Bed Rest - April 17, 2011

One year ago today, I was on my sixth day of hospital bed rest.  I was actually feeling rather well and fairly confident that we had at least a few more days, if not weeks, before the baby would be born.  As much as I would have preferred to be at home, living my life, I knew that wasn't an option.  I had accepted the fact that there was no alternative and tried to make the best of it.  I'll even admit, there were a few moments when I actually enjoyed the quiet - I could read, use the computer, watch a movie - without any interruptions. With five kids at home, it was nearly impossible to do anything uninterrupted. 

The narrative below is from an email I sent to our family members that morning giving them an update.  I had no idea Veronica would be born less than 20 hours later.

Hello all,

Just wanted to give an update on where we stand.  I'm still at the hospital but I feel remarkably well, minus the usual pregnancy complaints.  My vital signs are monitored every few hours and the baby's heart rate is monitored twice a day.  I've been on antibiotics since I got here as presumably the cause of all of this was some sort of infection in my uterus.  And since my water has broken, we're at much higher risk for infection. 

We're basically in a situation where we are just watching, waiting and praying.  As soon as it appears that I am in labor or an infection is brewing, the plan will be for the baby to be delivered, most likely via c-section.  I am currently 24 weeks and 3 days.  The next milestone we are aiming for is 28 weeks (May 12) and then 32 weeks (June 9).  My doctor said that if I happen to make it to 34 weeks, which would be miraculous, they would have to deliver at that time, since the risks for keeping the baby in would outweigh the risks of delivering 6 weeks early.  So given our current situation, the ideal is that we have the baby in June.

Once the baby is born, he/she will be immediately taken to the NICU where he will stay until he can breath well, maintain his heartbeat without oxygen, maintain a normal temperature and feed well by mouth.  We are expecting that this will be until baby is considered term, which would be in early August - so there will be a lot going back and forth to and from the hospital.  The NICU staff have been checking in with us and I took a brief tour of the NICU yesterday.  This is all obviously unfamiliar territory but I am confident that this baby will receive the highest level of care. 

Andrew has been amazing holding down the fort at home.  The offers of support have been unending and will certainly assist us in the months ahead.   The kids have been troopers as well.  I'm hanging in there and keeping myself occupied with my laptop, books, movies, etc.  Andrew brought the kids in on Thursday and will be bringing them again today.  The visits are short given our space constraints but they certainly brighten my day.

Thanks for all of the prayers and support!

Love,
 Marcie

Sadly, I think these are my only photos of me pregnant with Veronica.

Here I am reading one of the many dozen cards I received  from the students of St. Patrick's.