Day 4 - 26 wks - Uneventful??? Not so much…

So the evening went on with the same old same old…new night nurse, monitoring Cortlandt and me, dinner, TV, and now bed.  I really hope tomorrow does not bring with it anything too new.  I have grown accustomed to this new “normal” that I have to have right now.  I guess even with the ups and downs, backward slides and such, the one thing that has stayed constant is that Cortlandt is doing great, and THAT is all we can ask for =)

Well my hope for an uneventful day was very short lived.  One little fingertip changed everything...

The day started off normal, well as normal as my days in the hospital have come to be.  Woke up, did my stuff, nurses came in and did theirs.  Then Dr. Watkins came...she did the fetal fibronectin test to see if I would go into labor in 14 days (we later got the results and it was negative =) )  She then checked my cervix and found that I was dilated a fingertips width.  A fingertip...a stinkin fingertip!!!  I was surprised by this, but Dr. Watkins seemed even more surprised than me.  She then checked one more time just to make sure, and yep…still a fingertip.  I thought this was bad but then I heard something that totally over shadowed the finger tip...I might have to stay until I’m 32 weeks.  Yep, you read right, maybe 32 weeks.  That’s until January 3^rd.  That’s not only past Thanksgiving, but through Christmas!!!

Now, PLEASE don’t get me wrong, my complete and total main focus is making sure Cortlandt stays in me as long as possible, but I did have a few selfish seconds this morning about the whole Christmas thing.  Anyone who knows me knows that Christmas time is my all time favorite and I mean FAVORITE time of the year!!!  I LIVE for the day when KVIL starts playing Christmas music 24/7, which by the way was Nov 15^th this year =)  This Christmas is going to be an even more special one because it is going to be Joey, Liam and my first Christmas in our first house, kind of a big thing in my opinion.  So needless to say, I allowed myself a few seconds to wallow over the prospect of being in the hospital while Liam and Joey open presents from Santa.  That then led to a crying fit about the prospect of missing Liam waking up on Christmas morning and opening presents from Santa.  Totally unfathomable to me…

Now nothing is set in stone…yet.  Dr. Watkins said that on Wednesday she will consult with Dr. Albert (high-risk OB) after he does another sono and then continue to monitor and check me for the next two weeks (28 weeks preggo by then).  Then she will decide if I get to stay in the hospital until I’m 32 weeks or get to go home and do bed rest there (I like the latter a WHOLE lot better).

So this new news led to a ton of phone calls and more panicking by Joey.  Joey is such a guy’s guy.  He likes to be in charge, take control...hence why he makes such a good policeman and soldier.  Well he is completely not in charge or in control of all of this and I’m noticing how hard it is for him.  He is stressing over money and the bills, but mostly because he can’t be with me at the hospital as much as he wants or spend nights with me AND because he can’t take care of Liam much of the week since he has to work 3-4 nights a week.  I know what he is feeling, this helpless feeling...but I know that God has a plan.  I have to hang onto that...

Liam spent the night with his Papa and Nana last night then got to go to work with Papa and see his Aunt Whitney.  They brought him by before lunch and we watched Chuggington and cuddled on the bed for a while, soooo one of the best parts of my day!  My bestest friend Courtney came by at lunch and brought me food and ohhh it was the best sandwich and soup I have had in a LONG time...well at least it felt that way after 3 days of nothing but hospital food.  So we ate, talked, made a Starbuck run (Court, not me), played Skip-Bo and watched the first two discs of Friends season 1.  Our friends Jaymie and Lisa stopped by as well which was a nice bonus to my day!  Joey came by before heading to work and then Liam came by one more time to see Joey and me.  Liam was a little tired because he had fallen asleep in Papa’s car, but I could tell that all the shuffling around is starting to get to him.  I hated having to say "no" when he wanted me to pick him up, then he started to cry and say he wanted to go home.  Man did I feel him on that!!!  It took every ounce of willpower to NOT cry right along with him.  I eventually convinced him to crawl up onto the bed and let me hold him for a while.  I honestly think I needed that more then he did.