23 Weeks and…

Bed rest! It’s official…but we’ll get into that…

So we’re at 23 weeks, and my girl still looks amazing.  She’s growing 2 eggplants, and she’s sporting an adorable baby bump and a glow that still radiated and lights up any room she’s in.  I love that girl! This week, those bodies are:

• Feeling when their mommies have random dance sessions while washing dishes or cooking dinner
• Working the blood vessels in their lungs to prepare them for breathing
• Having a growth spurt starting this week for the next 4 weeks or so
• Forming their nipples (I found this extremely entertaining!)

This week Callie’s Linea Nigra started to show.  We’ve been watching for it pretty intensely, but nothing. Monday it wasn’t there but Tuesday morning, there it was! All dark and stuff…so cute! Also, Noah has had his first case of the hiccups and they have been non-stop since! That is so freaking adorable, I just leave my hand, and Mary’s hand, and Laney’s head all on mommy’s belly and laugh as that little guy hiccups away and makes mommy’s belly bounce.  How is it possible to be so in love with them and they aren’t even here yet!?!

With all of that exciting stuff happening with our boys growth and development, there have also been some other things that have made this a pretty trying week.  Callie started to feel tons of pressure really low and just assumed that it was Braxton Hicks pains.  This has been going on for about a week.  When the pains started coming on a little stronger on Monday and were accompanied by back pain on Wednesday and Thursday, I thought it would probably be in our best interested (and the boys health) to call/email our OB and see what he thought.  I was convinced that Callie was in early labor.  She called the Dr.’s office and asked the nurse if she could provide us with the email address for our Dr.  She wasn’t to keen on that and asked if there was anything that she could help with.  When Callie explained that she just wanted to ask him about the pains, she put her on hold, came back 2 minutes later, and said that Dr. O wanted us to make our way over to Labor and Delivery at the hospital where we will be delivering.  We did of course, but first, Callie had to call her District Manager to let her know what was going on, wait for her assistant to come back from her mandated hour lunch break, find care for Laney (who can’t stay at her center if she isn’t there otherwise we have to pay full rate and $450 for the week is not ok when we get a 90% discount) and figure out who was going to get Mary after her bi-weekly visit with mom.  Luckily, Callie’s mom was home from work that day and was able to stay with them until we got back.  I had just arrived in Queens, NY to be there to support Marco at his sister’s wake (it’s all very sad).  I was able to stay for about 45 minutes ( I felt like such a horrible friend), and then made the 30+ minute drive back to our home, where I picked Callie up , and we made our way to Greenwich Hospital.

We were greeted there by one of the nicest nurses I have ever met in my life! The room was immaculate, the unit was quiet (were there really any babies on the unit!?!?!) and the care was like none we have ever experienced.  People weren’t lying when they said it’s more like a hotel! As soon as we got into our room, they checked for their heartbeats.  Noah was at 142/bpm and Levi was 136/bpm.  They seemed to be fine.  They put Callie on a monitor, and they did notice that she had several rather big contractions, and a whole slew of little ones.  They gave her a little button to press every time she felt one, and most of them she had no clue were happening.  They figured she might be dehydrated because that can bring on contractions (but we knew she wasn’t) so they gave her an IV of fluids, which didn’t do much, so they gave her another one, and although the contractions were slowing down, didn’t really show much more improvement.  After 2 bags of fluids and countless visits to the restroom, they decided they would give her a shot of Turbutaline (which we realized the next morning was only a temporary fix).  After another hour or so of monitoring and the best hospital food I have ever had (Salmon, green beans, baked potato, Hagen Daas ice cream, clam chowder, humus and pretzel, an orange and apple juice—I KNOW RIGHT!?!?!) we were sent home, and told that if she starts contracting again to come on back.  The doctor checked that her cervix was closed, and called our Dr’s office to make sure that they were able to give us an appointment in the morning for a transvaginal ultrasound.

ALWAYS IN HIGH SPIRITS

We go home after about 5 and a half hours of monitoring.  We put the girls to bed and pray that everything resolves itself.  When we woke the next day, we got Mary ready for school, got Laney dressed for a visit with her mom, and went to the Dr. to see what was going on.  In the 30 minutes that it took us to get to the office, Callie had 3 contractions.  They took us in right away and we got to see our boys!

NOAH SAYING HELLO

AND SHOWING THE GOODS!

LEVI IS A LITTLE MORE MODEST AND SHOWED US HIS HANDSOME (SKELETOR) FACE

They took a look at her cervix and noticed that it was looking kinda short.  Normally at this stage of pregnancy you should be seeing any number over 3cm for the cervix but Callie is measuring in at 1.97, which of course, could potentially be bad.  Really bad!  So, the doctor recommended bed rest. Basically, Callie can go to bed, bathroom, and couch…And she’s struggling.  She is a serious A Type personality, that doesn’t really know how to delegate work, and doesn’t like being home.  I know that when the house is empty and she can catch up on some much needed sleep, she might be able to appreciate this more, but for right now, she is a mess.  She cried through most of the visit (my poor honey) and waddled her way out to the car.  She still keeps her sense of humor though but asking the Dr., “So I’m not gonna see a leg just pop out right?!?!” Which of course is ridiculous, and equally hilarious! The visual cracks me up!  So at least for the next week, until we reevaluate on Friday, she will be off her feet, and tended to by me, our families, and our friends (my sister Natasha came over Friday to help with the girls and cooking and cleaning, and my friends who came over last night and had a baking EXTRAVAGANZA while watching “The Hunger Games” and “The Blind Side”! Thanks Tia Nina and Tia Fi!) Hopefully, this will be short lived otherwise it will be a long 3 months for the both of us…