Links!

I had a checkup this morning, and things are....fine. Not an improvement like the last two visits, but not a bad enough change that they're too concerned. And I'm not in the hospital, yay! But I did realize that I need to take it even easier than I did last week. After all that improvement I started to do little things like make my own lunch and get up to occasionally help the kids, but no more. Both kids even told me to lay back down last week! I want to be pregnant for at least 10 more weeks, so I'll be staying down and eating out of a cooler from now on!

So since I have all this time to do nothing but rest, I have been finding a million cute things to look at online. Wanna see?

Since going on bed rest I've become a big list writer! Look at all these options!

I've been thinking a lot about all things Kindergarten, including what lunch box I want to get for Anna. Maybe something I can buy locally like these, or maybe these. Or something different like this, maybe inside one of those bags? But I admit I am slightly obsessed with the ones I found here. The cuteness! I love these designs...

Although I am SURE if Anna could choose she would pick this:

 

Maybe she could carry it in this bag? She would love the cat! Although, I don't want to overload her, and she would need a drink, and maybe utensils....hmmmm, I'll have to think out loud even more about this one.

Teacher Appreciation Week is coming up. I'm supposed to go to a meeting this week as the preschool class mom, but clearly that's not happening. Good thing there are two class moms! The preschool plans plenty of fun events and meals for the teachers, but there are a ton of cute ideas here too. I wonder if I could manage to make any of these with Anna while I'm lying down?

Laying here day after day makes me so eager for the day I can get up and start doing stuff again. Anything! But with all the craft blogs in the world, there are so many tutorials I'm saving for later.

Like those mesh produce bags I've been meaning to make for ages.

And some little things for Noah, or Anna. Although Anna has some little toy cats that would fit perfectly in there. Cat farm, anyone?

Space boy? Yes, please.

I love simple gift ideas like this for the kiddos. There could be a million variations, and I have plenty of time  to make them before Christmas, right?

How adorable is this? It's all made of paper, and I think with some more boy-ish fabrics it would be precious for new baby's room.

I meant to do this months ago to our dining room chairs (almost the exact same fabric too! Non-velvety, of course). Lesson learned: Don't procrastinate! You could end up tied to your couch for months on end!

Here's a fun place to kill some time. I have already stolen so many of her party ideas and stored them away for future use.

Okay, I could really go on all day. And this isn't even touching the huge list I had saved on the home computer over the last year! I'm determined that when this bed rest is over (and I'm out of the newborn haze) I will stop saving so many ideas and actually DO some of them. You know, with all of that free time I'll have as a mom of three?

Birthday stuff

Because of our unexpected events this past 3 weeks, the kids did not have a big birthday party like they normally do, so Nathan and I just gave them their gifts during the week. For Noah it was a basketball goal that he's been wanting, and for Anna it was a big girl bike. Her old one was just primary colors (and now belongs to Noah) so for this one we went a little princess crazy. She LOVES it! Her only request was streamers on the handlebars, so this was definitely fancy enough for her!

You'll have to excuse the photo quality. It was almost dark when I took these, plus I was laying in the lawn chair Nathan bought for me so I could be outside with them sometimes.

We underestimated Noah's height. This is the very highest setting! But it will be good for our next little guy too.

If you can toss in a basketball, why not a watering can?

Learning to use the hand brake.

Of course Noah had to try out the "pwincess" bike too!

Quick update

I had my checkup this morning and things went really well. My ultrasound showed that bed rest is still working very well and things improved even more than they had when I was in the hospital. Yay! Baby is good, kicking around and growing just as he should. My doctor feels like things are stable for now, but she wants me to stay on full bed rest since I'm still just 6 months along and we need things to stay stable for quite a while longer! I don't mind staying down as long as I know it's working, and so far it's working even better than I had hoped. And I am just thrilled that I get to stay at home instead of the hospital, at least for another week!

Thanks again for all of the prayers and help!

Home Again

Well, on Tuesday they let me come home. I had a great ultrasound that showed bed rest is actually working, Then I got a negative result on the Fetal Fibronectin test which meant I was very unlikely to go into labor within the next two weeks. Yahoo! So I promised to stay on strict bed rest and do nothing at all with the kids, and they let me leave. I go back in two days for another ultrasound and I am praying that they don't send me back to the hospital again. I'll have check ups weekly from now on, and we're holding off on the steroid shots for now since things seem a bit more stable.

I feel terrible that Anna's 5th birthday wasn't mentioned on here, and the poor girl didn't get much in real life either. Her birthday was the day I was admitted to the hospital. We had planned to take her to Chuck E. Cheese for the first time that night, but instead Nathan brought a few little gifts and some store bought cupcakes up to my hospital room. After turning off the oxygen supply to the room (!) the nurses let us light a candle and sing to her. I felt sad that we couldn't do more, but Anna thought it was great! She did make me cry however when she walked up to my bed and said, "Don't worry mommy. I'll have a sixth birthday".

Today is Noah's 3rd birthday! I can believe that he is three, but when I think back to the day he was born it does not seem like 3 years ago! Nathan took the kids to meet up with some friends of ours at a big air show, so Noah is excited to do that. All morning he was telling me how he was going to see the "super fast planes". I think Anna will have fun too. I can hear the planes from our house, so I'm sure they're seeing them by now.

Tomorrow both kids will be celebrated at a little party with family at the long awaited Chuck E Cheese. They're the only kids I know who have never been, so they're very excited. I wish I could be there with them, but I'm glad they'll get to have a fun time for their birthdays. So today, like most days lately, it's just me and the little man hanging out on the couch. Thanks to all of my sweet friends and family I have plenty of books, magazines, movies, and snacks to keep me busy. I've been on bed rest for almost 2 weeks now and I have yet to take a nap during the day so I might just go crazy and do that too!

p.s. I added a little pregnancy progress ticker to my sidebar so you can keep up with our little bean. He was 24 weeks yesterday. Woo hoo for being officially viable!  :) At his ultrasound 1 week ago they estimated he weighed about 1 pound 5 ounces but his feet were already 2 inches long. He's going to be a big foot like Noah!

New address

Well, that last post was added early in the day on April 5th (Anna's birthday! poor girl), and a few hours later I was admitted to the hospital. I had called my doctor that morning to see if they could work me in. I just felt like things weren't right and I wanted to be checked out. Sure enough, this baby was trying to come and meet us way too soon! So here I am. I've been in a hospital bed with my feet higher than my head for 6 days now. I'm getting used to this position and I'm coming up with my own sad little schedule of things I can do while lying down. :)

Family and friends have been beyond generous and helpful and we are SO grateful! Bringing meals and helping with the kids and the house....we really could not do it without this help. Thank you to all of you!!!

Tomorrow (Monday) is my first checkup since I've been here. They'll do another ultrasound to see if things have progressed any farther. Please pray that they have NOT! I'll also get 2 steroid shots to help mature the baby's lungs, and they will start monitoring him more closely by the end of the week. My nurses say they expect me to be here for a minimum of 5-6 more weeks, but we'll see. I'm prepared to stay as long as I need to if it keeps this little man growing!

I miss Nathan and the kids terribly, but they come visit every day. Noah thinks I'm staying in a hotel, ha! The weather outside my window looks beautiful and I wish I could just get up and take the kids to the park, but those days will be here again soon enough. This is no fun, but it's temporary. Yesterday I found out that the girl in the room next to me lost her baby and I couldn't stop thinking about her all night. I don't know what her situation was, but it really hit me how serious this can be. Anything can happen tomorrow or the next day, but I need to know I did all I could to protect this baby. Even if that means laying on my head for 13 or more weeks!

So the blog will be pretty dull for a while, but I'll add updates about the baby as I get them. For now, no news is good news, and prayers are very appreciated!

Happy Easter

Isn't it sad that this is the only picture we took all weekend?! But it's pretty cute nonetheless  :)

Timing

So I guess I don't have the best timing, but suddenly I am in love with knitting again. Nevermind the fact that it's going to be in the mid-eighties all week. And nevermind the fact that I'm making a baby sweater for a baby that will probably be born in July. To my defense this was a project that was started back when Noah was a newborn and I never finished it. When I came across it this week and saw how little needed to be done to complete it I had to jump into it again. It's sized for a newborn, so I know he won't be able to wear it much. But just like Anna's hat, I'll put it on him in the air conditioning and take pictures if nothing else. No pictures yet, but I'll share when it's finished. Until then, is this not the coolest commercial?! Yes, I am an old lady  ;)