Baby and Me

I realize I focus a lot on Fin on this blog, but the reality is that soon I will be bragging about two precious children on this site. Hopefully not too soon. Nine days ago, when I was 34 weeks and 4 days pregnant, I started having regular contractions about every 10-15 minutes. This lasted for about 16 hours, through Sunday evening and night. I called my OB Monday morning before going to work, and he told me if the contractions weren't getting any stronger or closer together, then I should be fine to carry on as usual. So, I went to work and saw patients all the while continuing to contract away. Finally, around noon, the contractions started to get stronger and closer together - two of them were only two minutes apart! So, I called my mom to come and pick me up to take me to the hospital in Nampa where my OB delivers. Dru and Fin met us there. Upon exam, they discovered I was already 3 cm dilated and my contractions were coming every 3-4 minutes. My doctor came to see me, and since my baby wouldn't be full term for another 2 1/2 weeks, he ordered a medicine called IV magnesium sulfate "IV Mag" which is a potent tocolytic meant to slow contractions of the uterus. They warned me of the side effects, but I had no idea how bad it would be - I got dizzy, lightheaded, flushed, short of breath, and felt like I'd marched through the Sahara desert - my tongue was dry and cottony and I felt like I had a fever of 105. Then they gave me a steroid shot in my bum in order to develope the baby's lungs in case she decided to come anyway - *OUCH*!! The initial dose of IV Mag did nothing to slow my contractions, so they gave me another huge bolus and decided to transfer me via ambulance to a hospital in downtown Boise where there was a NICU and several perinatologists on staff. When I arrived to that hospital, I was given even more IV Mag and plugged into all kinds of monitors. I was in and out of it - the Mag makes you feel so loopy - but my contractions finally stopped. I woke up throwing up around 1:00 AM and continued to do so throughout the night - another unfortunate side effect. The next morning, one of the perinatologists came to see me, but I was "Mag Tripping" so hard I had no idea what he said. They also did an ultrasound of the baby, who was doing just fine, but again I was so loopy I missed the whole thing. Thank goodness, my dear sweet Dru - my rock - was there through the whole ordeal. All told, I stayed in the hospital 4 1/2 days while they continued to monitor my contractions, which never became regular again. I was discharged on strict bedrest, and an oral medication to continue to help slow my contractions. So here I am and so far I am doing fine although it's been hard to not be able to do much around here. Once I'm 36 weeks (in two days), baby has a good chance of being fully developed and able to suck/swallow on her own.

After being transferred to the second hospital and my second dose of magnesium - I literally could not open my eyes all the way because of the medication


With my sweet man, my rock


I also thought it would be fun to take you through the progression of this pregnancy. Here I am around 16 weeks.


And at 22 weeks

26 weeks

32 weeks

And my bare-naked belly shots at 36 weeks (almost)

We cannot wait to meet you, Baby Girl Smedshammer! You can come anytime now that you're almost old enough! :)

My ---th Birthday

Yup, my 29.99999999th birthday, as I choose to call it, came and went on August 25th. Three days before my birthday, I was COMPLETELY surprised by a luau party thrown in my honor by my sisters (with a little help from Dru). All three of them did a fantastic job of keeping it a surprise - I had NO CLUE what was happening - as far as I knew I was meeting my sister and niece for a nice Sunday afternoon picnic and swim at Lucky Peak State Park. However, when we pulled up to the place we were to meet them, I began recognizing people who were NOT supposed to be there. I turned to Dru and asked, befuddled, "what the heck is this, Dru?? What the heck is this?!?!" He laughed and told me to get out of the car, which I was embarrassed to do as I hadn't taken a shower and had a bathing suit on underneath my grubby clothes. But I got out of the car and was greeted with a loud shouted "Surprise!" Surprise indeed!

The scene that we pulled up to


My birthday banner (the sign mistakenly has a 3-0 on it instead of 29.99999999)


The guilty instigators - Julia and Chelsea


Our family


Fin thought the surprise on Mommy was great


I mingled with guests for awhile - here with my nurse, Christie, from work and her mom - I was delighted they could come!


Of course Fin enjoyed being with Poppy

Even my 91-year-old grandmother showed up for the festivities!

Then it was time to eat - there was a snow-cone appetizer before dinner

And the boys (Ben and Dru) barbecued delicious marinated chicken and pineapple

Here I am with my plateful of Hawaiian goodies

After we ate, we played games - horseshoes, croquet, and volleyball

The master player

No, wait, here's the master player

A pic of the winning shot - or so I hoped; Julia actually beat me - barely

Then...my favorite part...CAKE!! Julia made this incredible Hawaiian cake

The detail was stunning - check out those palm trees and hibiscus flowers

She even hand-sewed together mini leis and fashioned tiny flip-flops out of icing!!!

A shot of me with my cake

And with the decorator

And with the planning committee

And my dearest hubby

And the whole fam

Fin loved eating the cake

I mean really loved it (you'd know how he feels if you tasted my sister's cake)

Then it was more fun and hanging out. Here's Gretchen Hawaiian style - "hangin' loose"

Gretchen and Callia in their Hawaiian gear

Poppy playing with the grandkids (of course)

And one final shot of me with my delightful sisters, who threw me a wonderful party. As a gift, my mom got me a bottle of wine called "Middle Sister" - classic. That pretty much says it all. Thank you, Jules and Chelsea!!!!