Introducing...

Zachary Ryan Perry. Our little monkey was born at 12:05pm today weighing in at a fighting weight of 2.3 lbs. I don't have his length, but he's tiny. He had a head full of dark hair and his skin color was beautiful. He was breathing on his own (Praise the Lord), but as an extra precaution they put the C-PAP on him. He also cried, which is another fantastic sign. Right now he's in the NICU being stabilized. We hope to see him within the next hour or so.

Don't worry, the bag is to keep him warm. Since he's early his skin is thin.

Labor story:

I started having contractions around 6:00pm last night. My nurse put me on the monitor and sure enough I was having contractions. I was shuttled down to L&D at 9:00pm. My contractions throughout the night got stronger and stronger. I can't remember the exact time, but some time this morning the doctor wanted to start my epidural to give me relief. During the intense contractions I was tensing up too much and not breathing like I should, which was causing Zachary to go in distress a bit. After I had my epidural things went swimmingly. The doctor checked me last night and right before my epidural and I was only 1 cm. At 10:00am I had progressed to 4-5 cm. The doctor thought we'd have a mid afternoon baby. BOY, was she wrong. The resident came back in at 11:45am and her exact words were, "Do not cough or this baby will come out." They had me in the OR delivery area within 5 minutes. They got me in my delivery room at 11:58am and Zachary Ryan was born at 12:05pm. I cannot believe how fast things went this morning. I give major kudos to my nurses and doctors. They were all phenomenal!

Zachary:

He's very, very tiny. I'm not even sure how long he is, but it's not very long. He's absolutely beautiful! He has a head full of hair and surprisingly large hands for a preemie. He is breathing on his own, which is a huge praise. All of his vitals look fantastic as well. Please pray all of these things stay constant. We know there may be days where we have ups and downs. Robbie and I would be grateful if you'd pray for his continued health and growth. Right now they are saying we should expect Zachary to go home around his original due date. It's going to be hard being away from him. It's hard leaving him in the ICN, but we know he is receiving the absolute best care.

I cannot tell you how in love I am right now. I have not stepped down off my cloud today. I'm running on a lack of sleep, but seeing my little guy is all I can think about. Ok, I'm off to see him again. As long as they have me at Duke I am going to spend as much time as I can with him.

They will probably discharge me on Friday. I'm actually going to miss being here simply because I have to leave a prized possession behind. Pray for Robbie and me as we prepare our minds and hearts to do that. It's tough leaving the nursery for an hour, so I'm sure extended periods of time will be harder.

We'll post more pictures later. We're trying to give him some time to adjust and possibly get rid of some of the wires, etc.

ETA: Robbie wanted to use the name Zachary for Andrew, but I won out. This go round he really wanted to use Zachary, so I gave in. We both like the name Ryan and thus our son's name. The meanings also solidified our decision.

Zachary - God has remembered (very fitting)
Ryan - little ruler/little king (also very fitting)

We both think he was named appropriately given the meanings of his name.

Your 80's Guy

Ok, so I'm bored. I got this from Christian (Magnolia Belle's Musings). I'm not at all surprised to see who my 80's guy is. Even now he's still fantastically handsome.

Your 80s Hunk Is

Kirk Cameron

Who's Your 80s Hunk?

Getting to Know You

A. Attached or Single? Attached
B. Best Friend? Blessed with many
C. Cake or pie? Pie right now
D. Day of choice? Friday
E. Essential item? Chapstick
F. Favorite color? Yellow, but green follows close behind
G. Gummy bears or worms? Either - I love both
H. Home town? Durham, NC
I. Favorite indulgence? Food
J. January or July? July
K. Kids? 1 and 1 on the way
L. Life isn’t complete without? My family
M. Marriage date? May 5, 2001
N. Number of brothers and sisters? 1 brother
O. Oranges or Apples? Neither, but if I have to choose I'd say apples
P. Phobias? Spiders, snakes and creepy crawlies
Q. Quotes? You best start out like you can hold out
R. Reasons to smile? Andrew, Robbie and my salvation
S. Season of choice? Spring and Fall
T. Tag 5 people: Jessica, Heather D., Karen, Lora, Leslie
U. Unknown fact about me? I've had plastic surgery
V. Vegetable? Green beans or broccoli
W. Worst habit? Pack rat to some extent
X. X-ray or Ultrasound? Ultrasound
Y. Your favorite food? Turkey wrap from Picnic Basket
Z. Zodiac sign? Pisces
(Another) Z. Which zoo animal is your favorite? Gotta love those monkeys

Happy Birthday!

Happy 31st Birthday to my wonderful, incredibly handsome husband, Robbie!!!

I hope you have a wonderful day! I love you very much.

Veintiocho Semanas

Put on your party hats my friends!!! We're going to have a virtual party! Today, yours truly, made it to 28 weeks with baby safely in her tummy.

Dr. Fortner (love her btw) came in today to check on me and did a little dance when I informed her today marks week 28. She wants someone from the ICN (Infant Care Nursery) to come and give me a whole new update. Apparently making it 28 weeks gives us a whole new outcome and all kinds of better stats. While I'm not comfortable with delivering BB any time soon, I love the fact that he'll get a better shake at life since we've successfully entered the THIRD TRIMESTER!!! Every week from here until 34 weeks is what I refer to as "gravy".

Today Nonnie picked Andrew up from school. She took him to Coldstone (jealous) and tonight's date includes dinner at Kabuki (more than jealous, I'm spitting mad I'm not there). When I get out of here I am going on a week long food binge. I am going to eat until I can no longer move. I'm going to start with Kabuki/Fujisan and make my way across Wake county. We may go broke from my food excursions. On a brighter note I do get to eat Mellow Mushroom tomorrow night with the family. We're going to celebrate Robbie's 31st and my SIL, Lauren's 28th birthdays.

You'll also be happy to hear that I no longer get 5:15am wake up calls. I guess someone told someone to knock it off. I've been able to sleep 8 consecutive hours for the past 3 days. Woo hoo! Sometimes it pays to voice your opinions/concerns.

Have a good weekend!

It's Been

I've been at Duke for:
4 weeks = 29 days(total) = 696 hours = 41,760 minutes

Today was a much better day. No early wake up call, no goat roping activites, just a nice day. Andrew paid me a visit, which was more than I could ask for. I miss him more and more every day. My other sweetie pies, Colin and Robson, came to see me this morning. I love seeing them. Aunt Mimi needs a weekly dose of them to get through the week. Robson is growing like a weed and changes weekly. I got to feed him and love on him for at least an hour or so. Colin is a busy 2 year old and didn't want to sit still to love on me. That's ok, I'll get him once I get out of here. Our dear family friends, Mrs. Pam and Mrs. Kathryn, brought us lunch from Cracker Barrel. I don't need to tell you how yummy my chicken n dumplings were. Tonight Hoolie and Meredith brought me dinner from Chick Fil-A and spent some quality girl time with me. I really look forward to their visits. I miss my work gals and our daily activities. I look forward to sitting at my desk again and getting back to the grind. I never thought I'd ever say that. I'm sure I'll be whistling a different tune when I do get to go back.

I passed my glucose test, which is a huge relief. All of my vitals are still fantastic. I do wish my bag of water would reseal. That would be the mother of all surprises. I'm not sure when my next U/S will be. Hopefully BB's got plenty of fluid and hit a growth spurt. We're getting closer and closer to magic week 28.

In other news...
Congratulations to John, Heather and Hayden L.! Hayden is the proud big brother to Landon. Landon was born on July 22nd. He weighed 8 lbs 7 oz and is 22.5 inches. I can't wait to meet the little guy! The Perry's are very excited about Landon's arrival.

Congratulations to Avery on the news she's going to have a little sister! Pray for her daddy, Jon. He's out numbered now with tons of estrogen. Guess you'll need to buy a male dog to help "try" and balance things out. Praying this pregnancy goes smoothly and we have a healthy baby girl on December 18th.

I've been meaning to post this, but get caught up in my fits. I apologize. Thank you to all the MC gals who have sent me cards, letters, e-mails, etc. I do plan on e-mailing each of you back. Believe it or not I try and work much of the day so my boss will keep sending me money. I don't want to rush through responding to each of you. Heather S., thank you for your letter. I read it every week for encouragement. Thank you for thinking of me and sending me such a sweet and uplifting letter. Frankie, I got your card today. Thank you for praying for us and thinking of me. I can't wait to catch up with all you gals when I am released. I am reminded with each e-mail, letter, visit or comment why Meredith gals are truly the best in the world and why we are so special. Love to you all!

What would a post be without a haiku? I'll have you all writing haikus before it's all said and done.

Friends are true blessings
God blessed me with each of you
Sending love your way

Goat Roping

Oh dear lord! I'm trying my hardest to love every person I come in contact with at Duke. Even rotten Dr. R (see previous post). Dr. C (a resident) is trying her hardest to keep me from obtaining my goal. Every time she is on duty (and for some unGodly reason it appears she is on duty for the duration of my stay), she thinks it's a brilliant idea to come in at 5:15 or so to wake me up and proceed to ask me the same mind numbing questions. These same questions will be asked of me not 2 hours later by Dr. C herself and the attending physician. What I really want to say to them is, "Collaborate, please. She just asked me the same questions and miracle of all miracles things haven't changed." I've gotten to the point where I make her holler my name before I acknowledge her presence. It goes something like this: Mrs. Perry, Mrs. Perry, Mrs. Perry!!! I finally give in and say, "Yes??" Here are the questions I get asked each and every single day.

• How are you feeling?
• Any contractions?
• Still leaking fluid?
• Any change in color or odor (yes, you read that correctly)
• Baby moving?

Ok, thanks. Go back to sleep. Fat chance of that! She used to turn on the bright lights, but I believe a nurse said something to her about that. So here I am ticked beyond all imagination that I cannot get back to sleep. Tonight's plan is to leave a note on the door that says, "Please do not enter before 6:30am. Patient is sleeping and requests no interruptions. She's feeling fine, no contractions, still leaking, same amount, no change in color or odor, baby is moving a lot."

This morning I threw Dr. C a curve ball. Before she could ask me one question I interrupted and said, "I feel fine." I caught her off guard! Not to be outdone she asks me if I've been doing my kick counts. Are you serious? Are you going to come in here at 5:15am and ask me if I've done my kick counts? Come a little closer and count my kicks as I proceed to beat you with what little strength I have in my legs! I don't know about you, but at 5:15am my mind isn't exactly alert enough to answer questions that obviously need serious thought. Wonder if she hears the clue phone ringing?

As you can see, the start to my day doesn't exactly go how I'd like. Yesterday's activities followed along this same course. What a goat roping of monstrous proportions! Lack of communication in this place is at an all time high. Patients are never given a "heads up" about what the day has in store for them. I had a surprise visit from the physical therapist first. She wanted to show me exercises I can do while in bed to make sure my legs don't turn to complete mush before I go home. Before the PT could even walk out my door the phlebotomist came in to draw my blood for a study I volunteered to do. Next the cleaning lady came in to do her daily tidying. After she leaves, in walks a strange man I've never seen before in my life to let me know he's here to draw my blood. Not more than 2 hours ago someone was already in to draw my blood. He gets the "Why are you drawing my blood?" Oh, right, I'm supposed to have my glucose test that NO ONE has bothered to even tell me I'm supposed to do today. Oh, don't I need to drink that nasty stuff? Of course I do, but no one has bothered to bring that to me. So pretty much Mr. Blood Taker it's pointless for you to draw my blood at this point in time. He's clueless as the day is long and has to go talk to my nurse to see what's going on. Here's a thought... right hand meet left hand. Talk amongst yourselves why don't you? Mr. Blood Taker comes back to tell me he'll be back at 4:00pm to draw my blood. The nurse has placed a drink in the fridge for me and I should guzzle it down at 3:00pm. 10-4, will do. If you aren't dizzy from reading this hang on to your bottom!

In between all of this chaos food services brings my lunch. I haven't even had a chance to get half of it down before a nice lady comes in to take me to my ultrasound (it took us a few minutes to understand what she was saying). Again, no one bothered to tell me I'd be having an U/S today. My U/S days are Tuesday and Friday. Apparently that is not the case this week. The U/S tech goes on vacation and things get all torqued. I plop my expanding derriere in the wheelchair and let "the Mumbler" take me downstairs for the U/S. Would you believe when Robbie and I arrived downstairs they weren't ready for us? Imagine that?!?! We were stationed in the hallway outside triage for 10-15 minutes before my unannounced U/S could be performed. All Robbie and I could do is laugh at this point. On to brighter news the baby had more fluid than Friday's #s and the umbilical cord and placenta still show a healthy amount of blood and oxygen. Thank the Lord!

We make it back upstairs to settle down for a couple of hours before Mr. Blood Taker comes back. He was very gentle and extra quick getting the blood drawn. Kudos to him! Next my nurse comes in to do my daily NST, which BB and I passed with flying colors. After that is completed she needs to weigh me and measure my belly. I get weighed, belly gets measured and I climb back in the bed to try and work some. The shift change takes place and my night nurse comes in to do my vitals. No biggie. I've gotten used to the vitals every 4 hours or so. Sometimes my night nurse lets me skip the 4:00am vital check (now do you see why Dr. C and her 5:15am visit send me into orbit?). Well, 10:30pm rolls around and the doctor is requesting my weight check and tummy measurement. I tell my nurse I've already had that done for the day and really don't want to step on the scale at 10:30 at night. She can't find the information in my progress notes and needs to do them again. I give in, get it over with and leave it as I'm going to bed don't bother me anymore. She takes the hint until 4:40am when she wakes me up to do my vitals. I think she got my drift when I cut my eyes at her. If looks could kill she'd be 6 feet deep.

Can you see where I'm going with this?? If not, start reading this post again from the beginning and you'll know just how my day started. My mom walks in to do her morning visit, hands me some yummy hot chocolate and tells me I look tired. No way! It's not possible. She's a good woman because she caught the brunt of my dramatic episode and the anger that had been boiling inside me. I've been here 4 weeks tomorrow and I have 6 more to go. I will for sure be one angry and disgruntled woman when I leave here.

Friends, pray. Pray long and pray hard for me. I am going to need a major Jesus overhaul if I am to stay here much longer. Pray Dr. C leaves my room unharmed each and every day. I fear for her safety I truly do. Pray that I don't take my frustrations out on my wonderful nurses, Mom, Robbie or Andrew.

Week 27

Sorry for the delay in posting. I am getting lazy and I have absolutely no reason whatsoever for not posting daily. Boredom has officially arrived and has settled in for a nice, long visit. The nurse I had this weekend has a birthday on Tuesday and I told her I am wheeling my pregnant body out to the nurse's station Tuesday night and we're going to play cards. She didn't turn down the idea and quite frankly I dare her to. Before too long I'm going to start swinging from the rafters like a monkey. I believe I'm going to add caged animal to my resume. I can come up with a list of duties, etc. that go with my latest gig.



Baby update:

BB and I hit 27 weeks on Friday. Thankfully we've added a couple more days to that tally and hit 27 weeks 3 days in less than 2 hours. 28 weeks seems to be a hot # for pre-term moms and their babies. I anxiously await week 28!

We had another U/S on Friday to do a weight and fluid check. Fluid was a little higher than Tuesday's number. We were around 3.5-3.75, which is up from 1 on Tuesday. Weight check #s weren't so stellar. He's only gained 8 oz. since June 26th. BB now weighs in at 1 lb. 13 oz. Most 27 weekers should be around 2 lbs. or so. His weight puts him at the growth of a 25 weeker. They are going to start monitoring the blood and oxygen in the umbilical cord and placenta to make sure BB is getting adequate nutrition. Friday's check looked great and quite normal. If at any time the levels start getting low they will consider delivering BB. It may be safer to fatten him up on the outside vs. in my tummy. The doctor this a.m. didn't seem to be too alarmed by the small weight gain. He felt my size could be a large factor (it's tough being 4'9") in BB's small size. I do know I'm a capable of growing and delivering a very average size child. Andrew came in at 7 lbs. 14 oz. at 40 weeks. Each weight check will be plotted on a growth chart. As long as we see the same or more growth at each check we're fine. If we don't see consistency in the growth rates (e.g. less than 8 oz. at each check) we know there may be a problem. As my friend Arvella would say, "We're going to claim consistent growth in the name of Jesus!" Guys and gals, I am claiming it BIG time in Jesus' name!

Mommy update:

I'm trying my hardest to take in more protein. In a normal situation that wouldn't be so hard, but man alive it is here! Thankfully Robbie and I were treated to Outback on Thursday by some of our close friends. My steak didn't have a fighting chance! Thank God for filet mignon. I've been drinking Boost drinks as best I can. It's tough drinking those. The wildberry flavor makes me want to gag. The flavor is very similar to those horrible Fiber One tablets I took early on in my pregnancy to combat bathroom issues. Those tablets were and are awful! The peach flavor Boost isn't so bad, but it has to be cold, cold, cold to go down this gullet. Oh! The things we do for our young.

My mental stability has been severely challenged lately. I feel like I'm in jail and I didn't do anything wrong. I know the reason I'm here and I get the purpose, but there are days I don't feel like Duke is providing me one thing I couldn't get at home. Given my choice I would do bed rest in the comfort of my bonus room, plush couch, HDTV, DVRd shows and not move unless I had to use the bathroom. I'd stay on the 2nd level of my house until the day I delivered if they'd just let me outta here. I promise! I'm still trying to find the poor sucker who will actually entertain the idea of sneaking me out and taking me home. So far I've had not one taker. I've got a mind like a steel trap... I'll remember all of you who turned my generous offer down.

Yesterday was a rough day. If I don't have enough to keep me entertained I start thinking of the things I miss (Andrew, Robbie, my house, going to church, going to Target) and my attitude takes a nose dive. It really didn't help when Dr. R came rolling in my room last night at 9:30 pm. Here's the conversation and my thoughts on the whole thing.

Dr. R: Good evening, Mrs. Perry. I'm Dr. R (I will leave her name anonymous for fear some of you may attack her on my behalf)

Me: Hi. Nice to meet you. (Ha! Classic example one should never speak too soon.)

Dr. R: I understand you've been having contractions today and they put you on the monitor. (Please keep in mind contractions at any point right now is NOT a good thing. Not a good thing at all!)

Me: (completely puzzled look) Um, no, I haven't had any contractions today.

Dr. R: (every bit a know-it-all) Well they called me and told me it was you and that you have been having contractions.

Me: (past the point of annoyed and quite ticked) I can assure you I haven't had any contractions AND they always put me on the monitor every day. I had my daily NST at 4:00pm and was taken off at 4:20pm.

Dr. R: (know-it-all level raised to the Nth degree) I'm pretty sure they said it was you and I wanted to make sure you aren't having any more contractions.

Me: (knowing more than Dr. R at this point and ready to knock her running lights out) Well, Dr. R, I assure you it wasn't me and you may want to check the other patients on this floor to make sure it's not one of them. (Take that you so and so!!! Score one for Mrs. Perry)

After Dr. R walks out I have a little chat with my favorite night nurse, Katharine. She witnessed this little conversation. Let's just thank God I wasn't having contractions. I finished my NST at 4:20pm and it took a doctor 5 hours to come check on me. Are you kidding me? Katharine didn't even know what to say. She was completely embarrassed about the situation and apologized profusely. I know if I was having contractions my day and night nurses would not let me go 5 hours before receiving the proper care (thankfully I know this since I've been there and done that). The whole reason I can't go home is because my water has ruptured and the threat of contractions, infection, etc. would require immediate attention. Thank the dear Lord that wasn't the case yesterday. I'd be toast and so would BB if we depended on Dr. R. I can only pray she is off the week I have BB. I don't want here anywhere near me. If she's not capable enough of getting her information straight before entering a patient's room, then she most definitely is not competent enough to be delivering my child or caring for me. Heck, I could've been on bed rest at home and arrived back at Duke and in a room before Dr. R would have ever gotten to me. Yet another reason why I feel like I can and should go home.

On to brighter news...

Andrew came to see me Friday, Saturday and today. He always brightens my day. He's gotten so big and so smart. He brought me more flowers today. He's very proud when he has something for me. He lets me know he picked "it/them" out all by himself. Today I got to spend a lot of time with him. He and Robbie got here today at 11:30 and didn't leave until 7:00 or so. He even cuddled up on my bed and took a nap with me. I really needed that time with him. I miss cuddling!

Andrew is a potty training machine now. He will poop and pee in the potty and has very few accidents. He even took his nap today without having an accident. I am so thankful he's gotten the hang of using the potty and isn't fighting it. I know it helps Robbie a great deal not having to worry so much about cleaning up pull ups and/or getting him to use the potty. Pray things continue to go smoothly.

The tired fairy has paid her visit. I'm going to sleep a few hours away now.

Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers. We know they are working. Please continue to pray for Robbie and renewed strength during all of this. I know this is hard on him (even though he doesn't show it). Pray I don't flip my lid and go postal during the next 6.5 weeks. Better yet, pray I make it another 6.5 weeks without delivering this little guy. Pray for BB and steady growth and health.

It's Dat Woo Woo

In efforts to cheer me up, my sweet and dear friend, Heather sent me this video. Some of you may have seen it before, but if not, then prepare your bellies for a total workout. I laughed so hard the NST painted all kinds of pretty lines. Fear not my fellow readers and friends, your little friend is now of the cheerier side of things.

Without further ado... Bubb Rubb and Lil Sis debuting in the WOO WOO!

Per Your Request

This post is for you Beth.

Writer's block has settled in. Nothing cute or witty to enlighten you with. The same old same old for me. Today is probably a gripe fest kinda day. Perry, party of one, your table is ready for your pity party. No sunshine and rainbows spewing forth. I am very thankful and happy to not be in labor, visiting a preemie in the NICU or things far worse than those 2 options, but darn the sunshine I see out of my window. I want to be able to enjoy the sun from my own porch, from my own porch swing. Blast that man I saw running down the sidewalk on his daily jog. Blast the horrible internet connection we have in my penthouse suite. Darn the U/S today that showed the fluid around BB is at an all time low. I honestly don't know if I can consume any more water in a 24 hour period to help the situation. On the bright side, BB seems to be holding his own quite nicely. He's movin' and a shakin', still hates the NST at first, loves to punch and kick and has gotten very smart at practicing his breathing/lung exercises. We have our next weight check on Friday. Hopefully he's hit a huge growth spurt and weighs a lot more than 1 lb 5 oz.

Tomorrow marks 3 whole weeks I've been at Duke. I have nurses who flip a coin to see who gets to care for me. It's tough being popular. I told them I'll start signing autographs tomorrow. For once in my life I am what one would call low maintenance. Imagine that!?! I figure the low maintenance route is the best way to roll here. High maintenance means something is up and things probably aren't all that great. BB and I must remain low maintenance until the first week of September when I can deliver him. Delivering him during the first week of September gives a whole new meaning to Labor Day.

I've been entertaining myself with Pandora.com while I work. The gals at work are hooked and I jumped on that bandwagon. Sometimes Pandora will roll out some really great old school music (except when you pick Country/Pop and get Elvis. Ughhh!). BB loves Carrie Underwood! He kicks and moves all over when her songs come on. He takes after his big brother and definitely digs hot chicks. I believe I work more hours being on bed rest than I actually do when I physically take myself to the office. Monday night brings me great happiness with episodes of Intervention. It's a shame I take delight in someone else's suffering and addiction. It's just too good to pass up. Tuesday A&E plays back to back episodes of The First 48 with a new episode on at 9:00pm. I really miss my COPS marathon days! I'm having withdrawals.

We have a tradition at work where we create haikus for people who leave. It's our way of saying adios, it's been nice. It's a way for us to show off our creative side. We have created some absolutely amazing haikus let me tell you. I've been feeling in the haiku kind of mood. This one is for you MP, Hoolie and Heather.

Bed rest makes one mad
Kink thrown in our rotation
Escape route plotted

Daily walks are missed
Stalkerazzi needs a life
Mellow Mushroom soon?

Feel better, Beth? Don't worry any more my friend. I'm here, kickin' and claiming the Bitter Betty award for the day. I will relinquish that title tomorrow when I kick myself, have a nice reality check and figure out things really could be worse.

Good Company

Today is Saturday, July 12, 2008. I am 26w and 1 day pregnant. I've been a resident of Duke Hospital (various floors and rooms) for 18 days now. During my stay at Duke I've been the lucky recipient of some phenomenal company. Today's company didn't disappoint.

I spent most of the day sleeping and reading, but when the clock struck 4:00pm the company rolled in. Nonnie was the first to arrive with a bag of goodies in tow. She still manages to spoil me even when I tell her not to. She bought me more night clothes to wear while I'm in the hospital (so much better than those horrid hospital gowns). I complained (shame on me) that I felt my shampoo and conditioner (even though it's for color treated hair/highlights) was making my highlights look brassy. She went to ULTA and bought me my favorite shampoo and conditioner. God bless her! I'm having a hard time knowing I won't be able to make my next hair appointment (those of you who know me, know I live for my hair appts.). I'll do anything to keep this hair looking somewhat decent until I can get it "fixed". The pièce de résistance of Nonnie's goody bag was a box full of Great American Cookie Company cookies. Not just any cookies, but the double doozie sugar cookies. Praise You Lord for these cookies! They are straight from his thrown I tell you. I have 5 to munch on in the coming days and weeks. Makes mouth happy!

Next to roll in... Robbie, Andrew, my friend Beth and her cutie pie Avery. I couldn't ask for better company! I haven't seen Beth and Avery since Avery's b-day party back in November. I miss these gals since they are no longer in Raleigh. They were our Playspace and Mellow Mushroom dates. Sniffle, sniffle... I miss those days. I digress. We had a good time catching up. Beth is pregnant with baby #2 (due December 24th) and looks fantastic! Avery has shot up like a weed and gets cuter every time I see her. I think Andrew is smitten now too! These precious gals brought me (should I say us) some sweet treats. Beth, we dogged the rice krispie treats. They were fantastic! Notice I said were. Thank you so much for visiting and bringing me the sweet treats.

It's always a treat to see my 2 favorite boys. I miss seeing them every day. I try not to think about being away too much. It makes me sad when I think of the daily grunt work I can't do now. I'd give anything to be the one to get up early with Andrew, watch SpongeBob a million times, give him a bath at night and put him to bed. Soon enough I'll have the pleasure and I cannot wait. Robbie has been a trooper and I'm thankful for such a wonderful spouse. He is one in a million!

On the baby front...
BB is moving and shaking in my tummy all the time. He still doesn't like the NST, but passes it with flying colors. His heart rate has been great. We had another U/S on Friday and the fluid levels are still the same. Lower than last week, but not lower than when we started. He looks absolutely perfect in the pictures, but that comes as no surprise to me. He is perfect. All 1 lb and however many ounces he is now. We get another weight check sometime next week. I'm interested in seeing how big he's grown since his last check. They do weight checks every 21 days. I had one little contraction on my NST Thursday, but none since then. All in all we're holding strong. I hope to keep things heading in that direction.

As you know, I'm back in my penthouse suite and the nurse care that goes with the PHS is stellar. I am blessed with some pretty fantastic nurses! I have my favorites and thankfully I keep getting them each day. Hopefully they won't grow tired of me over the next 8 weeks.

It's movie time. Tonight's feature is Jumper. I'll let you know if it's worth renting. We watched Vantage Point last night and it was pretty good. Definitely a Red Box rental.

Good night!

Aunt Mimi's Newest Bugaboo

Nonnie and Robson cuddling (She hogs him a lot. Easy to see why, huh?)

So darn cute!

Aunt Mimi is in L.O.V.E

By far my favorite and most inspirational picture since being in the hospital. Today's Plan: Stay Pregnant.

After one week of hospital food, this became my favorite meal. Those of you who know me well know that I'm not much on fast food. I am now.

A gift from close friends. Roses straight from their garden.

Me, day 3, enclosed in the shoebox room, tortured by horrible reruns of King of Queens

Wrong Profession

I'm honestly surprised it's taken 2 weeks for us to receive a bill for medical expenses. Let me just tell you I know without a shadow of doubt I AM IN THE WRONG PROFESSION. We are already prepared for the bills to come flying in at warp speed and we're not naive enough to think this will be cheap. We probably met our deductible on day one and if not day one then for sure by day 2. Bill #1 arrived from hospital #1 today. Here's the breakdown.

I arrived at hospital #1 around 12:00pm on 6/25/08 and was transported to hospital #2 around 5:00pm or so on the same day. During my stint at hospital #1 I was in triage and received 1 steroid shot, 1 shot to stop contractions, 3 bags of fluid, 1 IV, 1 bag of antibiotics, numerous tubes of blood drawn (4 or 5 maybe?), 1 beta strep test, 1 Foley catheter (they are from Satan's back pocket I tell you), 1 ugly hospital gown and a partridge in a pear tree. Care to take a guess at the bottom line??? If you guessed $1,000.00 you are oh so close. How about $1,004.85. Per hour it cost $200.97. We haven't received the ambulance bill, but I'm sure since they had to move me in 5:00 traffic down 40 they'll charge a premium.

W is for Wednesday

and thank God it's almost over. I think the Wednesday hex has been broken! In 2.5 hours I will embrace Thursday with a smile on my face. I am inching my way toward 26 weeks with all the gusto I can muster in this pregnant body. One of my favorite nurses is back on duty after being off a week. Her last day of work was last Wednesday and that was my contraction day. I know she probably thinks she'll come back to me NOT being pregnant and to one little boy in the NICU. I told her before she left me that was not going to happen. I hope she is pleasantly surprised.

I had an U/S today and baby boy (BB) looks as gorgeous as he did last week. My fluid levels are back down to 4, but at least they aren't lower than 4. We were able to see BB practicing his breathing, which makes his mommy very proud. He loves to move and kick me these days. He absolutely hates the NST and sounds like a wild horse when they first put the monitor on him. The U/S technician said he always seems to have his fist under his chin, arm resting on his knees, which seem to be drawn up some. Kinda like this...

I'd like to think BB will be as famous as "The Thinker". We shall see. I'm supposed to have another U/S on Friday. I've been downing fluids in the hopes BB will get some of that and start doing his thing.

I've finally downloaded pictures from our camera. I'll post those in the next post. They are completely random, but should provide at least 5 to 10 minutes of enjoyment/entertainment. You'll get to ooh and ahh over my beautiful nephew, Robson. He turned 1 month today and his Aunt Mimi has missed half of his life already. Makes me sad. When I finally leave Duke he'll be 3 months old. Hopefully (and prayerfully) he'll be sleeping like a champ at night.

My darling Andrew in the midst of all this turmoil has managed to take potty training by the horns. He is making great strides at becoming the big boy we know he truly is. I'm happy to report he told Nonnie twice tonight at dinner that he needed to go and proceeded to use the potty twice and not monkey around. We have been in big boy underwear for a few weeks now with very few accidents. WAY TO GO ANDREW!!! Mommy is MUCHO proud of you.

All in all a very good day. I am thankfully every minute of every hour of every day that our little miracle baby is hanging in there. I'm in this for the long haul. Hopefully he knows that.

Thank you all for your words of encouragement and prayers. Keep them coming.

Penthouse Suite

I'm back in my old digs now. I spent 5.5 days down in L&D and I guess they finally figured I wasn't going to deliver. I told them last Wednesday that this baby wasn't going to come out and that he just wants to see how quickly they can respond to his antics. I'll give them credit... they move very swiftly.

I'm happy to be back in my old room. It's roomy and has a nice view. Hopefully I'll stay here until the first week of September. That's my plan at least.

I have another U/S to check the fluid levels around the baby. Pray they are higher than last week. He's definitely a mover. I'm not sure if my early days of running have given him the "Jimmy" legs, but he is constantly on the move. He really doesn't like when they monitor his heart rate. He kicks the paddle on my tummy.

I've been IV free for a couple of days now as well, which is a HUGE relief. I've gotten used to being poked with needles at this point. Having a IV makes taking a shower a little more complicated. Now I can take a shower whenever I feel like it. Love, love, love showers.

I've finally received the doctor's permission to take wheelchair rides. I am thoroughly enjoying my freedom to roam the halls, hospital and outside. I tried bribing my mom into taking me to the parking deck and taking me home, but that was shot down very quickly. I may find a taker one day. If so, I'll never rat you out. My first wheelchair ride came on Sunday morning, and let me tell you it was long overdue and came at a much needed time. I've been on my wheelchair rides every day since.

I'm off to get some rest. Tomorrow is Wednesday and thus far Wednesdays have not proven to be my best day of the week.

Home

It's been 12 days and I'll I want is to go home.

Happy 4th of July!

Today is week 25!! 9 more weeks to go.

I'm still down in Labor and Delivery and the doctor said I'll be here for a few more days. I do hope my penthouse suite on the 7th floor is being reserved. I had a few contractions (according to the doctor) yesterday and she wants to keep me where I am for the time being. I haven't felt any today and the NST this morning showed NONE, ZERO, ZILCH. Baby's heart rate is still great and we're just hanging out.

I am kinda bummed that I'm stuck inside while everyone else is enjoying the day off and the nice weather. I'm not sure how much longer I can mentally handle being stuck indoors. I was given wheelchair permission on Wednesday, but that went out the door once the contractions started. Maybe they'll take pity on me and let me go outside today for 30 min. Pray about that for me, will you?

I've started reading the books people have brought me. I figure I can read every last one of them while I'm here for another 9 weeks. There is only so much internet surfing one can do.

I'm off to nap. Sleeping helps make the day(s) go by faster.

Happy Independence Day!

Contractions

I was MIA yesterday and not because I wanted to be. My nurse came in to perform the routine NST (non-stress test). I wasn't on the monitor for one whole minute before the nurse came back in to ask if I was feeling anything. I was, but it really felt like the baby was balling up in my tummy. NOTE: that feeling = contraction. I stayed on the monitor all day and all night last night. The contractions were comimng every 5 to 6 minutes, but they really didn't reach a strong strength. I did go through one spurt of mini contractions that I thought for sure would set the wheels in motion for labor. Thankfully they went away after 30 minutes. I slept well and the contractions with the help of my new IV giving me fluids have subsided. Let's pray things stay that way. Though we've made it one more week, delivering BB now is still not a good thing and way too early. I need him to hang on until Sept.

I'm back down in labor and delivery for hopefully only today. I had to vacate my penthouse suite. Hopefully I can move right back to that room tomorrow. I'll be upset if someone else has my room.

I have to limit my sitting up time for now, which means the blog entries might now happen every day. I'll do my best to keep you updated.

The doctor checked on me this morning and gave me the following news:

1) Cervix still closed - GOOD
2) White cell count lower than last week - GOOD
3) No fever - GOOD
4) Heart rate great for both of us- GOOD
5) Blood leaking - NOT GOOD
6) Contractions - NOT GOOD
7) One day shy of 25 weeks - EXCELLENT

Enjoy your 4th and eat lots of July 4th foods (fried pickle chips, hot dogs, baked beans, chips, pasta salad, banana pudding, sweet tea to wash it down). I'll take a picture of what they serve me here. I'm sure you'll all get a good chuckle!

I do have some pictures to post, but I'm too lazy to download them right now.

I'm off to rest.

Most Excellent News

The U/S technician just left here and she managed to make my day, my week, my entire stay 100 times better!!

Last week baby boy's fluid was very low. I'm not sure how they measure amniotic fluid, but the #4 was used. Low enough I have myself a vacation suite at Duke for 10 weeks with no chance of vacating early. Today she did a U/S on little man and right off the bat she could tell the fluid level was higher. Sure enough, when she measured the amount it it was measuring (enter metric unit) around 11. This little guy must hear us and know that he has to kick it up a notch so we can deliver him at a healthy weight and much, much later in time.

I'm beyond elated and more thankful every day God is the ultimate physician and he has his hands covered over this pregnancy. I hope I get to give you good news like this every day that I am here.

Robbie and Andrew are on their way up here too. I can't wait to cuddle with Andrew and spend some quality time with him. Tonight we are feasting on Chick Fil-A, dinner of champion 3 year olds around the world. I can't wait! Anything will be better than the "food" they serve at Duke. I wonder if Monica Laliberte showed up here with 5 On Your Side what would happen. Two words: SHUT DOWN

I hope I can provide you with more excellent news tomorrow.