Spoke too soon

Looks like we jumped the gun on lifting those bed rest restrictions. After light activity on Tuesday and one trip to Hobby Lobby, I started feeling bad fast. I woke up in the middle of the night so dizzy I couldn't walk a straight line. When it didn't go away the next morning after breakfast and some water I put in a call to the doctor. She had me come in to check my blood pressure - just in case. Luckily, my mother-in-law was at my house for a movie marathon and drove me to the dr. We got there and were shocked to discover my blood pressure had shot up to 172/110! In a matter of seconds I was sent to the hospital where they were confident I would be prepped for an emergency c-section. My mom was in Waco, my husband was at a conference in Plano, and I didn't have a hospital bag packed. It was all I could do not to panic!

When we got to the hospital they took my blood pressure and were pleased to see it was already coming down. After several hours of monitoring and resting everything returned to within normal range. Much to our surprise, they released me to go home. (We were all sure I was in the hospital to stay until Caleb made his arrival!) I am on extremely strict bed rest at home. I can get up to potty and shower, but must be laying on my side otherwise. My mother-in-law is helping out while DJ finishes his conference in Plano and my mom is packing her bags to come up next week.

We go back to the dr on Monday for our next check up. I have no hopes of her taking me off of bed rest before this baby comes - whether he shows up early or late. Looks like my Kindle and I are about to become best friends! :)

Monday's appointment

Monday morning my sweet mom drove me to my doctor's appointment (I no longer fit behind the steering wheel with this gianormous belly). DJ was sad that he couldn't make it to the appointment - this was the first one he'd missed the entire pregnancy. Luckily, my mom didn't have to work and was able to take me.

My blood pressure has returned to the normal range and all of my blood work has come back completely normal! PRAISE THE LORD! The dr said my official diagnosis was "Gestational Hypertension". That's a diagnosis I can live with. It doesn't have any of the scary complications that pre-eclampsia carries with it. I just have to be careful not to over do it, get plenty of rest and fluids, and be closely monitored by the dr. But with only 5 weeks left until my due date, it's nothing major.

So the great news is I've had many of my bed rest restrictions lifted! Woo hoo! I have to lay on my left side for 2 hours every morning and every night, I can't get out in the heat of the day (who wants to?!?!), and I can only do light activities around the house. But that means I can do an early morning pedicure, I can do some dusting, and I can even make it to the store if need be... This is a huge relief! Now we just have to be careful not to over do it. We are so excited that my blood pressure is under control! My focus continues to be on taking good care of this sweet little boy tucked away where no one can see. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement. Only 5 weeks left!!!

Bed Rest, Day 5

I'm on day 5 of bed rest and things are going well. Yesterday (Thursday) we went to the dr for a sonogram and a quick blood pressure check. Caleb is growing strong, had a beautiful heartbeat, and loves to hold his hand up by his face. He is still growing ahead of schedule and they're guessing he's already 6 pounds. When nosy old ladies at the store tell me I'm carrying twins or I'm way to large for how far along I am, I just tell them I'm carrying a line backer. They usually smile and walk away. I can't wait to see how big he actually is when he's born. We're also guessing that he will sleep with his hand by his face since he has had that hand up there every time we've taken a peek on the sonogram.

However, the best news from the doctor yesterday was that my blood pressure is down to 118/70! That's the lowest it's been all pregnancy! PRAISE THE LORD! The doctor told us to keep doing what we've been doing because the bed rest was working.

So here I am - resting with my feet up. Mom is on her way right now (yay!) and Hubsters is working with his dad to build a cradle for our little bundle of joy (double yay!). I go back to the dr on Monday for another check up. I have a long list of questions to ask about bed rest and how long we'll wait before we get to meet this sweet little guy.

Summer

It's been a very full two weeks of summer around the Hammond house! We kicked off the summer by moving all of my things out of my classroom and packing them up into the attic. It was a wonderful, bittersweet time.

We then attacked the house with a vengence and a passion. I had been wanting to do some deep cleaning and some getting rid of junk for quite a while. We decided we would attack a different room each day in an effort to get ready for Caleb's arrival. I did all of the scrubbing I could do from a standing or sitting position, DJ did all the rest (which turns out to be a lot). We cleaned out and rearranged stuff under both bathroom sinks, bleached every surface, washed every fabric in site, and washed the windows and mirrors. Another day we attacked the office and cleaned out more junk than you can imagine! We've spent several days working in the nursery - including a day of nothing but sorting clothes, washing, folding, and putting everything away. Each day we work in there it looks more like a nursery and less like a storage room. We still have some organizing to do, but the beauty of being married to a teacher is that summer days are wide open!

In the midst of all of our nesting, we've enjoyed some wonderful time with DJ's family (and some sweet, quality time with the pool!) and a couple of wonderful days with my friend Brandi. We've had several days where we just took it slow and enjoyed the slower pace the heat demands. It's been wonderful.

Last week, I suddenly had an uncontrolable urge to shop for the stuff we needed for Caleb. We had some gift cards stocked up and I knew I needed to buy stacks of baby things and I needed to buy them NOW. I couldn't explain it, but I cried when DJ suggested we wait until later. So we got almost everything off of our list.

On Monday I went to the dr for our usual appointment. Caleb's heart beat was beautifully strong and my weight gain continues to remain right on track. However, my blood pressure was elevated and the nurse was a little concerned. (Most of my life - with the exception of maybe 2 days ever - my blood pressure has always been right at 120/80.) She had me lay on my left side for a few minutes and took it again. However, between the heat and my nerves (laying on a hard table covered in paper is not relaxing!), my numbers had gone up. When the dr came in, her first words were, "Guess who just bought herself some bedrest?!?!" So here I am. Sitting in the recliner while my husband works around the house. I'm thrilled that my dr is being very proactive and is checking out every possibility - blood work to check hormone levels and liver and kidney function, sonogram to check Caleb's growth, and a 24 hr urine collection to check for pre-eclampsia. Instead of waiting two weeks to see her again like we normally would, we go back on Monday. Hopefully we'll have more answers then. We're praying this is nothing more than pregnancy induced hypertension. However, it could be several other things that are much more serious. So DJ and his dad are ramping up their efforts on building a cradle for Caleb to sleep in while he's still in our room, DJ's mom has made us a lot of meals, and my mom is coming this weekend to help get things done. And here I sit. And lay. And recline. And rest.

We are all very thankful that I made it through the end of the school year so I'm not missing any work. And we're thankful that I only have 6 weeks (or less) left. And we're very thankful for a dr who's checking everything and leaving nothing to chance. I have thought often of a friend who was on bed rest last summer and I can remember her saying that she was the only one who could care for her son - the only one who could help him grow and mature right now. I have told myself that often. I am the only one that can grow Caleb right now and the only one who can let his lungs mature. So I'll rest and relax and catch up on my reading. If you want to suggest a free on-line game or two, please feel free to pass along any suggestions! I'll have plenty of time to stare at my lap top in the weeks to come. :)

The End of a Chapter

Today marked the end of a chapter in my life. One door has closed and the Lord has opened an exciting new one. My heart is sad and happy, terrified and excited, worried and thrilled - all at the same time!

Today was the last day of school. I said good-bye to my last class of students and hugged friends I've seen every day for two years. As I walked out of the building my heart broke for the end of a chapter and soared for the start of another.

I can't wait to start this new chapter as a stay at home mom! I know how extremely blessed I am that my husband wants me to stay home with Caleb - even if it's going to be tough financially. Yes, I'm worried about the finances - and absolutely terrified about being a good stay at home mom. But I couldn't be more excited that this is where the Lord has us headed next.

However, that didn't remove the sadness my heart felt as I said good-bye. I will never again be just a teacher. There have been lots of sad moments in the last few weeks as I realized all of the "lasts" I was walking through.

When I got home today (after I took a nice, long nap!) I was anxious to get started on the nesting urges that have been burning inside the past few weeks. I sat in the nursery and went through buckets and boxes and bags of gifts. It was wonderful! And a bit overwhelming! We've been so blessed by people generously giving us things for this sweet baby on the way . Now I can't wait to get all of those sweet little clothes in our new washing machine!