Saturday, February 9, 2013

Joys of Bedrest

So I know I am totally backwards on this blog since I started from the most current news on Preston. But now that I know I am doing this for the boys I am opening up more than ever and back tracking.

My bedrest in the hospital was....well....an adventure! I have never been more excited to sleep in my own bed once I made it home 5 weeks later and celebrated the birth of our boys! Not to mention I made it to 34 weeks which was my goal. I entered the hospital in full blown labor at 30 weeks and was put on magnesium to stop contractions. I hope to never experience anything like what that drug made me feel. I was on FIRE! My whole body was burning up and my mouth was dry as a cotton ball. I sucked on water dipped sponges and kept those puppies coming around the clock. We had the room cranked down to FREEZING and poor Tim slept in multiple layers of clothes along with a hoodie and jacket when he wasn't fetching me frozen wet wash cloths for my body all night. You know the freezer pads that women receive after vaginal deliveries for healing? You can crack them in 1/2 and activate these little crystals that turn cold and help with swelling. Well, I am happy to announce I went thru 24 of them for my FACE and HEAD to keep my body temp down. LOL LOL And when I asked for more, one nurse told me she didn't think I could have anymore b/c that wasn't the purpose for their use. Boy did I get mean. My labor was put on hold successfully. After begging the dr to deliver me during all of this, I quickly realized how glad I was to have my babies cook a little big longer once the NICU team payed us a visit and share all of the 'dangers' of delivering this early. I remained in the hospital till I delivered the boys!

I want to take this chance to give a shout out to a few angels in my life during this time. My wonderful mom came everyday to blow dry my hair for me and give me a little makeover after I showered (i literally could only stand for a few minutes at a time so i showered, brushed my teeth, and washed my face at night from a chair in my bathroom). I put on makeup from bed. She brought me a supply of my favorite bagels from Panera each week and decorated my room for Thanksgiving to cheer me up! My mom and dad came to visit almost every day just to make sure I was doing okay. My sister brought my niece and nephew to visit me and deliver homemade cupcakes. I had lunch brought to me from my dear friends Amy and Nancy and the boys god mom Cindy. I was paid a special visit from one of my best friends, Amanda, who brought Tim and me dinner and a special bottle of sparkling grape juice and fudge for our anniversary celebration 'hospital style.' My dear friend Vicki came up to bring me cupcakes and snacks and my bestie Lacy brought me a milestone calendar for the babies. My In-laws came with pizza for dinner one evening and kept us great company! I sure felt loved and this kept my spirits up for sure! I also packed on 30lbs during this time. I guess that's what happens when you eat delicious food and can't move! LOL The biggest gift of all came during this time when I was supposed to have my annual Holiday Open House for all of my customers. I was SO UPSET I went into labor right before my Open House. I love seeing my customers each year to catch up and help them with their products. It is also my biggest money making event of the year and I knew we needed that too. Instead of cancelling it, my sister ran my entire event and helped each of my customers with their shopping, sales tickets, and supplying them with their orders for me. She collected their payments, delivered their orders to me and she was able to pull off one of my most successful events ever in my business for me. I am so blessed to have my sister!! Tim came every day after school till bedtime to be with me and waited on me hand and foot. He spent every weekend with me overnight. I was allowed 30 minutes for a wheelchair ride around the hospital and weather permitting, i was able to be wheeled outside. It was wonderful. I remember the first time Tim took me outside........I asked him to wheel me thru the parking lot and into the sun so I could feel the sun beat down on my face. Then I proceeded to ball. I just cried and cried. Poor Tim could have founded his own Ocean from all of the tears he watched me shed from hormones etc. He is one patient man! I laugh about this now but I sure didn't think it was funny at the time. LOL I missed home, I was scared, I felt like shamoo, and I dreaded saying bye to Tim each night. I made it and that is all that counts!

Here are my gorgeous (sense my sarcasm???) belly pics and the famous picture of my belly/super swollen face the night before I delivered. I swore I would NEVER show these but now that I have lost the 80lbs I gained, I find these pics to be no big deal!

                                31 weeks and I had makeup on and a 'cute' outfit and hair was fixed

                    32 weeks and feeling much bigger......who cares about the makeup, outfit, and hair LOL
       33 weeks and feeling MISERABLE.....asking myself 'do i really need to have this picture taken' and let me mention the fact that this adorable grey shirt was a 2X from Walmart and I had a matching red one too that I would rotate when Tim would take one home to wash. Sad part is that I was SO excited when my mom surprised me with these! LOL LOL They were the first thing I trashed once I delivered the boys!
               34 weeks and the night before delivery and once again......I am sporting the adorable grey shirt. As if my smile was going to make me look any more glamorous in this pic! Cracks me up! I was BEYOND miserable and still under the impression I was 'stretch mark free.' HAHAHA!
                       The bible verses on my TV cabinet that got me through this part of the journey!

           So grateful I can look back on this time period with a good sense of humor. It was certainly not what I anticipated but once my water broke at 6am on November 18th 2011, I sure was glad to be right where I needed to be and deliver healthy baby boys 2 hours later!