Day 1-7

I have been on bedrest now for almost a month. It has been one week that I have been confined to a hospital bed at St. Johns. I had been contracting off and on, and bleeding, for the past 3 weeks and though Dr. Williams had me on bedrest, things didn't seem to slow much. On Wednesday night I was feeling uncomfortable but was elated that I had just gotten my maternity pictures taken care of earlier in the day (THANK YOU SO MUCH, MICHELLE). I have never had maternity pictures so this being our last, it was a wonderful treat. Paul and I climbed into bed to listen to the audio of The Shack. At about 9:30pm, Paul turned off the iPod and fell asleep. I was feeling uncomfortable so I laid next to him and played on solitaire on my phone. At about 11pm, I got up to use the bathroom, feeling "odd". Sorry, best way I can explain it.

After emptying my bladder, I noticed that I was leaking fluid still and was pretty sure it wasn't urine. Poor Paul was exhausted and though I stood at the doorway between the bathroom and bedroom and hollered to him, he didn't budge. I finally grabbed a baby rattle that was sitting on the dresser next to the door and chunked it at the bed. That did the trick and Paul, still quite groggy, popped up and asked what was wrong. What followed was chaos, as is always the case in the Blandford home. I checked and rechecked several times before I convinced myself that I wasn't just having major bladder issues. I got dressed and called the Rickards to see if they could watch Raegan. Then I called our neighbor, Michelle, to see if she'd watch the older two. While Paul tried to get things gathered up, my water really let loose and despite the pad that I had put on, my pants were soaked. I searched for the bag of JUMBO (mattress) pads that I had from my last stay at the hospital (you know, the ones that they give your right after you deliver) thinking that would surely do the trick.

We gave hugs and kisses to Morgan & Haidyn, thanked Michelle and were on our way. I contracted several times on the way to drop off Raegan but nothing too major. At this point, we were sure that Brooklyn would be making her appearance in the next few hours. Raegan was NOT happy about being dropped off which broke my heart. She'd already gone through so much in the past two weeks.

Once we arrived at the hospital, they got us into one of the L&D triage rooms and did all the preliminary things required when they admit any patient. On the way to the bathroom to give a urine sample, I soaked through that mattress and soaked yet another pair of pants. Blech! I was still contracting but was surprised at the lack of intensity compared to when my water was broken during labor with the girls. They hooked me up to the machines for monitoring Brooklyn's heart rate and my contractions. As always, Brooke's heart rate was perfect. I was still having contractions but they were pretty spread out - about every 6 to 8 minutes and lasting just over a minute. They swabbed the chuck I was laying on as protocol and the test was instantly positive for amniotic fluid. The on-call OB came in shortly thereafter to do an internal. I was between 2-3 centimeters dilated, 50% effaced and Brooklyn was sitting at a -2. Great if you're 37 weeks but not so much at 30 weeks.

They admitted me to Labor and Delivery and requested someone from NICU to come down and talk to us so we would know what to expect if Brooklyn arrived at 30 weeks. The plan for me was to be monitored, begin intravenous antibiotics and see if labor kicked in. If it did, then there wasn't anything more they could do to stop it as the two rounds of trebutaline and round after round of procardia had no affect. If not, they'd hold me until an undetermined amount of time (we got varying answers on the length of time). After a few hours the contractions slowed and eventually stopped. Thursday is a blur to me. I honestly do not remember much past more iv antibiotics and monitoring. At some point in the early hours of Thursday morning, someone from the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) to talk to us and answer any questions that we had and take Paul on a tour of the unit. Slept a lot that day. Friday morning, Dr. Williams came in and told me they'd be transferring me from L&D to the floor so I wasn't having to be monitored 24/7. He said that the goal was to make it until 34 weeks when the risk of infection outweighs the risk of prematurity and then I'd be induced. So 4 weeks in the hospital. I wanted to cry.

I was transferred some time in the early afternoon on Friday to the room I'd become quite familiar with. I was excited to be off the monitors and in a more comfortable room but was a bit bummed to be in the bed closest to the door, rather than the window. Saturday proved challenging as I began to learn about the woman that was sharing a room with me. She was young and had a fiery personality. She liked to have the television up loudly all day and night and her fiance reeked of cigarettes. I asked my nurse if it were possible to get another room but her response gave me little hope. I resolved myself to being optimistic and prayed that God would give me compassion. God did give me compassion but the situation did not improve.

My wonderful friend Becky came up each night to keep me company until I was too tired to keep my eyes opened and then she'd leave and I'm curl up against my pillows and try to sleep. My roommate's fiance' and a few of their friends started coming over in the middle of the night and staying up through the early morning hours which made it difficult for me to sleep. I awoke Monday morning in a very foul mood from lack of sleep and complained to whomever would listen. By mid morning I was feeling a little better and felt guilty for complaining earlier. Still, I wondered if things would change. Twice a day I was put on the monitors and as always, Brooklyn would look great. The nurses continued to come in 4-6 hour intervals to give me another dose (or two) of antibiotics, this time oral instead of intravenously. Last night I was feeling just crummy overall. I missed Paul and the girls so much and each and every move Brooklyn made hurt because the fluid buffer between she and I has gotten low enough that there is little left. Each movement feels much like menstrual cramping. My roommate and her friends spent the entire night swearing, laughing and listening to a very loud television. It was so hard for me to get to sleep and so depressing for me. I did have two highlights to my night, however. My good friend Lora came and gave me a manicure and brought the cutest (and yummiest smelling) scented light. My nurses tell me that my room smells homey. :D And, Becky was able to come by for a couple of hours before having to leave to run errands.

This morning early (I think about 5:30), my nurse came in and woke me up for pills. The smell of body odor was strong and I had to hide my face under the blankets. My nurse leaned down and whispered to me and told me that they were going to move me. (the roommate was still awake with her friends; not sleeping at all last night.) A woman in the room next door was being discharged and I could move as early as this afternoon. I was excited. After the nurse left I got up to pee only to be beat to the bathroom by one of the roommate's male friends. This had happened so many times in the past 24 hours that I threw my hands up and just decided to try and get some more sleep. I awoke to an incredibly full bladder and again the awful BO smell. My nurse came in moments later to tell me they wanted to move me in the next 30 minutes. I got up, went to the bathroom and started to gather up my things. My roommate and her friends had finally crashed and were all snoring. I was thankful for this as I was afraid of the questions I would get if they realized I was moving out of the room. Not 15 minutes after the nurse came in to tell me 30 minutes, she was back again to bring me to the new room. I was excited! Not only did I get to change locations, I got the bed by the window! I can finally look out and see the sun (or the clouds as it seems lately). My room is nice, clean and doesn't smell like a men's locker room. And best of all, for the time being, I don't have a roommate. What a blessing.

Brandy and Becky visited me shortly after I got settled in and stayed for about 30 minutes. I read for a short while and then Michelle came up with a yummy peanut butter and jelly sandwich (something I'd been craving) and visited with me for a while. It was wonderful to have visitors during the day! Krista, Derrick with Haidyn and Raegan in-tow came by around 2:30pm and I was able to snuggle and "play" with Raegan for the first time since Wednesday. It did my heart so much good to see my baby girls. Alexa came about 30 minutes later and the group left a short time after that. Alexa's mother-in-law will be watching the younger girls through Friday to help out. What a blessing. After they left, I had a few hours to relax and catch up on my book. Paul and Morgan came in around 6pm for a visit and I hate to fight to not cry when they left. I am so very, very grateful for being able to see the girls and Paul today, as well as so many of my friends. It has been a wonderful break from what was starting to be a very drab routine.

Right now I am waiting for my last monitoring of the day so that I can shower and get some sleep. I am looking forward to the quiet rest that I will God-willing get tonight. There are days that 3 weeks does not seem that far off and other days, it feels like an eternity. I have to pray each day that God gives me the peace to make it through the day without getting depressed from being in this hospital bed while Paul tries to manage his responsibilities along with being Mr. Mom. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful and devoted husband. I feel very lonely for him at night but I'm so thankful for the time I was able to spend with him this evening.

Just 22 days left before our beautiful Brooklyn makes her way into our world.