General Update

This weekend marks five years since Paul and I first started "trying" to have a baby. Two miscarriages followed by two and a half years of infertility has been difficult so despite all of the setbacks we've had with this pregnancy, we are still so so grateful to have made it this far, to have gotten as much good news on Baby Z as we've gotten (I have lost count of how many doctors and nurses have said just "how good her activity level and heart rate looks for her gestational age"). I did have another bleed late Tuesday night which led to me being monitored for another 26 hours non-stop but the bleeding slowed again and the monitoring showed Baby Z was not in distress and I wasn't in labor. They downgraded me back to "stable" Wednesday afternoon and so far, we have not had any bleeding since. I'm terrified we're going to, though, but maybe it's done for a while. We shall see.

They are giving me round two of steroid shots since the bleeding has started up and it's been four weeks since our last set. The steroid shots lose their potency/helpfulness after 2-2 1/2 weeks so they want to be sure I've had another round "just in case". I get the second shot tomorrow and then 48 hours later, they should begin to be effective. I'll feel a lot better if we breeze through the weekend without having to deliver (or threatening to deliver).

Today marks 29 weeks of gestation. It's still too early for me to feel comfortable having her here, but there is a high survival rate at this age so at least we've made it this far. But c'mon 33 weeks!

I have been very blessed by visitors this week. Thankful for friends who drop everything to come be with me while my husband is in the ER (even though I said I didn't need her to), friends who come at the drop of a hat and stay late until I'm ready to go to sleep, family members who are willing to drive (with a newborn, even) over and hour and a half just for a quick visit (and a special delivery of preemie clothes), a sister-in-law who keeps me grounded and fills me in on what's going on at work so I can feel like I'm still connected, friends who will help clean our house since Paul hasn't been able to keep caught up, a brother-in-law who runs to the store to bring Paul some necessities while he feels like he can hardly move, and a mother-in-law who is picking up a lot of slack watching our dog, feeding Paul and taking care of him with the kidney stone and still is willing to spend hours sitting in my room just because I've had a stressful day and didn't want to be alone. Of course, I'm also thankful for all of the Facebook messages, emails and phone calls from everyone who is concerned but doesn't want to impose. It's hard to be dealing with everything happening sometimes, but I feel way more blessed than I do not. God has placed so many special and supportive people in my life -- it's overwhelming.

Paul is still working on passing that stubborn stone. The pain hasn't been as excruciating for him since Monday (probably due to the meds) but he is still very uncomfortable. He came by this hospital this morning and had felt like he really had to relieve himself when the power flickered just as he'd stepped on the elevator. The doors closed and an announcement saying "sorry, we're having technical difficulties" came on the speaker in the elevator. He started pushing buttons to no prevail and was afraid he'd have to pee in the elevator! HAHA! But thankfully, he pushed the alarm button and the doors opened. Yikes. He might be navigating the stairs from now on until it passes.

Thanks for continuing to pray for us!  It comforts me more than you know!!