Thankful Tuesday

1. Yesterday I entered the third trimester, and tomorrow I'll be 27 weeks! I took reaching the 3rd trimester before giving birth for granted with my last two pregnancies, but I certainly am not taking it for granted this time! As of today I've completed 5 weeks of bed rest.

2. We have a name picked out! This is not an easy task for Paul and I, as our taste in names has very little overlap, but we have now agreed upon a total of four first and middle name combinations. The third one we agreed upon (Deborah Marie) might never be used. Of all the name combinations we have come up with, Nadia Renee is my favorite since Nadia means "hope" and Renee means "reborn."

3. Our little one's anemia wasn't any worse yesterday! Measuring the velocity of the blood flow in the mid-cerebral artery is going to get trickier and trickier as time goes by because the measurement has to be done when he's not doing his practice breathing. Many of the measurements had to be discarded yesterday because he was breathing at the time. My next appointment is scheduled for 9am on Thursday. As of today it's been 7 days since the first transfusion, which means the doctor was wrong last week when he predicted I wouldn't even go one week between transfusions. PTL!

4. Paul grilled some burgers for me on Sunday evening. This may not seem like a big deal, but I had been craving a burger for weeks. I have had very little control over what I've eaten the past 5 weeks since most of the time I've been eating hospital food or what someone from our church has ever so graciously provided. It was nice to have that craving satisfied!

5. I weighed myself this morning, and I have only gained one pound over the past 10 days! I've gained a total of 14 pounds thus far. I tried to gain less than 30 pounds during my last two pregnancies, but I didn't succeed either time. This time I really think I'll be able to keep my weight gain under 25 lbs. YAY!

6. I took a shower this morning! It felt so heavenly. My hair felt ever so gross yesterday, but I couldn't endure the pain of standing up. I had a blood patch around 3pm yesterday, and within 30 minutes I had relief from the spinal headache! I was discharged from the labor and delivery ward at 4pm. I've had 6 iv ports over the past 5 weeks. I wonder how long I can go before the next one? I'm planning on asking for only local anesthesia plus conscious sedation for the future fetal blood transfusions. I am undecided regarding the c-section. I had preferred the spinal I had with Ian over the general anesthesia I had with Nadia, but after this experience I'm not sure I ever want another lumbar puncture. The only downside to feeling a zillion times better today is that I feel like conquering the world today. I realized I was standing up too much when my belly started cramping up. It's so hard to stay on bed rest when I see that the kitchen floor needs to be swept, there are dirty dishes in the sink, etc. Paul has been incredible, but I just wish I could help out more. I try to remind myself that the best way I can help is to do whatever it takes to keep this little guy in me for as many more weeks as possible.

7. Ian slept through the night last night, even without Melatonin or Motrin. He fell asleep in the car at 7:45pm on the way home from Grandma and Pop Pop's house. Paul put a diaper on him and tucked him in bed at 8pm, and he slept until 6:35am.

8. Yesterday morning Paul drove me to a Dunkin' Donuts about 30 minutes from our house where we met my friend, Cheri. She then drove me to Harrisburg and then picked me up 5 hours later and drove me to Paul's parents' house. The ride down was torturous. I came very close to fainting or throwing up on multiple occasions. The ride back was a little uncomfortable due to my back, but it was a million times better than the trip down.

9. Paul's parents came and took the kids from our house to their house on Sunday evening. They watched them until 7pm (when Paul arrived from PSU to take us home). The kids had fun swimming in Grandma's pool and enjoyed spending some time with Shawn (cousin) as well as QJ (our great nephew who is 3 months older than Ian). Paul will be taking the kids and I back to their house tomorrow night, as Paul's dad is going to take me to the hospital on Thursday morning. We greatly appreciate all the help they've given us the past five weeks!!!

10. We're back on Blue Shield insurance. What a relief to not need to worry about needing to pay any medical bills from yesterday through at least the next six months. I'm still praying the other insurance will come through and pay for the MFM visits and hospitalizations that took place in May and June.