26 weeks

I want to document these past few days so that I will remember everything and see how God has carried us through once we pass this storm.
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Go back a couple of weeks:
24 weeks pregnant: strong contractions start, but they are irregular. I mention them to my doctor at a routine appointment and he says, "It's normal."

25 weeks pregnant: strong contractions get stronger and more frequent. I don't call the doctor b/c he said it was "normal" and I just tell myself that it's all OK.

26 weeks, 4 days pregnant (01/26): strong contractions are painful and I am having at least 10 an hour. We went to our homeschool co-op group in the morning, but when we got home around 1 p.m. I call the doctor. I tell them that I am having contractions and that I am also cramping pretty badly. They tell me to come in right away. Scott stays home with the kiddos b/c we both assumed that I would be home in just a little while.

01/26, 2:00 p.m. - I arrive at the doctor's office where I am taken back to see a midwife and nurse. They ask me a lot of questions, do a few tests to check for infection, "check" me, and then hook me up to a monitor.

2:30 p.m. - Midwife comes into the room, rips off the sheet of paper that has recorded my contractions, runs (literally) out of the room.

2:33 p.m. - Midwife and doctor tell me, "You've just won yourself a trip to the hospital." My contractions were very regular and very strong (some registering 100 on the scale).

3:00 p.m. - I am in the waiting room of the hospital. Waiting alone. I am also blinking back tears because Scott is still not there, and I really need him by this point.

3:25 p.m. - I am in the urgent care room, and I have just changed clothes. Scott walks in. Thank goodness.

3:30 p.m. - I am allowed to drink water, and the nurse starts an IV.

3:35 p.m. - I am hooked up to another monitor, and the contractions are still strong.

3:40 p.m. - A midwife comes in and talks to Scott and me about what is going to happen: I will be given a full bag of fluids at a fast rate to try to stop the contractions. If that doesn't work, I will be given medication until my contractions finally stop.

4:30 p.m. - I am freezing at this point, laying under a sheet and three blankets. My contractions have slowed slightly, but they are still strong. The midwife comes in the room to tell me that she is thinking of giving me the medication when another very strong contraction starts.

4:35 p.m. - Nurse comes in my room and gives me a shot.

8:00 p.m. - Contractions have lessened considerably.

8:30 p.m. - Midwife comes back in and tell us that the perinatologist has left the hospital for the night. She has spoken with my regular doctor, and they have agreed to let me go home that night. I am told that what I am experiencing is going to be my "normal" -my "base line"- for the remainder of this pregnancy. Not to complain, but that doesn't sound like much fun.

It is at this point that I have lost track of time. I don't know what time we left the hospital, but it was late and raining.

01/27, 7:30 a.m. - I get up and shower. I get ready.

8:30 a.m. - I call the doctor's office and the nurse says she will make an appointment with the perinatal office.

10:00 a.m. - Nurse calls and says that my appointment will be on Monday so that I can see the perinatologist and be right next door to my OB's office.

11:00 a.m. - I eat for the first time today. Strawberries and a leftover burrito.

12:00 p.m. - I pick up the kiddos from my in-law's house and come home.

1:30 p.m. - Scott, the kiddos, and I go to Home Depot. I thought it would be good to get out of the house for a few minutes and get some fresh air. I thought wrong.

1:35 p.m. - We are driving to Home Depot, and I start feeling pretty bad.

1:45 p.m. - We are walking around Home Depot and I am starting to look at empty boxes and buckets thinking, "Oh my word, I think I need one of those."

1:47 p.m. - I have lost track of Scott, but of course both Ella Beth and Landon are right by my side. I tell them, we are going to the bathroom NOW!

1:48 p.m. - I am in a bathroom stall puking my guts up. It was horrible. And, let me just say, when you forget that you've eaten RED strawberries and you start throwing up a lot of RED stuff...it can really freak you out.

1:50 p.m. - A lady is knocking on my stall door asking if I'm ok. Ella Beth says, "It's my mommy in there. She's throwing up. She's been sick, and she's throwing up a LOT." Nice. Landon starts telling this lady, "My mommy has to go back to the hospital. Her belly is sick."

1:55 p.m. - I am still throwing up, and I am just praying that the lady out there with my children is a nice lady and is not thinking of a way to kidnap them.

2:00 p.m. - I come out of the stall and the lady says, "Oh bless your heart." I try to smile, but I am sure it never actually made its way to my face. I wash up, and we head off to find Scott.

2:03 p.m. - We find Scott in line and Landon says, "Mommy had to throw up." Nice.

2:20 p.m. - I lay down to rest on our bed with Gatorade and Saltine crackers close by.

5:30 p.m. - I eat some beans and cornbread for supper. It stays down.

9:00 p.m. - Scott and I go to bed.

01/28, 7:00 a.m. - Scott leaves to go to work. :(

7:45 a.m. - I get up and get breakfast for Landon.

8:10 a.m. - Ella Beth gets up and I make her breakfast.

9:00 a.m. - I can not eat. Anything. So, I get a shower and get ready. Lucky for me, the kiddos are in a very good mood and play well together all morning.

10:30 a.m. - Ella Beth requests for me to come to a tea party in her room.

11:30 a.m. - I eat lunch successfully, but realize that I will not be eating anything else for the rest of the day b/c I still don't feel "right."

12:30 p.m. - Contractions start. But, I remember that this is my "new normal" and think of what to do with the kiddos. Luckily, they want to play together. So I let them.

2:30 p.m. - I realize that we never had school yesterday, so we have school. It was good to sit and work with Ella Beth while Landon did some learning games on the computer.

3:30 p.m. - Scott's garage door opens, and I feel a little relief. And I know he will let me take it as easy as possible for the rest of the day. I am thankful.