Monday morning was a typical Monday morning. In the shower by 4:45, out the door by 6, at my desk by 7. It wasn’t until about 8 that I noticed felt a little “off”. Dizzy with a strong sense of déjà vu, I walked over to my nurses’ station and asked someone to take my blood pressure. Sure enough, it was 138/93. Unfortunately, I had been calm all morning, no sense of stress or fear…this was simply my body reacting the way it does at the end of my pregnancies. I called my doctor’s office, ready to be told to come on in, and they surprised me with those words you dread at 35 weeks gestation, “head straight over to labor and delivery!” Damn.
Landon went to Fishing Camp – where he learned that he loves to fish. With his new rod and reel, courtesy of Grandpa, he caught FIVE sunfish the last day!
He has been fishing off our dock every night since.
Jenna started ISR swim lessons. These are the scary swim lessons – you know the ones where they drown your child everyday so your child won’t ever drown? They are “water survival lessons” and are seriously intense! She goes every single day for 4-6 weeks. She spends 10 minutes in the water and then 10 minutes ‘recovering’ on her left side. Kevin says the recovery is the hardest part – she just stares up at the sky in a daze the entire time! But he says it’s incredible. She is truly learning how to swim already – after 3 lessons! And she admittedly spends the entire 10 minutes in the water choking and sobbing, crying…but we think of it like getting shots. It’s all to protect her in the end. And when your backyard is a lake, the best way we can protect Jenna at home is to be sure she can survive in the water.
I spent about 2-3 hours hooked up to monitors and all looked well. My blood pressure stabilized, Jake kept active, and I only had a few contractions. I was sent home on modified bedrest and though my doc did NOT recommend being on my feet all day seeing patients, she said I could give desk work a try. Desperate to save all of my PTO for my maternity leave, I gave it a whirl on Tuesday. I got to just sit at my desk, finishing charts, with my nurse coming in every hour to monitor my BP. It was actually so nice and so much easier than being at home…I was daydreaming of pulling this off another 3 weeks!
About 2 hours into relaxing desk time, my blood pressure shimmied on up to 134/93. Damn. This time I was sent to real bed rest. In a bed. My mom, of course, stepped right in to bring over dinner, cupcakes and a new coloring book for Jenna. Kevin was home with the kids anyways so they evacuated to the neighborhood pool and I went to sleep. I slept for 2 sound hours (you know how awesome that is at the end of pregnancy) and woke up to a beautiful BP of 120/76.
But then I got bored. And then anxious. There is a LOT to be done around here and I can’t exactly do it. Kevin is watching the kids one more day, but more than anything I need him back at work. $$$. Ahhhhh – it’ll all be okay, right? I just have to keep myself in bed so they don’t take this baby boy too soon. I had a healthy 36 week old baby girl 2 years ago, but I certainly knew that we were lucky. And leaving the hospital with a 5 lb 15 oz baby wasn’t something I planned to do again.
So today I thought I’d take the time to update this thing. We are off to a very busy and very fun summer. Here are some highlights of the first 2 weeks…
Jenna and I went to Safety Day – where she was fit with her big-girl bike helmet! She adores it. She also discovered rub-on tattoos and thinks they are better than TWENTY bike helmets!
Jenna and I went to Safety Day – where she was fit with her big-girl bike helmet! She adores it. She also discovered rub-on tattoos and thinks they are better than TWENTY bike helmets!
Landon went to Fishing Camp – where he learned that he loves to fish. With his new rod and reel, courtesy of Grandpa, he caught FIVE sunfish the last day!
He has been fishing off our dock every night since.
Jenna started ISR swim lessons. These are the scary swim lessons – you know the ones where they drown your child everyday so your child won’t ever drown? They are “water survival lessons” and are seriously intense! She goes every single day for 4-6 weeks. She spends 10 minutes in the water and then 10 minutes ‘recovering’ on her left side. Kevin says the recovery is the hardest part – she just stares up at the sky in a daze the entire time! But he says it’s incredible. She is truly learning how to swim already – after 3 lessons! And she admittedly spends the entire 10 minutes in the water choking and sobbing, crying…but we think of it like getting shots. It’s all to protect her in the end. And when your backyard is a lake, the best way we can protect Jenna at home is to be sure she can survive in the water.
I don’t have any ISR pics – but here are a few of Kate after she was attacked by bees, being a comedian, and being an awesome harmonica player.
Jenna will be in lessons the next few weeks, Landon has VBS next week and then “water kamp” at Bentwater, I turn another year younger in a couple of weeks, Jake is due, my TWIN NEPHEWS will make their appearance, Kevin will turn Really Old, and my baby girl will be TWO! I absolutely LOVE summertime. I pray I get to enjoy the chaos of three healthy kids this summer.
