35 weeks

We made it to 35 weeks! I feel relieved that my body is cooperating and keeping our daughter inside longer than we thought she would be. Our Doctor told us that the goal is to reach 36 weeks which is only one week away. We may make it! My contractions have mostly stopped. I can be up a bit more which allows me to actually take care of my kids during the day. I am still sitting as much as possible and am just taking care of basic needs but I can do it. The contractions will start up if I'm not being careful enough.  Basic needs mean that I might change Luke's diaper at some point during the day but I can get everyone lunch and help Claire and Sean get ready for school. PBS kids is on long enough during the day that Claire points out when the shows start to repeat(that is a very long time!). Our internet connection went out for a couple of days. Comcast came out and fixed the problem but it may have been the longest day of my life living without Netflix and PBS kids games on the computer! Fortunately my kids are super patient and understanding. They find ways of entertaining themselves. This weekend they enjoyed a new Cars matching game and pulled out the Halloween costumes. We are grateful for so many people who are serving us and helping to keep our family afloat during this tricky time. I appreciate the neighbors who are helping by getting Claire to and from school. My kids have had extra play dates with friends on the block so I could rest and we are grateful for the meals that are being brought in. Mark has been leaving work as close to 5 as possible. He feeds the kids dinner and serves me by doing the dishes, picking up the living room, doing laundry, getting the kids ready for bed and so many other things. He is cheerful and never makes me feel bad. Usually by that time of day I need to sit and recover from being up too much. 35 weeks means that hopefully our baby's time in the NICU will be minimal. I am excited to think that she might actually be able to come home with us! I have never been pregnant past 36 weeks and I wondering when we will be seeing this new daughter of ours.

Bedrest/preterm labor

 Thank goodness for all my snuggle buddies. I spend a lot of time in my new chair Mark bought for me for Christmas. We all like to snuggle with Mark's queen size fleece blanket that I gave him for Christmas.

Claire was born at 35 weeks. Sean was born at 36 weeks. I am just over 33 weeks pregnant with our baby daughter and my body is ready for her to come now. I have been having contractions for a few weeks but they were minor and only occurred for a small part of the day. Last Monday I spent the whole day cleaning and pushing myself too hard. I contracted all day Tuesday. I saw my doctor on Wednesday for my regular appointment only to find that I was already starting to dilate and needed to get my body to stop contracting. I went home on modified bedrest with the promise that I would get down as soon as contractions started.  I couldn't seem to get a handle on it though on Thursday and woke up Friday morning at 4am to contractions every 3-5 minutes. The doctor sent us to the hospital for further testing and monitoring. The results of the tests indicate that I am headed for actual labor and this baby will be here very soon. They sent me home on full bedrest with medication to stop the contractions. I received two steroid shots to help speed up the baby's lung development. We are hoping to keep her in as long as possible but I believe we will see her in the next two weeks at best. We are ready to go any time and are preparing for our daughter to be in the NICU. It is an odd thing to prepare to deliver a baby that doesn't get to come home. Mark was home all weekend and cooked, cleaned and took care of 5 of us. I am glad that he could go to work today for a break from this busy household. Fortunately Sean rides the bus to school and is gone a full day. Claire has Kindergarten each day and I am grateful to the friends in the neighborhood for getting her to and from school. Luke is a pretty easy going little kid. He is watching Thomas the Train right now and eating fruit snacks. Mark will be leaving work each day at 5 to be home for the full evening's activities. For now the house is clean and we have food coming in. I am grateful for everyone's concern and support. We are taking this one day at a time and are grateful for each day she stays inside.