33 Weeks!!

Actually, I am a couple days late and I am really 33 weeks and 2 days as of right now...3 days in about an hour! I got so tickled because on my Facebook status I always list my weeks and this week wrote "Kristen is 33 weeks...but who's counting?" To which one of my friends commented "Who isn't counting?" ha ha! Thanks to all of you that are counting the weeks and even days with us...keeping P3 in your prayers! We are certain that is a huge part of the reason we are at this point and we really appreciate you! And yes...to those of you that I used to make fun of b/c you have a Facebook page, I sincerely apologize...the Scrabble on Facebook has kept me sane, not to mention humble, during the past 3 months! And I learned early on that just because I have insomnia doesn't mean that friends and loved ones do and the Scrabble is a sure way to pass sleepless nights! :)

So now that I am no longer in the hospital, my weekly scans are done...or not. I had my first check up since coming home today and was ready to hear my standard report "holding steady, looking good, let us know if you feel any changes or start contracting on a regular basis". Let me back up...Tuesdays and Thursdays are our "challenging" days of the week. With the boys in school in the am, we really only need help during the afternoon. And for some reason we have always had a time finding help for those days. While I was in the hospital, the boys and I spent a good bit of time with the nurses and techs (obviously). There were a few that the boys really took to and one even offered to help out on her days off. So, today the boys were very excited when Ms. Andrea, one of my nurses, showed up to play! They had a ball (and I think she may have too)! My mother came over in the am to visit, run some laundry, do a grocery run and then drive me to my appointment. A dear friend shared her wheelchair with me so that I could do my civic duty and vote on the way to the doctor's (Thank you Kim! and thank you Abbie for showing Mom how to assemble it). Apparently, the shower this am, voting (even though I didn't wait and only stood for about 3 minutes), the 30 minute drive to the doctor and the 40 minute wait at the doctor was a little too much for my slacker cervix. By the time I was seen by the doctor I was feeling quite a few contractions...OR it could have been brought on by him charging into my exam room wearing his Florida jersey, his Florida flag as a cape around his shoulders and playing that awful Florida fight song on a tacky pen...not entirely sure. Anywhoo, he suggested we do a scan just to be sure so off I went. On the way, I ran into Dr. Wooten (the doctor who delivered Tanner) who said he would be looking forward to seeing if I had been compliant with doctors' orders...uh oh. So, initially my scan looked good...still averaging 30-34mm, but when I asked what the measurement was from the stitch to the baby, she said there wasn't one. (back info...the numbers I give weekly are a total measurement. But as important to that total is the amount of length between the baby end of the cervix and the stitch, as if and when I start to shorten or dilate, this will be where the change is readily apparent). Needless to say, this was not an expected, or welcome answer. Of course, my initial fear was that once again, I would go into the doctors' office and not get to go home...but be put right back in the hospital. Believe me...I have been being good! Maybe not hospital good (keep in mind that our house is a little bigger than my 15x12 hospital room and has stairs), but good just the same. It is incredibly hard to be here and not be able to be me, but I also know that I need to do what I can to stay at home while still keeping P3 toasty a little while longer! So, to be sure that I wasn't in active labor, I was put on the toco monitor (to detect contractions) for 30 minutes...and only had 1 contraction - PTL! Both doctors agreed the scan was most likely a result of being up (sitting or standing from 1pm when we left the house until about 4pm) and that this was my warning and that I needed to be even more diligent about staying down or next week I would be moving back into HRP across the street! So there you have it! Enough with complaining about the state of the house and what I need to do to be ready for the baby or whatever...I am down for the duration! If you will, please pray for my boys and for Greg that they can stick it out a little while longer and please pray that P3 can too!

Well this has ended up to be one of 'those posts' and I apologize for being so long winded...I do sincerely appreciate all of your prayers and encouragement! Here's to another 5 weeks and 2 days of nothing! :)

We love you!!
The Powells