2 Weeks To Go!

Two weeks from today, we will officially get to meet Mallory Claire!

It's very exciting and a little overwhelming all at the same time....in 2 weeks we are going to be parents! I'm sure we will figure it out like everyone else, just seems crazy to know that it's about to become a reality!

We had a growth ultrasound this morning and everything is looking good. She did all her tricks, my fluid levels were around 3 and they estimate her to weigh 3 pounds 15 ounces, so essentially 4 pounds which is great! They are supposed to gain around 1/2 a pound every week now, so that should put her around 5 pounds in 2 weeks, so that would be awesome! Of course the ultrasounds measurements aren't perfect or 100% accurate, but I like what I heard today, so we will go with it!

Some of you may recall several blogs ago that Amy sent me some yarn and knitting needles. After Ben getting me a how-to-knit book, watching several you tube videos over and over again, I've finally gotten down the very basics of knitting. It is great to pass the time and the guys that work for Ben have actually gone in and got me more needles, yarn and a basket to keep it all in (such great guys) and I've officially finished my first "project" which Amy gave me the idea for.

So, here you go, it's pretty rough, but George has his own scarf, LOL!



Now on to more "real" knitting projects!

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood....

Because we've made it to 32 weeks today!!

I wonder if PBS still has Mr Rogers reruns? I loved them as a kid....perhaps i can just buy Mallory dvd's of previous years of Mr Rogers....

Yesterday was so much fun! I'm not sure what I enjoyed more, all the great company, super yummy strawberry cupcakes, all the presents or that Vinti White Chocolate Mocha Stef brought me from Starbucks yesterday morning! It all made for a really good day, and I slept like a log last night! Now hopefully I can get all the thank you notes written up.

I'll add a few more pictures later but here's two to start with.

George enjoying the buttercups from mom's yard



And me on the bed with all my presents, note George is checking out the presents too. How many times can you say you got to have a shower while wearing your pj's and it was expected and accepted!



We got lots of great stuff for Mallory and it just seems to make everything even more real. It will be fun to have a meet and greet with everyone from this shower when she arrives and comes home!

For any of you who would like to read a little more about other's experiences with pProm, life with a preemie, etc, be sure to check out Christi's blog with her experiences with Gunner. She started leaking at 28 weeks and Gunner arrived at 33 weeks. Her blog is http://babyyoungblog.blogspot.com/. Everybody's experiences are a little different, but it's good to know about others experiences and then document your own as well.

Looks like Ben and I will have a pretty relaxing day today. Since UK lost yesterday, I don't have to watch anymore basketball now for almost another year, since we don't watch any until tourney time. I'm now ready for Football! We are going to try to pack up all this stuff that I will not need during the next 2 weeks so Ben can take this stuff home, it's amazing how much you can accumulate after 6 weeks in here! I've got a couple things for work I'm going to put together this afternoon, perhaps we will make a trip to McDonalds and figure out what restaurant we want take out for dinner tonight.

I'll post more shower pictures later!

Nursery Furniture!

Guess it's a busy day for my blog... Ben just sent me a little video of the nursery furniture that he got all set up in there tonight. He's so good and the furniture is so cute! Just thought I'd share it with you!

A Weighty Issue!

As much as the OB's at home seem so concerned about your weight through pregnancy, they sure don't seem to care here in the hospital!

I've been weighed once since I've been here, and that was going on almost 4 weeks ago! So, today I ventured to the scale, which is all of about 3 feet from the outside of my door.

When they weighed me about a month ago I had actually lost about 2 pounds from what I was when I left the hospital in Owensboro, today I'm up about 4 1/2 pounds from a month ago, so that's not too bad and hopefully the majority of that is going to Mallory because I feel like my belly is getting bigger but don't notice it really anywhere else, but I am wearing stretchy pj's all the time, so who knows!

George decided to weigh himself as well....he hasn't gained anything since being here by the way, LOL!

The March is On....

Most of you who know me well, know I am a far cry from a hypochondriac, more of a suck it up and deal with it kinda girl, and I don't think the word "worry" is in my vocabulary....Ben typically worries enough for the both of us, but I swear, these last 2 weeks may just turn me into a touch of a hypochondriac!

I think it's just because we've come so far and we are SO close to actually making it to 34 weeks, and I want it so bad to get to April 12, that now all the little things start to bother me.

I've never really talked much about the statistics of this whole "springing a leak" thing, which actually does have a medical name, it's pPROM, which stands for preterm premature rupture of membranes, which for me SAL (sprung a leak) just makes it a little less serious than the actual "medical name." But in all actuality, we really have beat the odds so far. I knew 72 hours and 2 weeks were two hurdles to get past, but I never really googled to find out specifics about everything. I think the less I knew about "statistics" the better I would be because I knew it didn't really matter what the statistics were, we were going to beat it and win!

So, in my quest to avoid actually learning more about SAL, as I'm going to refer to it as, I do visit the community message boards on www.thebump.com, which is a pregnancy/baby website with groups for everything related to pregnancy and babies. I've found a nice happy little home on their 3rd Trimester board, High Risk Pregnancy Board and Preemie Board. Through the Preemie Board I've actually found a couple other girls who have been through this whole SAL thing as well and have pulled through successfully as well. One girl, Christi, also did a really good job of blogging her way through this whole ordeal and now that she has a happy baby boy, some of the things she has gone through with him since he's been born, and I believe is around 8 months old now. She has some great info on her blog about pPROM, statistics and preemie info, so I grabbed some actual statistics from her site, since I still refuse to google it and look it up, LOL!

pPROM is the single most common diagnosis leading to admission of the newborn to intensive care nursing.

Here are some stats:
• 1/3 of preterm births are due to preterm premature rupture of the membranes (PPROM).
• About 75% of all women with PPROM will deliver within 1 week, and nearly all will deliver preterm.
• Major neonatal infections occur in about 5% of all cases of preterm PROM, and in 15 - 20% of those with chorioamnionitis. .
• Only about 20% PProms will prolong pregnancy duration up to 1 month.

So, thankfully, other than still delivering preterm, we have really made it past a lot of hurdles and beat the statistics, YEAH!! So, I think that's why these last 2 weeks are going to be tough because I want it so bad! Not that I didn't want the other previous 6 weeks so bad, but it's like you've made it to the top 3 finalists in the beauty contest, but damnit, you want the crown!!

Because I want it so bad, I think that's why now, more than ever, every little ache, or odd feeling, or anything is just going to drive me nuts. They keep asking me if I'm having contractions....I have no idea if I'm having contractions! You people have told me a time or two that you are picking them up on the monitor but I don't feel anything...I've never had a baby before but I'm guessing contractions are one of those things you know it when you feel it! So, NO, I don't guess I'm having contractions! My temperature has pretty much consistently hovered in the 97's and 98's and the other day it was 99 a time or two....and you just want to be NO, I will not have a fever!! So, it dropped back into the 98's, but all this stuff is just wearing on you after so long. Same thing with Blood Pressure, mine's always been great and then the other day the bottom number was 91 and the little machine was beeping at us and again, I'm like NO, my BP will not go up this far into this. So, yes, I may become a touch of a hypochondriac these last two weeks!

Mallory's a trooper and I really hope she comes out kicking and screaming and flipping off the womb and saying, real world here I come! That's probably a little much to ask of a 6 week early baby, but you never know, she is my child!

So, enough of all that stuff! We will do all we can to get Mallory to April 12!!

I'm looking forward to tomorrow when we are going to have a shower as such here in the hospital. Since I had nothing for Mallory other than a swim suit prior to two days before I ended up stuck in here, I really haven't had time to prepare for baby like I needed to, so Stefanie decided that since all my showers got canceled until after Mallory is born, that she would take it upon herself to send out the invitations, let everyone know what's going on, collect the presents and bring them up here to me....all this in the middle of her Sister getting married next weekend! So, Stefanie will be by tomorrow along with Mom, Susan, Aunt Sharon and Memaw, so it should be fun and hopefully this child will have something more than a swimsuit to wear after it's all said and done!

You always hear about pregnant women "nesting." I guess since I'm not getting a chance to beings as though I'm stuck in the hospital, Ben has taken up "nesting" for me. Everything kinda got thrown in his hands when I landed in the hospital 6 weeks ago, but I really never imagined he would do or want to do as much as he has. He's all about getting the garage cleaned out, the nursery furniture set up, trying to figure out a place for all the crap we have, getting the guest bathroom finished up, getting the camper ready so if we have to be in Louisville for a while it will be ready and the list goes on and on. I hope he doesn't have a major meltdown because he's so intent on getting it all done before we get home, and I'm just like as long as the crib is up somewhere in the house, really that's all I care about, the rest can wait until I'm there to help if need be. I can't say enough how great he has been through all this, but he really doesn't have to be superman and get it all done because I don't expect everything to be perfect when I get back home!

So, that's my ramblings for this Friday, so glad we've got another week down and just a couple more days to reach the 32 Week mark!! Now the final march is on to 34 weeks!!!

Continued Normal....

It's Hump Day! Yeah, we are narrowing in on 2 1/2 weeks left in here, or at least until Mallory arrives, I guess I'll be here for a day or two after that, but those days will be much more exciting than the continued norm I've had for the past 5 1/2 weeks.

Susan got our kitchen painted on Sunday....only took 1 1/2 years to finally get it done! Mom cleaned house while Susan painted, so it was nice for Ben to come home Monday to a cleaner house with kitchen walls that are finally fully painted! Now he's almost done with the wallpaper removal in the guest bathroom, so we may finally be able to get that painted and ready for Mallory!

John came Monday evening to help Ben put up the Attic pull down door in the garage so Ben can finally get some of those totes up in the attic with crap in it that we finally sorted through before my whole hospital episode. John then came back yesterday and got the crown up in the nursery and put in the movable closet shelving system in the closet in the nursery. Ben sent me a little video of it all last night and it looks great! Now on to actually get the furniture set up in there.

Some of the doctors are still talking about the possibility of testing the amnionic fluid next week to check lung development...apparently the team of Doctor's here are split about 50/50 on whether or not to deliver at 32 weeks if the lungs are developed or just waiting to 34 weeks. After touring the NICU, I think Ben and I have pretty much decided that regardless, if she is still doing well and not stressed, we are going to wait until 34 weeks. I've read that they start gaining 1/2 a pound a week at this phase, so I'd much rather wait to 34 weeks as long as the risk of her being inside is not higher than the risk of being out. With little to no amnionic fluid, the risk of being in becomes higher after 34 weeks, so as long as all stays stable, I'm pretty sure we will just stick it out to 34 weeks.

Today was group session today, yeah, a chance to get out of the room! There were 5 of us today, 3 new ones. Just me and Kierston, the Ag teacher from Muhlenburg, are the only 2 consistant ones here. Two more from Louisville and 1 from Breckenridge today. One of the Louisville girls was here because she had been leaking fluid as well.

So, of course, George came as well, LOL! So here's a couple pictures of George hitching a ride in my purse to the meeting, making himself at home on the podium and in one of the chairs in the room. It's helping to pass the time, so I don't really care how crazy I am!! Everyone just gets a big kick out of it!

Meet George!

Ever since I've been in here I've seen those Travelocity commercials with the little gnome who appears in various places humming a little song and saying he's "gotta get out of here" and I told Ben, that's my theme song and pretty much sums up how I feel. So I told Ben I needed a Travelocity gnome while in here to be my mascot.

Yesterday Ben went out to run some errands and low and behold, he found me a look-a-like to the Travelocity gnome and brought him back for me....so, meet George, my roaming gnome!




So, I thought George might just sit around the room for the next 3 weeks, and then this morning I either had a moment of genius or a total senile moment, but I've decided to help pass the time for the next 3 weeks and just for the fun of it, George is going to be photographed all around the hospital in various places that will continue to document my journey in the hospital. A take on the early Travelocity commericails where the gnome is hiding in trees and pops up in various places. Then, in several months, the gnome can go on vacation when we finally get away for a while! Yep, may have lost my mind, but I just think it's funny.

For anyone who has been living under a rock for the past several years and doesn't know about the Travelocity gnome, here's the latest commercial that I like....hopefully later this summer we can be at the beach, with Mallory....and the gnome!



Outside of the excitment of George, we did tour the NICU yesterday afternoon. We hope that as long as Mallory waits until 34 weeks she will either need to be in the NICU minimally or not at all. It's hard to see all the little babies with all the tubes and ventilators hooked to them. Ben especially doesn't do well in situations like that and didn't fair to well on the tour yesterday. When it's your own baby you have to suck it up and get through it, but I'm hopefull that at 34 weeks, she will need minimal if any need for the NICU, even the doctors think that if anything she might just need the intermediate nursery for a little while. So, we will not know until she arrives, but our fingers are crossed that she comes out kicking and screaming and will need little if any assistance outside of the "normal" nursery.

We just finished up our Monday ultrasound and everything is looking good. We actually had a fluid level of 4.1, so that's up from the 1 it's been for a while now. She did all of her "tricks" and got a 6 out 8 score just because the fluid still isn't 8 or above, but everything else looks good.

George went along to experience the ultra sound and here's a couple pictures of him in the Ultrasound room and they even let Ben give George an Ultrasound. Everyone here thinks this whole gnome thing is so funny!




Looking forward to another calm week here! Ben's heading out today instead of tomorrow because he's going to meet with John to install an attic door this afternoon and then John will come back Wednesday to put the crown up in the nursery and install new closet shelves.

Stay tuned to the next adventure with George, LOL!

31 Weeks today!

We hit 31 Weeks today, Yeah, 1 more week down...3 to go!

I've been in here for 5 weeks and 1 day....just seems weird to think I've been sitting on my butt in the hospital for 5 weeks!

Mom was here on Friday and Saturday and we got to get out and enjoy the weather both days then as well. Ben got up here yesterday around 5pm after working hard to get stuff ready at the house for Mom and Susan to come up today. Apparently he was up until midnight Friday night getting the kitchen finished up so it's primed and ready for Susan to paint today. He's been a trooper through all of this!!

It was great to see Murray make it to the second round of the NCAA tournament and although they didn't win, they came close and it was a good game. Hopefully next year! We ordered Papa Johns last night and watched the UK game, which was a good win!!

We are going to have a tour today of the NICU nursery and Intermediate Nursery. We talked with Dr. Jamie this morning about what to expect in a 34 week baby, and really it's hard to say. She could come out being perfectly fine, go straight to the regular nursery and go home in a few days, she may be in the Intermediate for a week or so or may be in NICU for a few days first and then move to the Intermediate....typically at 34 weeks barring anything abnormal she shouldn't be in any longer than 2 weeks. I told Ben today once she was here and we determined that she would be here for more than just a day or two we would probably try to find a cheap close campground and just bring the camper up and have base out of the camper. At least it would feel a little more like home than a hotel or the Ronald McDonald house.

So everything continues to move along well. She's still tracing good on her monitoring and we will have another ultrasound on Monday I suppose. I'm sending Ben out today to get me a vaporizer...it's so dry in the hospital and my nose is driving me nuts, so I'm hopefull that will help.

I'd been wanting to learn how to knit and Amy sent me yarn and needles and after one frustrating day, I think I've determined 2 problems. I'm trying to keep the yarn too tight and I think I might do better with smaller knitting needles, so Ben's going to get some smaller needles for me today because I'm determined to figure this out!!

And, for all you people who have asked over and over again for a picture of me pregnant, well here's your one and only chance. Mom took one yesterday, so here I am at 31 weeks. Perhaps 15 years from now I will see some need in having this taken, right now, not so much at the moment, but since I figured I would have ones from showers and that's not happening now, here's your picture, only nice comments!



3 more weeks!!

Let the sunshine in!

Today was the first time I have been outside in almost 5 weeks, which just seems crazy that it's been that long! Dad wheeled me down to McDonalds where we got shakes and then went out on the patio by McDonalds and enjoyed the lovely warm sunshine for about an hour! It was so great to just sit outside!

I also found out today that since all has been stable and good with Mallory, they are going to only do an ultrasound once a week on Monday's, so no ultrasound today.

Tomorrow's Friday and that means one more week in this place is behind us and one more week closer to getting to meet Mallory!

Mallo Bean has a Middle Name!

So Ben and I came to terms with picking a middle name and our little bean will be Mallory Claire! I think MCW are good initials!

Other than my dumpy Monday, the rest of this week has been pretty good, time is moving along pretty well.

I did a little shopping on etsy.com and found some cute burp clothes that I ordered. I've been doing some research on other items for baby so I can decide which ones I want.

Dad was up on Tuesday afternoon, love my Tuesday and Thursday afternoons with Dad. Mom will be back on Friday and Saturday and then Ben again on Saturday.

I actually had enough gumption to wash, dry AND straighten my hair today...the first time it's been "fixed" since 2/12 LOL! Still no makeup since 2/12 but who knows, maybe sometimes soon just for me!

I had my second round of steroid shots Monday and Tuesday night for Mallory's lung development. I don't know if it's the steroids but I've been sleeping good but then wide awake at 5:30 am eastern the past two mornings...yuck! This morning after the hour of baby heart monitoring was finished up at 6:30 am, I had the nurse aid get me a wheel chair and I wheeled myself down to the cafeteria to get a Mt Dew....I was in need of caffeine! I'm not the greatest at wheeling myself around, but it's not too far, so I managed!

We had our second group meeting today with others of us who are stuck in here for the long haul. Last week it was just two of us....me and a girl who is the Ag Teacher at Muhlenburg Co...how funny is that! Today there were 2 others, a 17 year old black girl and then another woman having her second child who is from Lebanon, KY, so it was a diverse group this week! The chaplin, who is a couple years older than me, get along really well, she just comes across like someone I've known for a long time, so she came by for about an hour today. She lived in Raleigh/Durham at the same time I did too.

This evening I opted for Jimmy Johns delivery again, yummy! The typical Wednesday night Fried Chicken is getting old!

Tomorrow I will have another ultrasound to check on little Mallo Bean, but her heart monitoring has been good this week, so hopefully all will continue to be well!

I'm ready to have only 3 weeks left!

Just another manic monday....

I have been very unmotivated today, even with Ben here, it was just a blah day. I'm just tired of being in here, but I will get through it!

We had our ultrasound this morning and with the exception of the fluid levels, which remain around 1, she did good. Her heart tracing has been good, so all continues to seem good. It was funny because when I laid down flat on the ultrasound table, you could see some body part was sticking up....it was her butt. She had her butt all sticking out and you could see that something was sticking out, so funny!

Ben went out and had lunch with his soon-to-be boss when he finally gets to start his Application Sales and Support Specialist role, hopefully in April. They are trying to find his replacement for his current job first because he's just so darn good at everything he does : )

Dr How came by this evening, she's had a crazy day, and it sounds like I'm going to get another round of steriod shots. Not for any particular reason, more like since it's been 4 weeks since the first ones and we are both doing good, it def can't hurt to have another round. So, sounds like I'll get the first one either tonight or tomorrow.

Ben ran out and got me some mind bender game books to help pass the time and grabbed Tumbleweeds for dinner tonight....nothing like Ben having mexican when we are confined to such a small room!

Here's a few pictures of my lovely surroundings in the hospital...the sights I get to see when we do actually leave the room!

Here's the Hospital Sign on one of the halls:


Here's a picture of the door to my room:


Here's looking from the main hall into my "wing":


Here's Ben ordering food at McDonald's:


Here's my little glimpse of the outside world from McDonald's:


So, here's to time passing by quickly!!

30 WEEKS!

Yeah, we've made it to 30 weeks! I just feel better about everything, 30 weeks+ is just much better than anything in the 20's.

The Doctor came in Saturday while Mom and Sue were here and said they may go on and test the amnionic fluid if there's enough to test at 32 weeks and if it comes back and says her lungs are ready, they may go on and induce labor at 32 weeks instead of 34 weeks. So, we will actually become parents in 2-4 weeks, which just seems weird, especially since we had the end of May in mind for so long!

So, we will continue to wait and see, hope to get to 32 weeks and then decide what's going to happen then.

We've had a pretty quiet weekend thus far. Mom and Sue came up Saturday and we ordered Jimmy Johns for lunch and then Ben arrived. He went out and got us take-out from The Pub on 4th street and then wheeled me down to McDonald's for ice cream Saturday night. Today we've just been pretty lazy and I think he's going to head out to Cheesecake Factory again and get dinner there tonight.

I'm really ready to get up and move around.....so tired of just sitting here!!

Nickname...

She also already has a nickname....if you know me and my family, we all have nicknames....so at this point she is:


Custom Glitter Text

Milestones, 1 month in the Hospital and 30 Weeks on Sunday!

It seems very strange to me that I have officially been in the hospital for 4 weeks, 1 month, 1/12 of 2010 as of Saturday. And if all continues to be stable, I will be spending 8 weeks, 2 months and 1/6th of my year in the hospital. Yuck…..although all for a good cause. I could really go for spending 1/6th of my year on the beach somewhere or in the mountains….but obviously that wasn’t in the cards…..

I guess because I’m so removed from the outside world, it doesn’t seem like I’ve really been stuck in here that long. Nothing really changes here except for people on my wing. I think there’s someone on another wing who has been here longer, but apparently the average stay is about 3-5 days and I’ve soooo surpassed that!

I actually have seen all 6 doctors here that make rounds more often than I’ve ever seen my actual OB in Owensboro, so it’s kinda nice to feel a little closer to these dr’s than my actual doctor since they are who will be delivering my child. I assume Dr. How will be my Dr. on April 12, she is who I set up the induction date with and she talked like it would be her day here. She came across a little sterile the first night I met her, but I’ve probably seen her as much or more than any of the others and do really like her now. There’s only one that I call “mr. no personality” and after seeing him 4 or 5 times, he’s even better now. He was apparently a Navy Dr, which explains some things. Not sure how you go from being a Navy Dr to a Neonatal Dr, but whatever.

As of Sunday I will be officially 30 Weeks, which makes me, the Dr’s and all the nurses happy! For me, I want to get all the way to 34 weeks because I know if I can she shouldn’t have to spend much time in the NICU and the sooner she and I can get away from the hospital and be home, the happier we all will be, but in regards to just mental hurdles, I’m happy to get to the 30 week spot. Being 30 something weeks is just a much better place than being 20 something for the health of the baby. It’s like the nurse that rode in the ambulance with me to the hospital said if you can get to 30 weeks, at that point the baby really has everything it needs, it’s just growing and continuing to get stronger inside of you between 30 and 40, so I guess that’s where I get that from. And of course the lady from the NICU who visited the first night or two that I was in the hospital also said that once you get past 28 weeks, survival is pretty much 100% and the further along you can get from 28 weeks, it’s just exponentially better. Apparently the rule of thumb is for every extra day that baby stays inside of you, it shaves 3 days off a stay in the NICU.

So, we continue to incubate and shave off days! As I just told Dad on the phone, I feel like mother hen sitting on my eggs….although I don’t think eggs take 2 months to hatch…..so as it looks now, we will get a late Easter present, anniversary present and Tucker gets a little sister for his birthday. Thank the Lord she will come prior to Turkey Season! Ben’s already been asking about hunting because it starts on the 17th…..all I can say is it depends on how she is doing!

We had another ultrasound bright and early on Thursday am. My fluid levels were essentially down to 1, but other than that, she did everything else she is supposed to do and her heart rate monitoring twice a day is excellent. As one nurse said earlier this week, she doesn’t act like a baby who has no amniotic fluid, you’d never know from her tracing and other ultrasound info. The Dr’s all rave at how good she looks, so yeah for that. She’s a trooper and she is from Ben and I, two of the most stubborn, well prepared, give me lemons, I’ll make lemonade people, so, she will be fine!

Here’s some pictures of some cute onsies I found that I’m probably going to order and I found that Carhart has infant/baby stuff too….these cute little diaper covers that look like the pants Ben has with the little Carhart logo on the butt….she and her daddy can match, how funny is that! Yes, I’m already trying to turn my child into a tomboy….everyone thought I was a boy for years and turned out ok!

Baby Stuff is coming together!

Even though I didn't get to do much, if anything to the nursery before my little trip to the hospital, things are progressing now!

Here's some pictures of the furniture I got ordered over the weekend and what the bedding will look like. Can't wait to see it all together!

Baby Bedding - A farm of course!






Thankfully I did get the majority of my registering done before all this, although now our planned showers have been pushed back, but that's ok.

I am registered at Target, ToysRUs/BabiesRUs, www.landofnod.com and then Susan is going to go register for me at Something Special and 2 Kates in Elkton sometime in the next week or two.

Just wanted to share the nursery stuff! Thankfully the crib is all that has to be put together, the other stuff is supposed to come assembled!

I also got my diaper bag, from my favorite bag company, Sherpani...I have tons of their stuff, love it all! Here's some pictures of it, in green of course!

Countdown until April 12....

Had a good conversation with the Dr today and asked if we had a plan or an induction date. On my figuring the first Monday of the 34th week would be April 12, 5 weeks from today, and yep, that's what she came up with to, so as it stands right now, our newly adjusted due/induction date is April 12.

So, Ben should have a really easy time remembering some of the most important dates in our lives since April 12 is also our Anniversary and Tucker's Birthday....why not stack them all on the same day!

We had another eventful weekend. Don't know that family and friends are gong to be able to keep this up for another 5 weeks!

Mom was here until Saturday morning and then Ben and his parents came up a little after lunch on Saturday and Susan came up around lunch on Saturday.

Susan came in and brought stuff to paint my toes, so after a quick trip to McDonald's to get her some lunch she painted my toes. Now I have happy toes!


Ben and his parents did some rearranging of the furniture in the guest bedroom to make room for the treadmill and cleared most of the rest of the stuff out of the nursery. They also got my living room wall painted where we had some settlement cracks repaired and set up the toy box/book shelf that I had the home place make for Mallory, so it's up, ready and waiting for stuff!


Sunday was more visiting with Ben's parents and then Memaw, Aunt Sharon and Mike came up to visit on Sunday Afternoon. Aunt Sharon succeeded in blowing up this picture of me as a baby, where it looks like I'm giving a thumbs up, as moral support. Too funny, everyone just loves it!


We had our ultrasound this morning. My fluid levels are down to 2, but she's still making more, her bladder and stomach are full, so again, they don't seem too concerned. She moved around like she was supposed to, practiced breathing and her heart rate was good. They attempted to measure her for size, but because her head was so burried down deep, they couldn't get a good measure on her head, but they estimate her to be around 2.5 pounds now or a little more. They also could check her umbilical cord to make sure nutrients were flowing well, and they appeared to be, so overall, good to go.

The doctor thinks that as long as there are no infections or other issues that pop up, we should be able to get to 34 weeks. Hopefully I can and will keep my sanity by that point!

Keep thinking about us and sending good vibes our way!!

3 Weeks!

Wow, I've been in here 3 Weeks tomorrow! Thankfully time has passed by much quickly than I would have imagined. Obviously a positive attitude helps with that, but overall it really hasn't been as bad as I thought.

Here's some of the "perks" of being stuck in the hospital....

1. I haven't worn makeup in 3 weeks
2. I haven't fixed my hair in 3 weeks
3. I have wore nothing but pj's for 3 weeks (no more maternity clothes!!)
4. Ben is doing the laundry!
5. I continue to be thankful for my job because daytime tv sucks.
6. Our weekly grocery bill is almost non existant, manwich, pizza rolls and mini corn dogs don't cost much.
7. I think God must be using this time to teach a very unpatience person that with kids, I'm going to have to have more patience.

One of my friends from High School who is also pregnant had this as her facebook status today: I'm growing a child, what have you done today? It made me laugh, because that's about all I'm accomplishing, which is ok! I like to call it incubating....I am incubating Mallory for as long as possible!

Thankfully come Sunday we will be at 29 weeks on my count. Monday they will do another ultrasound where they measure how big she is. I'm hoping for 3 pounds or more. I feel like all I do here is eat but they finally weighed me the other day and I've actually lost 2 pounds since leaving the hospital in Owensboro, so hopefully she's gaing all that weight I thought I was. I don't know if they would ever move her "weeks" forward, but when I got here they thought she was 1 1/2 to 2 weeks ahead of tme. Thankfully the steroid shots have had a lot of time to really work well.

I'm anxious to get to 30 weeks, I guess I will just feel better to know that we made it to 30 weeks but remain hopeful to get to that 32-34 week period when they will induce.

This week has been fairly eventful, after failing the glucose test on Tuesday by only 5 points they scheduled to do the 3 hour glucose test on Thursday morning. On Wednesday the nurse to do my little exam for disabilty insurance that I had just signed up for before all this finally got to come and do her thing....so my blood drawn count was now up to 3 times for the week.

Thursday am at 5am Eastern they started the 3 hour glucose test which consists of drawing blood, then having me drink this super sweet, orange crush like drink and then they draw blood again at 1, 2 and 3 hours. So the blood drawn count for the week is up to 7 times!! I told them they were like vampires.

So after foregetting to tell me earlier in the day that my results came back as normal, no Gestational Diabetes, they finally told me right as dad was getting here at 3pm for his every Tuesday/Thursday afternoon visit. So, to celebrate, we went to the attached McDonalds and had icecream!

Wheelchairs are somewhat hard to come by in the hospital, so dad went on a mission to find one....I'm guessing this must have been a childs wheel chair because I barely fit in it and it didn't have foot rests! I suppose small kids feet don't reach the ground, but either way, feet held up, we were off to McDonalds.

I had my other ultrasound on Thursday. I had been leaking a lot Wednesday night again, so I figured my levels would be down and they were, around 5. I've leaked a little more, but fingers crossed it's tapered off. They really aren't too concerned though, they said even if you lose it all the baby is fine and you and baby can last all the way to 34 weeks w/o any measurable fluid. News to me, but that's what they say. She said a lot of times people in my situation lose some, gain some, lose some, gain....it's just a cycle.

Friday's been pretty calm. Mom came back Thursday night and will leave sometime on Saturday. Ben and his parents will be back Saturday for the weekend and sounds like Aunt Sharon and Memaw will be up on Sunday.

So again, we pray for more uneventful weeks ahead of us!!

Skype is just so cool!

I just love skype, especially since Ben got our DSL hooked up at home now and the picture is even better since our internet is now higer speed. It's great to feel like I'm at home and get to see Tucker. It's nice to call in and spend 30 minutes or more in my own living room every night.

On the hospital front, all is going fairly smoothly. The ultrasound on Monday was good, fluid levels are still in the normal range and Mallory practiced breathing, so it was a quick in and out of the ultrasound room for that one.

I had my glucose test on Tuesday morning which tests for gestational diabetes. Basically I failed that test by 5 points. They want your secondary reading to be 140 or below and mine was 145. So, if you don't pass that one, they then move on to the 3 hour glucose test which I will do tomorrow am. Hopefully I will pass that one and we will not have to worry about it. And if I don't, I just go on a diabetic type diet until she is born, so not ideal, but not the end of the world. The nurse was like it figures, the girls I see in here with horrible eating habits always pass and it seems to be the ones that actually watch and care about what they eat just barerly fail. So, we will see what tomorrow brings on that.

This am they decided to weigh me for the first time since I've been in here. Totally dreaded that, with no activity and it seems like all I do is eat, I feared the worse. I actually somehow lost 2 pounds, so hopefully all those nutrients and calories are going to Mallory instead of me!

They are going to do another ultrasound either tomorrow or Monday where they actually measure how big she is again. When I got here she was just an ounce under 2 pounds, so I'm hoping she's well over 2 1/2 pounds or more now.

Nothing else too exciting here. Ben left yesterday am early to head back to work for the rest of the week. Dad came in yesterday afternoon for his typical Tuesday and Thursday afternoon visits and then Mom is coming back Thursday after work until Saturday. Ben's parents will be back with Ben on Saturday.