Such An Inspiration

I found this picture of Grandma Lyn not too long ago and I have wanted to get it developed and framed. I love this picture of her. With it being her birthday today, I thought I'd post this picture on here. I can't even begin to describe what an incredible influence she has had on my life and what an inspiration she is to me. What an amazing woman...I hope to be more like her.

Three, Two, One...

The countdown is on...I have only three more days of bed rest left! I had a doctor's appointment today and she told me to stay down until Sunday and then I can be finished with the bed rest. I was expecting her to keep me on bed rest until next Thursday so I'm very happy with the news. Thankfully no progress has been made. I'm still dilated to a three and 70% effaced. On Sunday I'll be 35 1/2 weeks along.

I have some pictures to post but I can't find my plug to my camera to hook it up to the computer. No pictures for now. I pulled out Jimmy's 0-3 month clothes last night and was looking through them. I'm starting to get even more excited and anxious. It brought back fun memories of when Jimmy was so tiny. I'm excited for Jimmy to meet his little brother. I think he'll be a great big brother. He just loves babies.

Fall Into Reading Book List

I found out about this reading challenge through my Aunt's blog (thanks Karlene) and I am excited to try it out. I'm on bedrest for another two weeks so that should give me a head start on my reading list. The challenge is just to set a reading goal and complete it between now and December 21st. I'm sure my list may change but here's what I have so far.

1.Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
2. The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery
3. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
4. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
5. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
6. Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
7. Austenland by Shannon Hale
8. Any book by Charles Dickens
9. The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman
10. The War: An Intimate History, 1941-1945 by Geoffrey C. Ward (this one will be a stretch for me and we'll see if I can make it through it...I find history books so difficult to get into)
11. That's My Son: How Moms Can Influence Boys to Become Men of Character by Rick Johnson
12. For Women Only: What You Need to Know about the Inner Lives of Men by Shaunti Feldhahn
13. The Mommy Manual: Planting Roots That Give Your Children Wings by Barbara Curtis

I stumbled upon the last three while browsing Amazon so I'm a little uncertain about them. I added them because they sounded interesting. If any of you have read them or even heard anything about them let me know if they're worth reading. Also let me know if you have a favorite Charles Dickens book. Thanks!

Please let me clean the toilet!

I'm going on my 13th day of bed rest and I still have 3 more weeks of bed rest to go. For those of you who don't know the story yet here it is (sorry, it is quite long, feel free to skim)...

It all started the Sunday night before Labor Day. We were at Jarom's parent's house for dinner. We had finished dinner and were playing a game together. Jimmy was playing with his cousin, Braelyn, who is pretty close to his age. We hadn't seen or heard them in a little while and assumed they were downstairs playing but weren't sure so thought we should go check on them. It had probably been at least 30 minutes since anyone had seen them. As Jarom's cousin got up to check she yelled, "The front door is open!" All of us jumped up and ran to the front door and couldn't see Jimmy or Braelyn anywhere. The front yard is pretty big and they live on a fairly busy street (40 mph). There were cars going by in both directions and of course I was just thinking the worst and becoming frantic. We all started running in different directions and I happened to get to both Jimmy and Braelyn first (ha, the pregnant woman beat them all!). I saw them on the sidewalk almost to the neighbor's house and just sprinted for them...well, it probably wasn't really a sprint but it was definitely as fast as I could run with this belly in the way. I'm sure I looked quite ridiculous actually! I picked them both up. I could tell before I even got to them that I had done something to myself. I could feel so much pain in my lower abdomen and into my upper legs. I just assumed I pulled something. I had a hard time walking home that night. The next day was Labor Day so I figured I would wait until Tuesday to call my doctor even though the pain was so much worse and I could hardly walk. Again, I just assumed I pulled something and it would take time to heal.

Tuesday I woke up sore but slightly better than Monday so I called my doctor but secretly hoped she would tell me to not come in and just that it would take time to heal. She confirmed what I thought in saying that I probably just pulled something but told me to just stop by for a minute so she could make sure everything was okay. This little guy is always so wiggly and he had been just as wiggly after I hurt myself so I wasn't worried about him. Anyway, Jarom took me in since I couldn't really drive and she listened to the baby's heartbeat and everything sounded great. Then she said maybe she should check me just to make sure everything was okay. She said I was dilated to a three...yikes! I was almost 32 weeks along so it was definitely not time to start dilating yet. She asked if I was having contractions and I said yes, but I thought they were just Braxton Hicks ones because they weren't very strong nor painful. She told me to head straight to the hospital. We were in shock but did as we were told.

We arrived at the hospital around noon on Tuesday. They gave me an IV and said I was dehydrated. I know I don't drink enough water and I had drank even less the past day since I couldn't get up and get a drink very easily. They also gave me a few shots of terbutaline over the course of a few hours to help stop the contractions I was having. I also received a steroid shot in my hip (ouch!) to help mature the baby's lungs in case they couldn't stop the contractions. It took 8 hours for my contractions to stop or at least slow down enough that they would let me go home. We were sent home with terbutaline pills which I was to take every four hours (yes, even during the middle of the night...that's one way to get used to having a newborn before he's here. I had to set my phone to go off every four hours in the night so I would wake up.). I hate being on the pills because they make me jittery/shaky and make it hard to breathe and talk for long.

I was told to be on bed rest for the next four weeks until I am 36 weeks along at which that point she'll just let me go whenever I go. Bed rest means I can get up to go to the bathroom and to eat but other than that I am to be reclined either in bed or on the recliner. Jarom's mom and sister have been watching Jimmy during the day. Jarom just drops him off on his way to work and picks him up again when he comes home. Jimmy is having a blast so I'm very glad about that. He gets so excited to go and puts his stuff in his backpack, waves and says, "Bye!" I miss him not being here during the day but I'm so grateful he gets to be with family and that he has so much fun. There have been a few times when he hasn't wanted to come home when Jarom goes to pick him up!

I had an appointment the day after we came home from the hospital and my doctor gave me the second steroid shot and checked me again. My dilation had regressed (I didn't know that could happen) so she let me go off the pills...yay! I had another appointment this past Thursday and I was again dilated to a three and he's head down so she got worried once again and did an ultrasound. It was hard for her to get the little guy's measurements because he was so wiggly...I wasn't at all surprised! He's measuring a little bit small for how far along I am but pretty close to average. I was 33 weeks along this past Thursday. She said he's probably about 4 pounds and wants to keep him in there for at least two more weeks and will keep me on bed rest for three weeks. He was doing the practice breathing movements so that's a good sign. He seems to be doing just fine as long as I can keep him in. She told me to take the terbutaline pills when I have contractions and if they don't stop to head immediately to the hospital. I almost woke Jarom up Thursday night because the contractions got so bad but just when I was about to they slowed down a little.

Sorry this is getting so long! I promise I am almost done! So I've just been trying to keep busy. I'm on my 4th book now and I've crocheted around a baby blanket and two burp cloths, made three baby hats, watched many movies and even started on my Christmas cards. Although those are hard to do while reclining! I'm trying to enjoy it as much as I can but I never thought bed rest would be so difficult and I never thought I'd have such a deep desire to go clean my toilet! Jarom has been SO helpful and done so much and I'm so grateful to have such a loving and supportive husband who keeps me laughing through it all. I also couldn't do it without all of our family, friends and neighbors. We have neighbors bringing in dinner three times a week and Jarom's mom brings us dinner the other nights. It feels so weird to be on the receiving end but I am so grateful for all the help and even just phone calls from people to express their love and concern. Thanks to all of you that have helped so much already. I better get off now. Jarom set up a computer in our room next to our bed for me but I have to be laying on my side to use it so it's really not all that comfortable. My arm has been asleep for the past 5 paragraphs! Thanks again to all of you and please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Watch, he'll probably end up coming late and I'll have to be induced. It'll be all my fault because this whole pregnancy I've been saying how easy it's been and how fast it's gone by! I totally jinxed myself!