Happy 31 weeks and Happy Halloween!

My hubby and I did the pumpkin painting on my belly today! We joked about this being Cooper's first halloween costume :) I didn't wear make-up to be even more terrifying...oh, alright, I just wasn't in the mood...but, it does bring up the fright factor!

Cooper 31 weeks!

31 weeks...we had our weekly u/s this morning and things continue to look stable. We've had several reassuring u/s over the last 7 weeks but I still can't allow myself to relax. What I know for certainty is that life can change in an instant. My prayer is that the next 3 weeks hurry up and are uneventful! Oh yeah, and they say he weighs 4lb 4oz!!! He continues to be a week ahead in growth and continues to do beautifully on ALL of his NST...he amazes me :)

Cooper is playing with his feet in this one! It was so cute to watch his little fingers wiggle and play with his toes...


He's looking right at you in this one~ can you see the chubby cheeks?

We're painting a pumpkin on my stomach tomorrow in celebration of Halloween and for turning 31 weeks! I'll post some pics tomorrow :)

Happy Cat Day~

Dear Delilah,

Today is national cat day! Mommy can't be there to spoil you but I've given daddy orders to give you the "good stuff" for dinner tonight. Thank you for being loving and loyal.

Love, Mommy

**For those of you that missed reading a comment that I had made on Lily's blog regarding my cat's super genius status~ Please, know that one of her talents is that she can read! She reads mommy's blogs everyday. Actually, she's my biggest fan :) ** Oh, and I wish that I could tell you that this craziness is b/c I've in the hospital for 48 days, its not, I just REALLY love my cat**

Delilah taking a nap with Daddy~


Delilah doing what she does best...but, isn't she sweet?

She owns our house actually, we just kinda live with her...

Delilah loves to borrow mommy's scarves...

This is a cat that is used to getting her picture taken...

Boy, is she going to be pissed when we bring a minitature human home with us that is super noisey...Make room for Cooper, Dee! Mommy will be home soon....

Cooper's baby shower...

We had a baby shower for Cooper yesterday in the sunroom in the hospital cafeteria. My sister hosted the shower and did such a great job decorating a hospital cafeteria room! My nieces and nephew did a banner for the wall and it was so cute! I had such a great time being out of the room but was exhausted afterwards! My nurse wanted me to go down to the shower on a stretcher but I refused...I felt almost human and the wheelchair made things much easier to get around the room and visit. It felt great to see my family and friends all in one room and knowing that they are just as excited as we are to meet Cooper means the world to us. My sister found great ways to include Lily in the baby shower and it touches my heart to know that there are others that continue to miss her as much as my hubby and I do...

Here are just a few pictures of the baby shower~

Here are Cooper's goodies...I just can't wait to use all these things with him!


My sis got this frame...An angel looking over a baby...just like Lily is watching over Cooper~

Lily was there at the shower in spirit and we all continue to love her and miss her everyday!

The cake and the little cradles filled with candy that my sis did for our guests~

The banner that my nieces and nephew did for the shower...its kinda hard to read but it has Cooper's name on it with a bunch of artwork from Clayre and RJ (2 y.o. twin bro/sis), Abbi (5), Gracie (8) and Caitlyn (10)...so cute! Hehehe...thats my mom's head in the bottom right of the pic :)

We had a great day but it had its bittersweet moments, too. I just can't wait to meet him and these thoughts consume my daydreams. I just can't wait to have him here safely in my arms...

One month from today~

We'll be meeting a certain little boy :)

I'll be 30 weeks tomorrow! I just cannot believe that we have made it this far! I remember my ob-gyn talking about "if you're still pregnant at 28 weeks..." and here we are at 30 weeks!!!

Everything continues to look stable by the grace of God. They check his fluid level and if there is any fluid behind the placenta (which would indicate that the uterine wall is starting to thin) and both look great. It looks like we'll do a second round of steriods at 32 weeks and they're most likely also going to move me to a room closer to the O.R. I've kinda gotten used to this room and I'll miss (almost) everyone up here but will do whatever they recommend.

Just for kicks I have to add this "package" picture...Cooper is already an exhibitionist :) He'll be so embarassed one day to know that his goods were on the internet...

5 weeks down and 5 weeks to go!

I've been in the hospital for 5 weeks today! Halfway there and I'm hoping that time keeps on trucking away!

We had our weekly ultrasound this morning and my peri wasn't there so we met with another peri in the group. This peri is rather familiar with our case because he's rounded on me several times in the hospital but I just really love in my regular peri...But, he did a very thorough u/s and everything continues to look stable. Cooper looks great! He weighs 3 lb. 2 oz. which is funny because my hubby and I were taking bets on what his weight would be today. I said 3.1 and he said 3.3...so, if we had put money on it than we would both be good :)

They've put me on Glyburide for my gestational diabetes because I just can't seem to key in my fasting blood sugars. I control my blood sugars through the day with diet but my fasting just won't cooperate! I came in here completely medicine free and was just taking prenatals. Since I've been here I've been on Tamiflu for 10 days, on Protonix in the morning because of TERRIBLE heartburn (water was giving me heartburn if that tells you anything!) and now I'm on Glyburide for my gestational diabetes. The only drug that I feel guilty for taking is the Tamiflu because the effects on the baby are unknown and that terrifies me. I almost felt like my arm was twisted in taking it because my ob was telling me all these terrible stories about these pregnant women in the ICU on ventilators and I have to tell you that the scare tactic worked! I've been on a ventilator before and will do almost anything if threatened with the remote possiblity of being on one again.

Otherwise, things are going rather smoothly. My spirits are up and down. Sometimes I feel like I can do anything and other days are spent in private pity-parties. I actually started crying in front of my nurse yesterday which if you know me IRL than you know that my tears are something that are kept private and only truly shared IRL with a very few people. Here I am crying in front of a virtual stranger. I didn't know her before this and chances are that our contact after this will be minimal (I do plan on bringing Cooper to visit after flu season is over) and I'm crying without hesitation. You begin to feel very vulnerable here and vulnerability isn't a quality that I'm in the mood for these days. I'm a rather opinionated and blunt person but find myself being rather weak inside this room.

I don't know if I've mentioned this yet and am too lazy to go through old posts, but the c-section has been scheduled for November 23rd so we'll have our little blessing on the week on Thanksgiving. I can't think of anything more wonderful to happen at a time of the year where people focus on their blessings...and,what a wonderful blessing he will be for our family.

"My name is Cooper!"

I speak a lot to Cooper during the day and always make a point of using his name so that the day that we meet he'll know my voice. I started thinking last night that he may not know exactly what his name is because he's been called either "stinker" or "little rascal" twice a day for the last 4.5 weeks. The nurses try to get him to stay on the NST but he's not always cooperative and the nurses will say "Come on, you little stinker!"....You get the point :)

This was really funny to me...or either I really am losing my mind from being here too long!

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends~ enjoy the extra time with family and friends, good food and what would Thanksgiving be without football?

I have a lot of time on my hands people...giving the love to all my peeps :)

Hello long awaited third trimester!

My own mini-goal was 28 weeks....TADA! I made it!!! I am beyond pumped to be at this goal and the next one is 32 weeks which actually feels attainable at this stage in the game.

I've been reading a great book called "What to do when your baby is premature" by Joseph Garcia-Prats, M.D. and Sharon Simmons Hornfishcher, R.N., B.S.N. Which is a great handbook that deals with high-risk pregnancy and caring for the preterm infant. I've learned some really useful and sometimes scary things from this book. Babies born at 28 to 32 weeks gestation have a survival rate in excess of 90 percent which is a huge relief. A baby born during this time frame will most likely spend 8 to 12 weeks in the NICU which is sad because that would mean we would have to leave our little man here :( This book goes over everything that a 28 weeker to 32 weeker must face on the outside and a great look into how life in a NICU could be for Cooper and for mommy and Daddy. Again, I'm in a frame of mind that I can do this but the type A in me wants to be prepared for the possiblities! I would highly recommend this book to any parents that maybe walking down this very same road. I know that I didn't understand how stressful a high-risk pregnancy could be~ boy, was I naive?

We met with my peri yesterday and everything continues to look stable with my uterus. Actually, he hasn't seen any changes with my uterus in the last 2 months! My peri is completely confident that we'll make it to 34 weeks and the c-section has actually been scheduled for November 23rd...which is literally only 6 weeks away!

So, on a lighter note~ October is Pregnancy and Infant loss awareness month and breast cancer awareness month BUT did you know that October 29th is national cat day? Giving a shout out to all my cat lovers out there! Please visit your local shelter on October 29th, offering love and life by adopting a homeless cat. The goal of National Cat Day is to facilitate the adoption of 10,000 shelter cats nationwide on October 29th.

Delilah is such a good sport :)

"Thousands of years ago, cats were worshipped as gods. Cats have never forgotten this." ~Colleen Paige

Ready for this day to be over!

So, I failed my 3 hour glucose test. I can now add Gestational Diabetes to my list of worries! As if the hospital food couldn't get any worse! They are going to try to manage my GD with diet first and they are going to do accuchecks four times a day. If things can't be managed with diet than the only other option would be insulin or some type of hypoglycemic pill. I honestly didn't need this with everything else that I have to worry about on a daily basis. Isn't worrying about your uterus exploding everyday enough?

Here's the best part of my day (please, note sarcasm) . The doctor that did rounds on me on Monday has tested positive for the swine flu. I'm now on isolation precautions so the wheelchair rides that were the highlight of my day are a no go for the next 10 days. Anyone that enters my room must wear a mask and I'll be on prophylactic Tamaflu for 10 days, also.

And, run over to Lily's blog to see another reason why I'm just over this day....

All though You're invisible, I'll trust the Unseen

*Turn off player before watching video*

This has always been one of my favorite songs but has become even more special to me since I've been in the hospital. My hubby, family and friends have been wonderful with all of their visits but I'm mostly alone during the day. The alone time gives you a lot of time to dream up all the bad things that could happen.

I've amped up my bible time, praying, and listening to only positive music. This song reminds me though that I'm never alone and God is always there...Like the lyrics of the song say "I'll trust the unseen."

Delilah

This is my spoiled cat, Delilah, laying on our bed with her daddy on Thursday night. By the time that this picture was taken I had been gone for 21 days...I miss her but I'm pretty sure she's un-phased...

Cats!

I'm pretty sure that she's going to love my hubby more than me by the time that Cooper and I come home...I should get a dog! More loyalty!

YIPPEEEE!!!!

This is a happy post...I'm doing a happy dance while typing and pretty much nothing could ruin my mood today.

We had a great ultrasound this morning which showed a very happy and healthy Cooper and a very stable uterus. I talked with my peri about the two episodes of contractions this week (had 2 last night during NST) and he blew them off completely. He's not worried in the slightest. I expressed to him that I'm more paranoid because of some of the comments and looks I get from the nurses when I have contractions. One of those comments was that I'm the ticking time bomb on the hall. I mean, how would you feel? He was pissed that someone would say that and wanted to know what nurse it was and I told him that I would tell him on the day I left the hospital. I don't want to be treated any differently for being a rat...My peri is super encouraging and thinks that I'm doing a good job and everything is going great.

Anyhow moving on...Cooper is now weighing 2 lb 5 oz and is doing beautifully. My uterus is stable and nothing has changed since last week. I feel much more grounded today and will remind myself of all my peri's words when I start to have a freak out :) Here are the pics from this morning~ please, forgive the quality because I'm having to do wierd things to upload pics without my scanner....