Home Sweet (but crazy) Home

I know. . .I know! I've been home for a week now and I have not blogged at all. My apologies and hopefully I will get better about this. After all, what else do I have to do. . .right?

I made it home last Wednesday and it was the best feeling in the world! Even though I am on strict bed rest, it's wonderful to be able to cuddle with my girls in bed and give them kisses anytime I want to! Physically, it's much harder than being in the hospital because there are so many temptations. . .I just want to get up and get things done. However, emotionally I don't think I could have made it another day in the hospital. I just needed to get home to my family.

The first night I was at home was a very restless one for ALL of us. Sean has to set the alarm for 2:00 every morning for me to take my medicine which doesn't bode well when we typically don't go to bed until 11:30 or 12:00 in the evening as it is. Between Cooper doing the River Dance on my bladder, the thunder storms early that morning and just the pure excitement of being home, I think I got about 3 hours of sleep.

Meghan woke up Thursday morning complaining of a headache, and we just chalked it up to not sleeping well. When she crawled into bed with me and fell asleep for two hours, we knew there was a problem. When she woke up, her temperature was over 101 degrees. . .ugh!! We called the pediatrician because with the anti-inflammatory medicine she is on for her arthritis, we weren't sure what we could give her for the fever. Our pediatrician steered us in the right direction and told us that if she was still running a fever on Friday to bring her in. She slept off and on most of the day Thursday and as much as Daddy was trying to keep some distance between us so she wouldn't get me sick, there is nothing like cuddle time when your baby is not feeling well.

Friday we woke up and Meghan was still running a very high fever, so Sean scooped her up and headed into the doctor's office. While he was there, we got a phone call from Sean's brother (in Colorado) informing us that he and his wife were in the hospital. Now, let me fill in the holes here on this story. Sean's brother Paul and his wife Kathy found out they were expecting around the same time we did. Kathy's due date is EXACTLY one week earlier than mine, but they also found out that they were having TWINS! About three months ago, they found out that one of the twins had not survived. However, for the safety of the surviving baby, Kathy was going to have to carry BOTH babies until she delivered. OK. . .so back to last Friday. Kathy had not felt Amelia move in about 12 hours, so Paul took her to the hospital. After blood work and monitoring, they determined that Amelia was in distress, so the doctor decided to do an emergency c-section to deliver both babies. Now keep in mind that Sean's mother, who lives in Colorado, is here with us because it looked like Cooper was going to be arriving early. Now we get this call that Amelia is arriving early, and Sean's mother is here in Texas. . .UGH!! I think I cried all day Friday because my heart was breaking for Paul and Kathy and because I felt so guilty that Sue could not be with them. It was a very bitter sweet day, but Amelia Susan Reynolds arrived safely into the world Friday morning weighing 4 pounds 11 ounces. She was immediately sent to NICU, but is doing great. She is now off all of the monitors, and now they are just trying to get the feeding process down.

Our pediatrician tested Meghan for strep, the flu and mono. . .all of which came back negative. However, she did see some puss pockets on her throat (sorry for the gross factor) and based on her blood work, it looked like what she had was bacterial, so she was put on a course of antibiotics. By Saturday, Meghan was feeling much better, I had stopped crying, and all seemed to be much better with the world.

My contractions for the most part have not been bad since I have been home. I have my good days and bad days. . .Sunday and Monday were both pretty bad days for me. But I learned a lot of "tricks" while I was in the hospital for keeping the contractions at bay. It's so funny now listening to Dr. Sean when the contractions start. He asks me (typically in this order) how far apart they are, what the intensity is on a scale of 1 to 10 and if it's time to go to the hospital. I think he must practice in his sleep!!

Yesterday I hit 33 weeks and my doctor is THRILLED that I have made it this far. Cooper is doing great and is weighing in at 6 pounds 4 ounces. I love it when we have a new doctor/technician that does my sonograms, because I get to watch the expression on their face when they calculate Cooper's weight. They typically look at the screen, look at me, and then look back at the screen again. Then, without them even having to ask me, I say, "Yes, my due date is right and yes, I know how big his head is". Based on all the measurements they took yesterday, Cooper is in the 86th percentile and I should actually be 37 or 38 weeks along. . .LOL!!

After the sonogram, we went for the appointment with my OB/GYN who informed us that because of his size, Cooper will be delivered via c-section. I was disappointed, but completely understand that it's what's best for both of us. Kaleigh was a c-section and Meghan was a VBAC (Google it if you are not sure what that is), and I was really hoping to have another VBAC, but the chance of my uterus rupturing is too great based on the pure enormity of this baby! One of my friends told me that instead of a VBAC, I will be having a CBAC. . .I thought that was pretty clever!

So. . .where does that leave us? I go off the medication that is stopping my contractions next Wednesday (34 weeks). I will stay on bed rest until 36 weeks and, if Cooper has not made his arrival yet, I imagine my c-section will be scheduled for sometime around 37 or 38 weeks (we'll probably be scheduling the date at my doctor's appointment next week).

Sean's dad comes into town this Saturday (I have LOTS of projects scheduled for him) and then he and Sean's mom will leave next Saturday (the 15th) to head home to Colorado. I am so thankful that Sean's mom has been here with us and she has been a HUGE help with running errands, entertaining the girls and getting me whatever I need. We continue to be blessed by all of our friends who are checking in on us, bringing us meals, and helping us out in any way possible. We are very lucky to have such a huge support system, and this little guy has no idea how much he is already loved!

Much love,

Sean, Laurie, Kaleigh, Meghan and Super Chunk!