Another Saturday Breakfast

This was so easy and super delicious that I had to share. Of course, I found this recipe on Pinterest, the are called Bacon, Egg, and Toast Cups. It is a Martha Stewart recipe that you can find here. Let me tell you these are ridiculously simple to make.

Originally, I thought I'd use this recipe for guests because you can make a large quantity (just prepare a few muffin tins) and serve a warm traditional breakfast to everyone at the same time. No worrying about cold eggs, toast, or bacon. It is all ready at once and comes in a nice little package. But Greg enjoyed these so much that I might just have to make them for the two of us every now and again.

Enjoy!

Oh my heavenly pancakes

I was never a big fan of breakfast...until I got pregnant. Weird right? Most women can't keep their breakfast down and I just couldn't get enough. During my pregnancy I developed a strange addiction to pancakes that decided to stick with me.

I. love. pancakes.

Since pinterest has taken over my life...and my kitchen. I knew this recipe would be number one priority for my Saturday morning. Lemon Poppy Seed pancakes with macerated strawberries, yes please. This recipe doesn't disappoint!

Lets have a close up, shall we...yum.

And my two favorite people to spend Saturday morning with.

I am a lucky lady!

The Nap Saga Continues

We are making progress. Gwyneth is much more inclined to go down for nap after a couple weeks of using the Ferber method. We have our little nap routine and aim for the same nap times (roughly) in the morning and afternoon.

Our pre-nap screaming is down to a minimum. Most days Gwyn makes some fussy noises as I put her into the crib but then she goes right to sleep! Genius!

Well almost...we have a new hurdle. Gwyn has become a cat napper. She sleeps for 5, 15, maybe 30 minutes and then her little eyes fly open and she is ready to get up!

Ferber says that you are supposed to leave the child in the crib for a full hour. Maybe I should follow the rules and let her hang out in the crib if she wakes up? This will undoubtedly lead to more crying...sigh...any thoughts for me??

Naps

Oh how we struggle with naps everyday. Sometimes I feel like getting Gwyn down for a nap is my one and only job. It is certainly first priority on our agenda each day because a tired baby is not a happy baby.

Gwyn's "tired signs" are perfectly clear. She is a yawner. If Mama happens to miss a yawn, she will not hesitate to remind me that she is losing steam fast by rubbing her eyes furiously. I try to pay close attention to her signals to get her down in a timely fashion but it doesn't seem to make a bit of difference.

Gwyn wakes at approximately 7:30am each morning. If her wake time is off I still aim for the morning nap 1-1.5 hours after she gets up (because she is already exhausted by then). This usually puts our morning nap at 9am. I have tried to play with this time...a little earlier...a little later...nada. She does not want to go to sleep. She will cry and cry and cry. I usually continue my attempt for 1 hour. Then I bring her back down stairs where she jumps deliriously in her Jumperoo (smiling and yawning between bounces) or she fights with all her might to keep her head up while playing on her play mat (if her head rests on the floor for more than 5 seconds she promptly lifts it right back up with restored determination and vigor!) I am usually exhausted just watching her.

So I hold out hope for an afternoon nap. Usually I start attempting this one at noon. Basically, to avoid sounding redundant, this is a repeat of the morning.

Then, to my great dismay, she usually falls asleep in the middle of a meal (while nursing) around 1:30-2. When this happens I attempt to separate myself from her...not easy, and put her down to sleep. This is successful maybe 50% of the time. Today is one of those lucky days, but who am I kidding, this is not working!

Tomorrow we are going to try Ferber for naps. I used Ferber for bedtime and Gwyn goes straight to sleep every night within minutes after eating. I will report back in one week...cross your fingers, say a prayer, do a dance...we need all the help we can get!

Flying Solo

This week my traveling husband (Greg never travels) is spending a week in Dubai. Greg has been working on a large oil and gas project in the middle east for the last 3 years. Fortunately, he has been able to complete 99% of the project from the comfort of his office here in Illinois. His company has made several attempts at sending him to the job site however, things like pregnancy complications and the birth of our daughter have worked to keep him close to home. So finally the time came for him to make the 14 hour flight around the world to see (in person) all the hard work he has contributed.

I can not tell you how much perspective I have gained being a single parent for the last several days. Of course no one would doubt the job of raising a child alone would be an incredible challenge. And please let me add that Gwyn is an amazing baby. She is happy nearly all the time and a relatively easy going kid. But come six o'clock, when her daddy comes through the door, Gwyn is the happiest baby on the block (and mama gets a much needed breather or sometimes just a bathroom break).

On top of allowing me a break, Greg is always pitching in around the house. Whether it is feeding the pups, taking out the trash, or just checking all the locks on the doors before bed...he is always helping me, and listening, and talking, and making me laugh.

He is my partner in crime, the love of my life, and the best father to our daughter that I could ever ask for. Saying that I miss him is a complete understatement. Thank goodness he'll be home in a couple of days :)

Apples and Doughnuts

I have been counting down the days until apple picking season. I love this time of year in Chicago. The air is cool and crisp but the days are still sunny and warm. Last weekend we visited an apple orchard and were able to pick Courtland and Gala apples. I made baby food with the sweet Gala apples and I plan on making my first attempt at apple pie with the Courtlands this weekend. Gwyn brought her buddy Julianna and we all had a great time.

The apples were good but the highlight of the trip was actually the apple cider doughnuts that are made fresh at the orchard shop. These doughnuts are legendary and I have to admit they might have been my underlying motivation for the apple picking excursion.

The doughnuts are apple spice flavored and covered in cinnamon and sugar. They are warm, soft, and fall apart while you eat them. They remind me of an apple spice flavored churro only much softer and even more delicious. Needless to say, we will be ordering a dozen when we return for pumpkin picking next month.

YUM!

My little fish

Gwyneth LOVES her bath time.

This girl has no fear of the water.

She loves to splash and splash.

This is my favorite time of the day.

Change is...

...good, I hope!

Going back to work, ugh. When deciding to go back to work it was never a question of if I would go back, but when would be the best time. In order to stay current as a nurse practitioner, I knew taking more than 6 months off would make my return very difficult. The saying, "if you don't use it you lose it" definitely applies to my profession.

When I landed myself in the hospital a month before Gwyn was born, I had to involuntarily resign from my position at the Community Health Clinic. Sadly, they just don't grant medical leave to people who go MIA more than 3 months. This was unfortunate because I really enjoyed my job and working with an under served population. But clearly, Gwyn's safe arrival was the number one priority.

Not having a job to return to, I've had the luxury of being home with Gwyn for longer than the standard 12 weeks (which is not enough maternity leave for anyone in my opinion!!). I've also had the opportunity to search for a new job with a part time/baby friendly schedule. Lucky for me, I might have found exactly that!

New Job:

part time-check

2.5 miles from my house-amazing

4 hour shift-unreal

urgent care-hmmm...

For the last 2 years I've been working in primary care. Urgent care is a far cry from stuffy noses and cholesterol checks. My family practice background will be helpful but I'm going to have to sharpen up some skills that I haven't used in a while. For example, suturing, not something I've done since I was an intern. There just hasn't been a need for it. I'll be learning a lot of new skills too. It is all a bit intimidating, but overall I think it will help me add more tools to my tool box and that is never a bad thing!

I'll be starting the new job in September. We've found a lovely woman who has been running a small home daycare here in Naperville for the last 12 years. She will be watching Gwyn for 4 hours in the afternoon. I know this is going to be a really big change but I'm thrilled to still have my mornings free for play groups and library activities. I'm sure Gwyn will adapt just fine, hopefully I will too!

A night on the town!

Happy Birthday to my Honey....6 days ago! Whoops! Where did the time go??? That's alright, I know Greg will forgive me. This year for Greg's Birthday I planned a special surprise, a date! That's right our first date since Gwyn was born. Actually our first date since I was admitted to the hospital so technically we haven't had a night out in approximately 5 long months!

I was worried about leaving Gwyn with a sitter, but my awesome girlfriend Meghan volunteered to watch our sweet girl and I knew she would be in good hands. I decided to take Greg out to dinner and a movie. We have these great theaters in and around Chicago that serve dinner in the movie theater, perfect for busy parents in a time crunch. So I got us tickets to see Friends with Benefits...hil-arious! A little ronchie to be honest, but fabulously entertaining.

As the movie previews started I found myself more worried about my dear friend Meghan than I was about Gwyneth. I suddenly realized that our daughter is not the easiest to put down for bed and I started to wonder if poor Meghan was in for an evening of screaming. The movie had not even begun and I was already texting the sitter...so cliche. Twenty minutes passed and no word from Meghan. Now I really started to get worried. Greg told me to relax so I put my phone away but continued to check it every minute without being overtly obvious.

Finally news from Meghan. Gwyneth finished her bottle and was fast asleep....woohoo! I could finally relax. It was such an enjoyable night. I know it wasn't my birthday but I may have had more fun than Greg :)

More Grandparents!

The last of the grandparents, including the GREAT grandparents, came to visit Gwyneth a couple weeks ago. We attended an outdoor concert in our central park, ate lots of delicious food, and spent a majority of the time staring at our little sweetie...who is getting quite big :)

Gwyn is a whopping 13 lbs now. She loves her play gym, bumbo seat, and staring at the fan. She has also become very talkative lately. When her daddy comes home from work she laughs and coos and smiles at him. Daddy is already wrapped around her little finger! She is one happy baby and we are very lucky parents!

3 months!

Time is flying by and we are having more fun everyday!

Gwyneth hanging out with the boys at play group.

Gwyn and her buddy Juliana :)

Happy 3 months to my sweet baby girl!

Gwyn Sits!!

Happy 4th of July!

Busy Busy

Our sweet baby is 2, almost 3 months old! Gwyneth is such a happy baby. She is giving us lots of smiles these days and gaining more and more control of her head/neck. She is still up approximately every 3 hours at night but when she wakes up she promptly "gets down to business" (eating) and is happy to go back to sleep. During the day we are still struggling with routine. She does better when we get out of the house, so I've been planning more activities during the day.

I rejoined the gym...hooray!!! The YMCA has a very nice center for kids/babies and they have been looking after Gwyn for roughly 30 minutes while I do a little cardio. Handing over my baby, even for a half an hour, has been incredibly difficult. I go to the Y in the mornings and Gwyn naps through the whole event but it is still really hard for me. I figure it is good preparation for the day I go back to work and have to leave her for hours at a time, pretty sure that will be torture.

We joined a Mom and Baby group. Our hospital puts on a great group one day a week for new moms and babies 0-6 months and it has been an awesome resource. I wasn't really sure what to expect but the group is huge 25+ moms. They do a short educational talk (different topic each week) and then let all the babies socialize. We've met a lot of nice people so far!

Lastly, our library does a Baby Play Date every other week. They sing songs, read short books, and finish up by allowing parents and babies to socialize. Gwyn loves the music! She is also starting to become very fascinated with other babies, it is really cute to watch them all interact.

On the days when there isn't an activity scheduled we like to take a leisure walk in the baby bjorn...puts Gwyn to sleep every time!

The blog has been a bit neglected but as you can see, we've been busy! Now for some 2 month pictures.

Look familiar? These are the bonnet and booties I made in the hospital...they are just now fitting!

Gwyneth loves her bath time.

So in love with this little girl!!!

Belated Anniversary

Our 2nd wedding anniversary was on May 23rd. I feel terrible not to have properly documented this anniversary but life with an infant is a little chaotic. I was describing our anniversary "celebration" to someone and was encouraged to write down our experience because they thought it would be a funny memory to reflect on.

Sorry in advance that there are not any pictures...I'm sure you will understand. I woke up on the morning of our anniversary not feeling quite right. I didn't get a lot of sleep because Gwyneth had been up every hour wanting to eat. Already, I was off to a cranky start. Greg had spent the night in the guest room trying to get some sleep because he had a big meeting that day. He woke up all fresh and rested. I was admittedly a little resentful of his long uninterrupted snooze fest but gave him my best "Happy Anniversary!"

As the day progressed I began to feel worse. I knew I was sleep deprived but this was something more. Greg called that afternoon to announce he would be bringing home a fancy dinner. I was relieved that there would be no cooking in my kitchen that evening!

I heard Greg walk in the door just as I had finally put all my symptoms together. Gwyneth was starting to fuss, it was almost 7 o'clock and time for her nightly meltdown. I fed Gwyn and then headed down stairs to greet Greg, he had a lovely dinner set up in the dining room with flowers.

I felt terrible. "I have to go to the doctor," I told him. I knew why I felt so bad...I had a terrible UTI. I handed over the fussy baby and ran for my car keys. I spent the evening in after hours care and poor Greg ate the fancy dinner alone bouncing Gwyn with one arm.

The following night we had a proper celebration and watched our wedding video. Life is certainly different with a baby, but I wouldn't change a thing :)

Grandpa & Gwyn

This past week Greg was in Houston for a training course put on by his company. The idea of taking care of Gwyn 24/7 without Greg seemed like a daunting task for me. We knew there would be lots of family members excited to meet Gwyn so I asked for a volunteer to come stay with us while Greg was away.

Gwyneth is the first grandchild for my parents. My father has been anticipating the arrival of his grand daughter since we announced we were expecting (maybe even before!!). Needless to say, he and his wife happily volunteered to keep us company.

On day one of their visit, my dad could not contain his excitement and ran out to purchase this giant bear for Gwyn. I had a large brown bear when I was growing up and I loved it. I'm sure Gwyn will love her bear too when she is a little bigger. In the meantime, I'm not sure where we are supposed to keep Mr. Bear!!

This is one happy Grandpa!

Thank you Dad and Goli for giving me an extra hand this past week!

5 weeks and Full Term

Our baby is getting so big! She is weighing just over 7lbs, average newborn size, just in time for her original due date which was yesterday!! She is still "tiny" for a 5 week old baby but with every visit to the pediatrician she moves up a percentile or two so we will get there eventually.

I had a lovely first Mother's Day. It was the first beautiful "spring" day that we've had here in Chicago so Greg made breakfast and we ate out on the deck. All our flowers and trees were in full bloom and it was perfect. Greg surprised me with a gift card for a massage and even took the liberty of booking me an appointment that afternoon! It was just what I needed.

Thank you for the helpful hints and suggestions for Gwyn's fussiness...I am willing to try anything! We did start medication for gas, I tried the Mylicon drops alone for several days and they do seem to help some. But, Gwyn is still very fussy when she eats.

Next, I went for a lactation consult to evaluate my milk supply and determine if I should be using a different technique (such as the block nursing). Lactation did not feel that Gwyn was being overloaded with too much milk but the consultant did witness this little lady having a full blown fit during our appointment. We are nursing one side at a time just to make sure Gwyn is getting sufficient hindmilk and were told to make an appointment with the pediatrician because the fussiness could be due to reflux.

The pediatrician agreed that alot of Gwyn's symptoms were reminiscent of reflux so we started baby Zantac a few days ago. We use the Zantac three times a day and the Mylicon drops in between. It can take a couple weeks for the Zantac to start helping so we will keep this up and cross our fingers!

To update on our sleep siutation...it's about the same. Because of the reflux Gwyn is sleeping upright in her swing or bouncy seat. She has been sleeping in our room since we brought her home. Last night I moved Gwyn's swing into her bedroom (this was hard for me), but I slept a lot better as a result. She makes so much noise at night in between feedings and this is the only way I can get any sleep, even if it is just a quick nap. Since her room is directly across the hall, I can easily hear her when she is truly awake and ready to eat again. I think we will stick to this arrangement for now and hopefully with the addition of the reflux medication we will all be getting more sleep in the near future!

Feel free to keep the fabulous advice coming!

What sleep?

My most favorite piece of advice..."sleep when she is sleeping."

Ha! This is very practical and logical advice, don't get me wrong. But it just does not apply to our daughter. I'm not really sure how she functions with so little sleep because I am barely able to remember how to complete activities of daily living.

Gwyn eats every 1.5 hours...this is not a joke. We are nursing and sometimes it can take 30-45 minutes to eat, so this activity occupies most of our time. However, our efforts are paying off. Gywn is growing out of her clothes! I could barely believe my eyes this morning when I pulled out a newborn sized outfit and could not manage to get her long little legs to fit in the footies! We have an official weight check with the pediatrician tomorrow and I can't wait to see how much growing she has done.

I know you have done the math, and there should still be 45 minutes to an hour for napping right?? We are dealing with this pesky little thing called colic. I'm not sure if Gwyn is working out her digestive plumbing or if this is just typical newborn fussiness but the poor little babe just can't seem to get comfortable. She fusses between nearly every feeding and sometimes even when she is eating. Our pediatrician gave us the heads up that this will probably get worse and peak around 6 weeks. We have no choice but to wait it out and give her all the comfort we can until things start to get better.

It's hard to believe our little girl will be 4 weeks old on Friday. The last month has been total chaos but I'm savoring this time because I know it will continue to pass quickly. My favorite moments during the first month have to be watching all of Gwyn's funny facial expressions, Greg experiencing projectile poop during a diaper change, and lastly all of Gwyn's noises.

My goodness, the noises that come out of this baby are hysterical! When she is really hungry she starts doing this little laugh. Then the laugh gets faster and more intense, a little like a crazy person! That's when you know the clock is ticking and you better get moving because you don't have a lot of time. On the rare occasion that she doesn't get her milk fast enough, the laugh turns into a full on scream but I'm getting better at avoiding this type of melt down. We are learning how to interpret more of her "language" every day and love watching her grow.

So many firsts

We are home. Finally, our entire family under one roof for the first time in nearly 6 weeks. Getting back to this everyday life is simply wonderful. I can't believe this is our life and we feel so incredibly fortunate to be here.

First outfit. Gwyn outgrew her one and only preemie outfit by the time we got home. We are officially in newborn clothes.

First car seat ride. On Tuesday afternoon, we were happily surprised when one of the neonatologists called from the hospital and announced he was ready to discharge Gwyn if we were ready to take her home. This was 2 days ahead of the tentative "schedule"...I was at the hospital 15 minutes later. We were ready.

First visit to the pediatrician. On Thursday, we had a weight check with Dr. Gus. I was nervous...silly me. This little piggy gained 5 ounces in 2 short days. The average weight gain for an infant is anywhere from 0.5-1 ounce per day. We know we have some catching up to do in the size department but Gwyn is clearly up for the challenge.

First stroller ride. Dr. Gus recommended stroller rides once or twice each day to help Gwyn distinguish her days and nights. This little lady loves to sleep all day and play all night long. Even though the sun was out and shinning during our walk, this did not deter Miss Gwyn from her mid day snooze.

Happy Easter Everyone!

Meeting our Miracle

On April 7th one of my many physicians decided to have a pow wow to discuss my condition. After 3 days of progressive contractions she was concerned. She argued that the acceptable parameters of what was "safe" in my situation kept being extended. She wanted to review the benefits and the risks of allowing me to stay pregnant until our scheduled c-section date. I already knew what the decision would be, but they sent in Dr. P to deliver the news.

The decision was to move up the delivery date so we could safely deliver our baby in a planned controlled environment instead of running the risk of having an emergency situation.

I have never seen Greg more excited in my entire life. It was adorable. This guy could barely stand still, he could not wait to meet our daughter. I was equally thrilled but much more anxious about delivering a baby 5 weeks early.

It all happened very fast. The nurse woke me up at 7 am the next morning and said we would be going into surgery at 7:30. Not a lot of time to gather my thoughts...maybe this was a good thing. I quickly got up and washed my face, took a final picture of my belly, and sat quietly savoring the feeling of little feet dancing in my belly.

The OR was cold, just what I remembered from nursing school. I knew what was coming but it is all very different when you are the patient. The pinch of the spinal was tolerable but what followed the spinal, I could have never predicted. They laid me back on the table and started with the poke test.

"Do you feel this..." Yes.

"Where?" On the right.

"Is it sharp or dull?" Sharp.

Five minutes later and the same set of questions. The anesthesiologist started tilting the table in all directions trying to get the medication to distribute evenly. After twenty minutes, he announced he wanted to use general anesthesia and put me to sleep. I protested. I had been waiting a very long time to meet my daughter so I asked for 5 more minutes. Finally, I passed the poke test.

I did not feel the incision but I was shocked at what I did feel as a large man, known as the surgical assistant, put all his weight on top of me in an effort to delivery my baby. I was being crushed. I had no idea how to judge if what I was feeling was normal but the anesthesiologist could tell I was in distress. Finally, I heard my baby cry. I will always remember it being a very sweet sound. Nothing like the typical cry I had imagined. It was so beautiful.

That is the last thing I remember. The anesthesiologist made the decision to give me medication and put me to sleep. I was told that they brought the baby over to me but I do not remember seeing her. I was told in the recovery room that my spinal "did not take well" and that this can happen to some people. I was given a patient controlled analgesia (PCA) pump that allowed me to receive pain medication every 10 minutes if I needed it. I needed it.

It was tough to keep my eyes open with all the medication on board but I remember telling the nurse in the recovery room that I was ready to see my baby several times. She told me the standard time in the recovery room was 2 hours. After 45 minutes she finally agreed to release me so I could visit my daughter in the NICU.

Gwyn was so perfect. She was tiny but absolutely perfect. I immediately saw my husband in her sweet face and later found a few of my features too. She was safe and she was healthy and that was all I needed to know.

Just a little update...Gwyn is still at the hospital in a step down nursery for babies who are stable but working on feeding or growing. We are still working on the eating part. Because of her young age, Gwyn gets super exhausted with feedings. But she is becoming more awake and alert everyday. She has been taking full bottles by herself for the last 24 hours! We will not be given any time frame for when she will come home but we hope it is very very soon. Please carry us in your thoughts :)

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Love

Gwyneth Olivia Polheber

Arrived April 8th 2011 at 8:27am

5lbs 8oz 18.5 inches long

We are so in love with this little girl!

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t-r-o-u-b-l-e

For the most part, things have been going very smoothly. I might even describe the last week as uneventful, boring, or dull...just the way I like it. I have accepted that I will have these miserable contractions for the duration of my pregnancy...this is my norm. Still, the nurses have to ask the same redundant questions about symptoms, every 6 hours when they check my vitals, to which I typically respond "no change".

Last night, we had a little excitement. I noticed some back pain late in the afternoon but decided to wait it out and didn't mention anything to my nurse. After an hour I nonchalantly mention the new ache and asked for some Tylenol. She gave me the Tylenol but I also earned myself an early date with the monitor. I knew I was having a lot of contractions but was crossing my fingers they weren't as close together as they seemed to be.

Not so lucky, they were coming every 5 min and the backache was getting worse. I could see the concern growing on my nurse's face although she tried to play it cool. She casually mentioned she would feel better with an IV back in my arm (I forgot to mention I managed to talk my way out of my IV about a week ago). So the IV went back in. Another hour passed, it was coming up on shift change. There was a knock at my door and an unfamiliar face dressed in scrubs came in.

Hmmm...who was this guy? He introduced himself as Dr. (something long and difficult to say), he was an anesthesiologist, he was the anesthesiologist on call for the evening. Now, I have been here for a while and have not been introduced to a single doctor in this specialty. He must have the wrong room. Nope, he came to talk to me. It turns out he had heard about our recent "activity" and wanted to get my history in case things should "progress". Geeez...news travels fast around here. We went through the questions and I thanked him for stopping by, but I had no intention of seeing his face again until next week.

The excitement lasted about 4 hours, when things started to slow down the nurse asked if anything felt "different" before or during this episode. That was a good question and yes, yes there was something. I've mentioned that our baby is extremely active, but this afternoon it felt like she was using my uterus as a bouncy castle. When they put to toco monitor on me (belly strap with pressure sensor to monitor size of contractions) she attacked the toco like a nija warrior warding off the enemy with kicks that nearly had me jumping out of bed. I noticed she seemed to be napping now and my contractions had finally slowed down.

The nurse laughed and told me it was very possible that all her activity aggravated my overly sensitive uterus. What a little trouble maker!

Dear Baby,

We are so happy that you are enjoying your stay in Mom's belly and growing big and strong. Please feel free to continue your daily Jazzercise routine, but maybe take it easy on the Tae Bo? Also, the toco monitor is our friend. We would really like you to stay put for one more week.

Love, Your Parents

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Bigger is not always better

The emotional state of a pregnant woman is not easily defined. After spending 24 hours in the new giant room I desperately missed my old room. I had spent a total of 3.5 weeks (nearly a month) of my life in that room and it was my home.

Greg urged me to give the new room a fair shot but a spotty internet connection, poor water pressure, and the big bare walls had me wishing we had never moved. To add to my devastation, I learned a new patient had been admitted to MY old room and I had no idea how long this woman would be there.

Around 6pm last night Greg noticed a wheelchair outside our old room and after a little spying, he confirmed that a volunteer had taken the occupant away in the wheelchair. I had no idea if the woman had been discharged already, that would be strange because this is the long term high risk unit. But I wasn't going to wait around to find out. I jumped out of bed leaving my dinner untouched and went straight to the nurses' station. There was no time to put on my call light and wait around for someone to answer. In a loud whisper, I asked the nurses if my old room was vacant again. They all looked at me like I had lost my mind. They did not want to confirm anything right away but assured me they would put in a request to transfer me back if the room was available. Frustrated that I did not have a definite answer, I had no choice but to return to my dinner.

I spent the next 2 hours driving Greg crazy with my speculation about whether or not they would give us the old room back. After shift change, I was thrilled to see one of my favorite night nurses walk through the door with good news We had to wait a while for the room tobe cleaned but we could move back! I immediately started packing up our things and loading them on to a transport cart. I don't know how many times Greg told me to sit down and let him do the work but some weird anxiety had taken over me. If I didn't pack up quickly I was sure the room would be given to someone else!

My awesome night nurse had already done so much for us but I still had one last request. I wanted to take the bed from the giant room with me. Like I mentioned before, it inflates and adjust to my hips and back, it is awesome. Surely this was pushing the envelope but it was necessary for my comfort...we still have 10 days to go! The nurse happily moved the bed and didn't make me feel like I was being a pain at all. We also took the Lazboy recliner back with us, a new refrigerator (our old one disappeared), and a new fancy bedside table (why not, we were on a roll). It was really quite the production...I realize this must have looked crazy but I'm pregnant and in a temporary prison, I might as well be comfortable.

Today, we are happily back in our home and will not be moving until this babe is born and we are allowed to graduate to the mother/baby unit :)

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We moved....

...next door!

My old room was directly across from the nurses' station and every morning at 7am (shift change) there was a loud cackling from the nursing staff as they settled in and exchanged report. Usually, I am up pretty early but lately I've had trouble falling back to sleep after my 3am meds/vitals so I've been getting a little grumpy with all the noise. This morning my very thoughtful nurse mentioned that the patient in the very coveted corner room had delivered as was moving upstairs to mother/baby. She offered me the corner room as a quieter option.

The corner room is tucked away off the path of the main hall. Not only is this room MUCH quieter, it is gianormous with a gianormous bathroom. I also have a new view which happens to be very pretty. Another fun surprise is that my new bed inflates to adjust to points of pressure...this is an amazing feature. I can't believe they've had beds like this the whole time and I never knew about them. I'm pretty sure my last bed was at least 10 years old. The mattress was caved in even before my large butt landed on it.

The only negative I can come up with is that the TV is in an odd spot. I had a feeling this might be a bigger issue for Greg than it was for me. So I asked the nurse if it was possible to move the large blue Lazboy, that Greg has been lounging in, from our old room to the new one. The chair is massive but it is on wheels. I'm glad I asked, the chair easily moved with us and I know Greg will be excited when he sees it in our new place!

I should probably post updates about baby too! Baby continues to impress our doctors and nurses with her stellar performances on the monitor everyday. They continue to use the words "active, happy, mature, content, and feisty" to describe her. Which makes me one happy mama! I keep telling everyone if baby is happy, I am happy. I have been told, on more than one occasion, that this will continue to be true well after she is born and may become the motto to my life. I have no doubt a happy baby equals happy parents.

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Not a morning baby

Look at this face. I've seen this expression before....guess who?

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Speed Racer

I had made my peace with the idea that I was going to be confined to the Labor and Delivery unit of this hospital for approximately 4 weeks. Over the weekend, my nurse asked if I'd been down to the cafeteria or outside to the courtyard at all? I explained that my doctors had told me from the beginning that I was not allowed to leave the floor. She kept bringing up the issue every time she came in my room. I wanted to tell her to stop rubbing it in!

Later that day, one of my OBs came by with the daily line of questions and quick exam. He was about to leave the room when my nurse popped in the door and said, what about letting this lady have a wheelchair ride?? She even went on to say how well things were looking and that she thought it would be good for me to have a change of scenery. My OB looked pretty hesitant. I have to admit the idea was exciting but I didn't want to push my doctor out of his comfort zone. Finally he said if I was up to it, he was okay with it and left before I could say anything.

The nurse offered to call a volunteer to take me on my outing but I knew I wanted to wait for Greg. Greg had just left to run some errands so I called him and gave him the exciting news hoping he would hear the urgency in my voice, finish his errands faster and hurry back! While he was gone I contemplated all the places we could go. The problem was that I didn't know the hospital very well, all I'd really seen was the L&D unit, I came to the conclusion I didn't care where we went just as long as I was out of this room!

When the nurse pulled the wheelchair up to my room Greg looked even more excited than me. It was a pretty deluxe chair. As soon as I sat down Greg took off speeding down the hall! The nurse laughed but I was sure she was going to stop him and revoke my privileges. Even worse, I thought one of my doctors would see me and order me back to bed. I told Greg to behave, I didn't want to get in trouble before we had even left the unit!

Getting into the elevator was a challenge. Greg bumped the chair (and me) into the walls and struggled to make room for the other visitors. A man and a woman waited patiently then got in the elevator with us. The woman looked at me and asked, "Are you in labor Dear?" I answered with the first words that came to my mind, "No, I live here." She looked confused. It seemed like she wanted to respond but the elevator doors opened and Greg pushed me out laughing hysterically.

Greg is a very good and cautious driver, in a car. I never would have guessed he would be a speeder when it came to driving a wheelchair (what will he do with a stroller??). This led to lots of questionable looks as he sped his 81/2 month pregnant wife through the cafeteria. I felt a little self conscious, like maybe people thought I was really hungry. We had a little snack and then Greg told me he wanted to take me to the aquarium. I didn't know how far away the aquarium was but Greg assured me he knew a short cut.

There was no short cut, just more of Greg's speeding! The aquarium was beautiful and located in the middle of a room full of windows. Even though I have a window in my room it doesn't get a lot of sunlight. The warm sun felt amazing on my skin. It truly is the little things that can make such difference here in the hospital! I made it back to L&D in one piece but not without more speeding and a minor crash into a Ronald McDonald statue. It was a very exciting outing :) I had such a good time with my hubby. I love hanging out with him and he never fails to make me smile.

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33 Weeks

One week in the hospital down! Yesterday we had an ultrasound and celebrated the fact that everything looks stable (baby does not appear to be trying to escape my womb :) My doctors were extremely pleased to see that all these contractions do not seem to be putting me in preterm labor...woohoo! So baby will continue cooking as planned. We are so relieved!

We also had another celebration yesterday. Greg's coworkers gave him a baby shower completely unannounced! I didn't know people had "man" showers but I'm so grateful for their generosity! We received so many nice gifts for baby. The couple weeks that I was home from the hospital on bedrest I made a short list for Greg so we would have the bare minimum...a pack of diapers, wipes, a few onesies, 2 bottles, some burp clothes, and a few receiving blankets. Seriously, those were our supplies! Now we are well equipped with things like a boppy pillow, baby monitor, diaper genie, hooded towels, a beautiful collection of blankets/clothing and so much more. The picture is one of 3 loads Greg brought up from his car...I am still in shock.

I've been told this was all organized by one administrative assistant who is currently more pregnant than I am (with her first baby...a girl). I kind of figured there must have been a woman behind all this, everything was exactly on track with what we needed. Plus, Greg works with a large group of men, mostly older men. Too bad they didn't take any pictures, I would have loved to have seen all these guys sitting around eating pink cake and passing around pink outfits! Back to the party planner. How can I possibly thank this woman enough for organizing all this? Maybe a house cleaning service as a thank you since she will be busy with her own little one very soon? What she did for us (in her 9th month of pregnancy!) was so thoughtful and I hope I get a chance to meet her!

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Distractions

Distractions are good...make that crucial.

Knitting is actually very relaxing. It is also much more challenging than I realized. I like it because following a pattern requires a lot of focus and keeps my mind occupied. This hat is my first project and I am addicted. I sized the hat for a 9 month old so Baby Girl will be ready for her first winter next year.

I had a very sweet visitor bring me lunch and this hyacinth today (thank you Liese)! Hyacinth happen to be my favorite Spring flower, the smell is intoxicating, I rate it up there with orange blossoms. I am looking forward to watching the flowers bloom during our stay! It makes it feel like Spring is around the corner!

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Reputation

I am doing my very best to be a well behaved patient during this stay. It is tough. Hospital life is not so easy. To my great dismay I have been informed that my torture device (IV portal) will remain unnaturally lodged in my arm until the delivery...booo. Even better, the port has to be moved (reinstalled) into a new vein every 3-5 days. I met this mile marker last night and let me tell you I was not pleased. But I didn't say anything I let the nurse stab me and even thanked her for the convenient placement (in my left forearm) which allows me a little more mobility.

This morning I woke up around 6am and noticed I was contracting hard. I realized in my groggy stupor that no one had bothered to wake me from my beauty sleep at the regular 3am. Did I even get my medication? I couldn't remember. I paged my nurse and asked her if I'd had my 3am dose? She said no, that "something happened to it at the pharmacy" and that she hadn't worried about it because I never woke up or reported any contractions. Hmmmm...remember that animal tranquilizer you gave me last night, also known as ambien? I probably could have slept through a band concert. Not to mention, this is a scheduled medication. It is used to prevent my contractions, I get it every 6 hours regardless of how I am feeling.

She then said she would give me a dose now and just adjust my schedule. Arrrrrr....I really liked my schedule (3am, 9am,3pm, 9pm) because I only have to be disturbed once while I'm sleeping (3am). Changing the schedule to 6am, 12pm, 6pm, 12am means I will have to wake up at midnight then again super early in the morning. Even though I was thoroughly annoyed, I did not want to make a scene. I politely let her know if it was possible to work my way back to the old schedule over the next few days, I would appreciate it.

After shift change at 7am I met my new nurse, she seemed nice enough. At 9am (after knowing me for approximately 2 hours) she wanted to have a discussion with me. She wanted to discuss asking my doctors to insert a central line instead of keeping my IV. I will not go into the details of a central line. I will just say that instead of going into a blood vessel in your arm, they are inserted into a much larger vessel in the chest. They are often used to give long term medications, chemo therapy, or nutrition supplements (for weeks/months).

The nurse thought this would be a great idea because it could be left in place until I deliver, no more IVs to start. That sounds good right...less pokes for me...less IVs to start for her? Wrong...this is a VERY invasive procedure. I've mentioned before that my doctors can have varying opinions about my plan of care. Not one of my EIGHT doctors have suggested that we take this type of extreme action. I am here as a precaution, to be close to the operating room, to have some monitoring, that is all.

At this point I think I lost it. After making this "suggestion" the nurse told me to think about it and left the room for about an hour. That hour was just enough time for all the pent up hostility to come rising up and out of me. When she came back to the room all I could say was...No! No central line. I don't want one, I don't need one, I won't have one!! I know it probably came out sounding harsh, but I could not contain myself.

I've noticed that my being a nurse practitioner is common knowledge around here. I'm wondering if there is a large red flag on my chart that says "HEALTHCARE WORKER". I know there is a stereotype that healthcare workers make terrible patients and I have no desire to validate this stereotype or to earn a bad reputation at this hospital (especially with 3 weeks to go). But I have to admit it is becoming more and more difficult each day to keep my mouth shut! Every nurse I meet seems to want to take charge and change my plan or schedule. I'm really hoping to have a nice a routine here in the near future so we can all get on the same page! Sorry if this sounds like an angry rant, just a bit frustrated today!

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A Room with a View

I've been here before. From start to finish yesterday felt like I was reliving our admission from 2 weeks ago. First, we went to Dr. P's office for a quick ultrasound to measure my cervix and what do you know, short again..ugh! I can't say I was super surprised because my contractions have been coming fast and furious. At least the admission was planned this time around and I already had my bag of essentials waiting in the car. Despite this being a scheduled event, the nurses on the L&D unit still looked at us like, who are you and what are you doing here? I explained that we were there to be admitted, Dr. P sent us over and Dr. F (this is the OB we have chosen for our c-section) was expecting us. The nurses appeared largely inconvenienced by this and repeatedly stated that no one informed them we were checking in (I'm sorry but that is neither my fault/problem so please stop making me feel bad!). They finally got in touch with my OB (whom they refer to as "c-dawg"....I don't know what to make of this) and started searching for a room assignment.

Eventually the triage nurse came over to escort us to our room repeatedly stating "we are going to take great care of you"...well I would hope so. Then she led us down an all too familiar hall to the exact room I stayed in during my last visit!!! I'm actually quite pleased about this. Our room is very large and comfy. We already know where everything is and I have a view of the hospital entrance, some trees and grass! This is very important to me. Spring is a big deal here in Chicago, something residents anticipate for months after being locked up for the duration of the winter. I have been anxiously waiting for the grass to turn green or a single leaf to appear on a tree. I was a little concerned I might miss this transformation but I'm thrilled to have my own private view!

My rules and restrictions are mostly the same except they have increased my out of bed time to a whopping 60 minutes! This means in addition to getting up for a shower I can now use some of that time to walk around the halls of the L&D unit. The night nurse attempted to get me privileges to leave the unit so I could go to more exciting places like the cafeteria or outside in the courtyard but I was denied. That's okay. My only complaint is the small plastic tube they forced into my wrist yesterday, also known as a hep lock. This is basically just an IV portal available for emergency access. It is not currently hooked up to anything which is frustrating because it is very uncomfortable, on the verge of painful (especially when I catch my hand on something). I spoke to Dr. P about this when he came to visit this morning and he said he would talk to Dr. F (she ordered the torture device) about the potential of removing it if I am stable.

Maybe Dr. P was just trying to get on my good side before announcing that he is leaving tomorrow to Florida for a Disney cruise with his kids...it is Spring Break. I probably would have had a bit of a melt down if he was going to be gone for any longer than a week. Instead, I calmly wished him a wonderful trip and told him it was okay because this baby isn't going to be born next week anyway. Did I mention we are 32 weeks? Well we are...it's kind of a big deal :)

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Sophisticated Pink

Our Nursery....

I feel incredibly lucky to have had theses last 2 weeks to put the finishing touches on the nursery. I am a planner and having this time was like therapy for me! Don't ask me how this nursery turned out so pink. I've never been a very "frilly" or "girlie" girl. For those of you who knew me as a child, I was the kid on the playground chasing the boys, playing kick ball, or attempting something unruly with the tetherball (most dangerous playground activity ever). I don't think I ever owned anything pink until I went to college.

Early on I pictured a nursery with primary colors, maybe red and yellow. But at Christmas we received a large package from Greg's family filled with pink baby clothes. At that point I knew it was inevitable, why fight the pink? I decided I could still have a pink nursery without going completely frilly fru fru princess. So this is the result. For a not so girlie girl, I feel quite comfy amongst all the pink and I hope Baby Girl likes it too!