Thanksgiving in the Hospital

Doesn't the thought of turkey and mashed potatoes from the hospital cafeteria sound delicious? Well...lucky for us, we didn't have to eat it. We had great friends who brought us much better, homemade alternatives. From Kristen...pumpkin pie and some enchilada casserole a couple days later. From Jen and her mom...baked ziti and some munchies. From Tim & Malela...roasted lamb, taziki sauce, pita bread and these yummy spinich & feta pastry things. It was really good. And yet...I was still in the hospital.

I was under 24 hour monitoring for contractions. They were being well managed through the intake of Motrin and Progesterone. A couple here and there...but nothing to be concerned about. A couple times a day the nurses would come in and take the usual reading of my vitals and put a monitor on the baby. Listening to the heart beat is music to my ears. Everything was looking good, however the doctors wanted to continue monitoring me until I reached 26 weeks. The goal was to go home on Saturday...9 days after being admitted. And yet...we had been told that even once we were released to go home, bedrest would continue from home for the duration of my pregnancy.

In the hospital we did what we could to make the best of it. Nick went back to our place and got many things to make it as home like as possible. Movies, books, magazines, candles, clothing, a comfy blanket, snacks, ultrasound pictures of our little one, games, lotions and other toiletries from home. We were making the best of it. Our days consisted of reading, a little computer time, a little TV time, an occassional game of Scrabble or Cribbage, of which I rarely won (nope...Nick apparently wasn't going to take pity on me :)). Other than the timely visits from the nursing staff every 3 hours, the sporatic visits from friends, and our one adventure down to the first floor to get an ultrasound on day 3, it was pretty much just Nick and I killing time.

Fighting boredom has been tough...but we found things to do. I think the greatest challenge is coming to grips with the fact that this is not what I pictured my pregnancy being. I wanted to be the cute, go-getter, professional pregnant lady, who did yoga and got prego photos and got a casting of my big belly. I had several trips and special events to attend, that I was no longer going to be able to attend. A social and driven person like myself could go crazy in a situation like this. Hence the reason for starting the Blog. Perhaps this is a way that I can process, vent, find an outlet for my new reality.

One of the best things about being on bedrest so far is the daily foot rubs that my husband has been giving me. I won't complain about that! This can't be easy on him...and yet he finds the energy to rub lotion into my rough, dry feet. He is a giving man...