Bakin' a little longer

I had an OBGYN appointment today and Dr. Barton and I talked in length about where we stand with preterm labor. Because my cervix seems to be obeying and the meds are working he is not going to put me on bedrest yet. Dr. Barton wants me to limit activity and avoid standing too long or being too active. We made a list of reasons to go right in and when to rest and take meds. I got a bonus ultrasound and Eliza is very active and looking well. This is our 5th ultrasound and our 3rd to show that she is STILL a she. Dr. Barton is good to give us lots of looks inside. Today we saw a lot more detail in her face. I'm measuring large, but everything is normal. I am very relieved to not be enduring bedrest yet.

Stay put baby Eliza

Yesterday I woke up not feeling very well. I thought maybe I had another cold on the horizon, but as the day progressed I started cramping and feeling lots of pressure from the baby. Around 2pm contractions started in. I went to the Labor and Delivery at the hospital where I will be delivering and was put on the monitors. I was having contractions every 7-10 minutes. Several tests proved that there wasn't an infection or dehydration causing the contractions. So, they gave me some medicine (terbutaline) to stop the contractions. I took this with both Xander and Darci for preterm labor and it isn't fun. It makes you all jittery and nervous. Think how you would feel if you drank a couple of energy drinks all at once. But it did the trick and they let me come home around 9pm. I am now on light bedrest until my regularly scheduled OB appointment tomorrow morning and then my OB and I will make some decisions from there. I am only 25 weeks pregnant. For those of you not in the know a full term baby is 37-40 weeks. My earliest baby was 35 weeks. So, we need Eliza to hang in there for 10 more weeks and it may take a good deal of laying down for me to get there. This is not an easy task with a 6, 4, and 2 year old. We will have to depend a lot on other people and that is not an easy thing for me. I've done this with 2 previous pregnancies, but not this early on. I'm feeling very overwhelmed right now and like I am a huge burden on many. Bret is such a great help with this situation, but it really wears on him. He puts on a happy face and gladly picks up the slack, but I can see the worry in his eyes and I know he loses sleep. I feel guilty putting everyone around me through this again, but I KNOW without a doubt that Heavenly Father intended Eliza to come to our family at this time and I need to find the faith to trust in Him to get us through the rest of this. My blog may now, temporarily, become a place for me to vent and cry some of these feelings that come with forced laziness. And I may need some of you to remind me that my most important job for the time being is to get Eliza here healthy and safe. I will try to keep the whining and complaining to a minimum and keep everyone updated, too.

Birthday Party

On Friday January 16 we had a birthday party for Darci. Her latest love is Tinkerbell so we did that as a theme. She loved all the attention and loved playing with her extended family. We had some good eats and everyone visited for quite awhile. I always worry about people feeling comfortable and "at home" in my home, so it makes me happy when they hang out for so long. Darci loved each and every one of her presents. A great big teddy bear, a drs kit, a Tinkerbell tea set, some new clothes, and a Tink table and chairs. She and her brothers (they are such good brothers) have had lots of tea parties since.

Darci playing with her cousin, Blakelynn

Darci was so excited over her HUGE new bear

Grandma had a tea party with her

She wanted her bear to have a tea party, too.

I Love to See the Temple

With Bret working every Monday night we've struggled with finding consistency in real Family Home Evening nights. So, we decided to do Thursday nights when Bret is always home. Last night we took the kids to eat at Golden Corral. They love Sweet Tomatoes and we thought they'd like Golden Corral even more with more food choices. They did really enjoy it, but I prefer my Sweet Tomatoes. Then we headed up to the Mt Timpanogas temple, where Bret and I were married. When the temple came into view Darci gasped. We talked with them a little about why temples are so special and were surprised by the knowledge Christopher and Xander had retained from primary and past discussions about it. We let things get quite for a minute to let things sink in and to "Be Still". Something I'm trying to allow more of in my life for the spirit to sink in. This whole time we're kind of circling the temple and going through the parking lots. Suddenly Darci starts saying "Bumple, bumple!" and pointing at it. I was so thrilled to see something of our teaching sinking in with her, too. We sang the song "I Love to See the Temple" and Darci sang 'bumple' in a sing-song voice the whole way home. It gave Bret and I such a feeling of contentment.

Happy 2nd Birthday Darci Rose

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my special little girl.

I remember her birth very well. Seems like the births of my babies are so etched in my mind.

I had been on bedrest with her for 6 weeks. We had been in and out of Labor and Delivery many times to get checked and stop labor. I had gotten to the point that I wasn't on strict bedrest anymore and I had had a very nice baby shower thrown by a big group of friends the previous day. Bret was getting ready to go to church and play the organ for Sacrament Meeting. I asked him not to go. I told him that I just had a feeling we would be headed to the hospital. He was a little frustrated. We had gone in and sent home so many times. My contractions picked up to 3 minutes apart and off we went. The took us into the very familiar triage room and checked me. I was 4cm and 100% effaced, which was no change since the last time we were in. It's kind of funny. MOST women who are 4cm and 100% effaced are getting into a great labor pattern. We really thought they would just send us home, but I was so uncomfortable. Then the nurse said she was checking us in and putting us in a Labor Suite. It didn't hit us that we were staying. She got me hooked up to the monitors and took the appropriate blood work. She asked me if I wanted my epidural. I asked if I was allowed to have my epidural because I didn't want to go home numb. She told me we were there to stay and if the epidural slowed things done then they would break my water. OHHHHH... we were there to STAY!!! She probably thought we were so dense. I called my parents and my best friend, Becca, and told them to get there if they wanted to be present for the birth. The OB on call came and broke my water and I felt instantly better. I had a major excess of amniotic fluid. She came fast after that. In fact, she came so fast that she bruised her head against my pelvic bones and it didn't completely go away for weeks after. She came out so purple I thought she wasn't breathing. But she was perfectly healthy and placed in my arms. 6lbs 13oz.

There was such a sweet spirit in the room. Darci Rose Armstrong was born on the same day, but 30 years later, as Darci Pingel... my one and only sister. She died in my dad's arms 6 short days after being born. I've been saying since I was very young that I would name my first daughter after my sister.

Darci you are the happiest, sweetest little girl. Your whole family loves you so much. I think your Dad and brothers would do absolutely anything for you. You are so curious and inventive. We look forward to many smiles more from you.

January blahs

Seriously, January is so cold and boring. Yes, we do have Darci's birthday coming up, among a few others, but there really isn't much to make January move faster than a crawl. My kids are not snow bunnies. That's my fault. I don't like playing in the snow and so they don't either. It's been a particularly icy and stormy January; and it's only the 7th! I don't have the money to use retail therapy for me or take them to eating establishments that have fun playgrounds. Besides, those places are teaming with horrible germs. I'm not a germ-phobe, but after how sick we have been I'm not taking chances. Christopher, thankfully, has school to keep him busy and happy. I can only play Chutes and Ladders and Candy Land so much with Xander and Darci. Xander has already mastered the 4 or 5 100 piece (supposed to be for ages 5 and up) puzzles he got for Christmas. I don't have the creative energy to come up with much more than that. Wah, wah, wah... complain, complain, complain. I really don't mean to. I have much to be grateful for. Eliza is growing and active. I can now feel her move everyday. My panic over her coming too early is lessening just a tiny bit as I reach the stage of viability. The kids, despite being a little bored, are happy and healthy. They get along well and enjoy playing with each other. In fact, Xander happily had a tea party with Darci and I yesterday. Bret is in a stable job in this very unstable economy. I just need the sun to shine a little bit more and the days to creep along just a teeny tiny bit faster.