a 36 week selfie....
Week 32 and 33 were pretty harmless. I was busy finishing up a lot of school paperwork for my littlest patients and attending meeting after meeting at various schools in between my other regular patients. Okay, maybe week 32 and 33 weren't so harmless....they may have been what got me into this mess. I was looking forward to the end of school for the simple fact that it was going to basically cut my workload in half and give me some time to slow my pace down in the final month of this pregnancy. Which brings us to week 34. Wellllllllll ya see....every year....like clockwork....the week that school gets out...the other half of my job just sort of explodes with busyness and this year was no exception. I found myself finishing work and hurrying to pick up Hallie at the last minute from daycare and doing paperwork until 9:00 one evening. That was the night that did me in. But like a dummy I got up the next day and went off to work feeling like absolute poo telling myself I just had to make it through part of my day and then I'd already made a mental plan to shift some of my schedule to the following day to allow me to go home and rest. I got home around 4:00 and found a comfy tolerable position on the couch where I stayed for the next two hours. Things just felt off. After talking on the phone with my doc (side note: it's really, really, really nice having your OBGYN and his wife as friends) he advised me to head to the floor and get hooked up to see what was going on. Fun times commenced once I arrived. Over the course of the next 15 hours I had fairly consistent contractions (some painful, some harmless), four IV sticks, three bags of fluids, four shots of Terbutaline to try to halt contractions, Procardia pills next after the shots weren't doing the trick, a dose of Demerol and Phenergan to help me relax....which DEFINITELY relaxed every inch of my body.....cue the phone falling on my face while trying to text, jibberish spewing from my mouth and I'm quite certain there was plenty of drooling and heavy breathing once I finally passed out. Next came the ever so lovely magnesium and a catheter (see....fun times). The mag was meant to put an end to the contractions for the ambulance ride to Mercy. Yep, Bella likes to do things big.....
Doc and nurses mentioned that the mag might make me feel like I'd been hit by a truck. Funny thing is........
The ambulance ride was rather eventful...on top of already being eventful seeing as how my contractions kept up the whole 2 hour ride while strapped down in the most comfortable way. All joking aside, I was thankful to have some amazing care at Woodward Regional and nurses and a doctor who were so concerned about the health and safety of my baby girl...along with them we made the decision to go by ambulance to Mercy where there would be a NICU if Bella were to arrive. The way things were progressing it seemed that that would be a pretty good possibility. I cannot forget to mention how wonderful it was to have three amazing friends surrounding me before I left. Kristen praying for me, Lauren holding my hand and making sure I was comfortable and Rachelle giving me a big reassuring kiss on the forehead. Friends like these are irreplaceable. I lay in the ambulance with a trio of super friendly EMSA employees who made the ride as stress-free as possible. Especially considering we had such a giant hiccup on our way. While in the midst of having a contraction that my new friend was timing, we were sitting at a stoplight in the turn lane and were hit by a tractor hanging off of a truck who decided to turn as well. Bam....bam....bam...bam. Four bams and then lots of wide eyes looking around in the back of the ambulance wondering what on earth had just happened.....
About thirty seconds of what I would categorize as sheer terror. I didn't actually comprehend what had happened until Riley poked his head in the back of the ambulance laughing at what he'd just witnessed. Yep. Laughing. Pretty soon I was laughing right along with him. At that point it was probably the best medicine. They hurriedly made some phone calls to report the accident while others outside cleaned up the parts of the ambulance that had been knocked off. Riley being my loving husband walked around and took pictures....probably because he knows I like to commemorate just about everything. Naturally my first time being hit by a truck in an ambulance was something to document. ;) Okay, done with the joking again.
Good news was that the jolt must've scared baby and things slowed down while we hobbled over to the Kingfisher Fire Dept and switched over to a different ambulance. Okay, one more joke....can you guess how much fun it is to have your sweaty, frazzled self wheeled out of an ambulance into the blaring hot sun with a catheter bag on top of your lap as four young firemen approach you to lift your whale of a body over to a new gurney since you feel like every muscle in your body is limp as a noodle and can't scoot??? Oh can't forget the part about Riley still taking pictures. My new EMSA friends rode the remainder of the way with me to Mercy and helped me get settled in my room. For time's sake I'm going to get really brief at this point because the two days that followed were frustrating to say the very least. The contractions continued despite my body not going into active labor. Which was a good thing. But when the contractions started in every two minutes and became so painful that the tears started flowing it was hard to remember that I didn't want to have the baby just quite yet. Despite the fear of not knowing what my body was trying to do and the pain it was refreshing to have these pretties around to look at.....
Shawna's clinic sent the beautiful pink vase of flower and my sweet friend Ashley popped in with some gorgeous flowers and a magazine and made me laugh as usual. My loving sis showed up immediately with a bag of essentials that I appreciated more than she knows. Riley's boss Dave stopped by on Thursday evening with a bouquet of flowers/a gift card/a giant bag of goodies for Hallie/a sack of gifts for Bella/snacks for mommy and daddy/five (yes, five) greeting cards that were marked to open on certain days. My dad and Meg stopped by for a visit and brought along a beautiful plant arrangement that brightened up the room. We received a text from Dr. Gore saying that she had the winning bid on a kiddy pool brimming with baby items during a fundraiser at the hospital. I cried. The gesture was too much for this emotional/hormonal momma.....
I had several "I want my momma" moments over the course of Thursday and Friday however it was hard to hide my smile with the outpouring of love and support....and this fella right here....
He was right by my side the whole time...trying to calm me down when I had one of my "moments", asked the nurses 20,483 questions because he was so concerned about me and the baby and made sure I was well taken care of. He definitely solidified his position as a "keeper." Sidenote: I can't even begin to describe how funny yet maddening it is to give your husband a list of items to throw in a hospital bag for you not to mention packing the baby's bag as well. My mind was racing as I frantically listed items while he scribbled them down as the nurses prepared me for the ambulance in Woodward. Of course it wasn't exactly what I would've meticulously selected....BUT....I was impressed by what he chose in my absence. Another crying moment ensued. Happy cry. Here's a tip to all the momma's out there: pack bags EARLY.
This brings us to Saturday. 35 weeks! We had been reassured that Bella was plenty big at that point if she were to make her appearance. In fact, she was weighing in two weeks ahead of schedule which was a huge help for my peace of mind. Dr. Stanley stopped by on Saturday morning to do a quick check (literally) on things. After being the third Mercy doc to ask me "how BIG is this baby?!?!" he ended up giving me the option to stay and be monitored more or leave and stay close to the hospital. He told us that the baby could arrive at anytime or my body could slow down and last another month. Luckily I have this amazing friend who is always there at the perfect time. Lauren had offered her family condo to us and we graciously took her up on her offer. We packed up and stopped by McAlisters for a lunch that I was afraid to eat. I hadn't eaten much of anything for three days because of the nausea and the fact that my abdomen felt like it was going to explode. We stopped by Target to pick up a prescription of Ambien (which ended up being my saving grace for the next five days) and a few other things. Walking proved to be an interesting task. Seriously!?!?! Walking!?!?! For five minutes. Did me in. Sigh. So this was my hilarious hubby's solution to the problem. Around the corner he came riding on a stallion, er, I mean a motorized scooter. After insisting that he PLEASE go return it to where it came from I couldn't help but burst into an uncontrollable laughter. Tears shooting out at record speed kind of laughter. Ouch, my belly hurts so bad so quit making me laugh or want to pee my pants kind of laughter. He followed suit and couldn't talk he was laughing so hard as well. It might have been a top 5 marriage moment for us....
We met Lauren's sweet sister and picked up the keys to the condo. The building was in a pretty area of downtown with lots of green trees around and was directly across the street from the historical museum. I waddled in while Riley unloaded the car. I plopped down on the couch and that's where I stayed for the next two days. Mainly because I was so swollen from all of the IV meds that has been pushed into my body. These are two days I really don't have much to say about either. Riley enjoyed the quiet time. His list of activities included the following: took a couple of runs around downtown, watched plenty of television, slept in, asked me what my pain level was every ten minutes, took naps and ate lots of good food. He called it a vacation. I called it painful and monotonous. I can't blame him though...the bed was very comfortable.
We kept up with our Hal gal through Facetime, phone calls and pictures. Nanny and Papa stepped right up to the plate and kept Hallie while we were gone. What a relief and a blessing to not have to worry about where she would stay. Miss Paula sent us lots of pictures of our girl. She kept busy playing with her friends and her cousin Carmen, went to the waterpark, church and the farm and even planted some flowers for "momma, Bella, daddy and Paula." ;)
The time I spent missing this girl was no bueno....
And then finally....Monday arrived....and our girl arrived in OKC!!! Nanny and Papa drove up to check out their new camper and dropped off our sweetie at the condo.....
I'll never forget the sweet way she hollered my name when she saw me and the way she hugged me like she hadn't seen me in years. My sweet girl made everything better!
After a quick lunch we drove to Lisa and David's in Enid where I had decided to stay for the remainder of that week until I had reached the magic 36 week mark. At that point I would be able to return to Woodward and safely deliver Bella. Hallie was going to return home with Riley but when it came down to it I couldn't part ways with her and she didn't want to leave my side either. So she stayed! I spent Monday afternoon through Thursday afternoon mostly sitting with a little bit of nothing mixed in. I quickly discovered that my tolerance for activity was next to nothing hence all of the sitting. Aunt Lisa made sure I stayed off my feet and graciously entertained Hallie for the week while Riley returned home for a big week of inspections at the hospital. Hallie did lots of swimming, Netflix watching, napping, swinging and snacking. Aunt B, Dara and Heather spent a lot of quality time hanging out with us girls and dad and Meg invited us over for a cookout on Wednesday night with Meg's son, Aunt B, Aunt Alta and Aunt Lana. The week was super low key which was perfect to regroup and get my thoughts together. Hallie enjoyed every second of her time in Enid. She took good care of me giving me little reminders..."mommy, you need to sit down so Bella can rest." ;)
Aunt B and Lisa drove us back home at Thursday evening, unloaded our stuff and I settled into home quickly. Whew. Quite a journey the previous week had been. Riley's inspections turned out very well and he was relieved to have the weekend to rest and recover from a stressful end of the week. Hal was happy to be back in her bed with all of her fluffy animal friends. I missed having these two together so badly....
Bella already has quite a story to tell and she hasn't even entered the world yet! It goes without saying that the anticipation is killing me and we cannot wait to meet her!
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