Well, another month has passed and I'm still not on bed rest yet. I guess it's a good sign. You never know, maybe I won't have to go on bed rest at all for this pregnancy. (This is me being wishful) In the last update, I stated that as long as I don't get two or more contractions in an hour for two hours consecutively, I would be fine. Well, I did just that about two weeks ago. I ended up having to go into the labor and delivery room. They monitored me on the contraction monitor and they also monitored the baby's heartbeat. Of course, by the time they started monitoring me, my contractions had stopped. My doctor did come to look at me and she did check me. She told me that my cervix was still closed, but it was getting "soft." I don't know what that means and I didn't really bother to ask at that time. I didn't think anything about it since she said that it was okay for me to go home. She also mentioned that the baby was doing great from his heartbeats. After I got home, I started thinking about what she said and now I really wish I would have asked her what she meant by "soft." I talked to a co-worker at work here who went through the same thing I did and she told me that "soft" was not a good thing. The good news is that I have a doctor's appointment next Tuesday so I'll ask my doctor then. I also have this feeling that I will be going on bed rest soon. I am starting to feel a lot of muscle stretching and expanding on my uterus. I'm hoping that it's nothing big. I still have lots to do at work. I want to be able to finish things up before I take off for maternity leave. My last day at work will be June 12 if I don't end up on bed rest sooner than that. As for the baby, he is getting bigger and bigger by the day. I am "finally" starting to show, according to my co-workers. I am also outgrowing all my overalls that I bought a while back. I need bigger clothes, but I don't want to have to buy maternity clothing. I think I can get away with just buying bigger sized clothing instead of maternity clothing. (Maternity clothing is just way too expensive!!!!) Oh yeah, I've come up with these first names so far: Timothy (I like this one the most now!), Michael (Of course, Michael doesn't want this one), Zachary, and Benjamin. There was a fifth name, but I can't remember it anymore so I guess I didn't like it that much.
Okay, I wrote the above paragraph about one week ago. Right now, I'm lying on the couch writing the rest of this update. A lot has changed since I wrote the above paragraph. I have been to the Labor and Delivery Department twice this past week, once on Tuesday and once on Thursday. I had my appointment this past Tuesday and the nurse checked me. She went to talk to my doctor and they sent me to the Labor and Delivery Department to be checked. I was monitored for about two hours and my doctor checked me again. She told me that my outer cervix was dilated. She didn't allow me to return to work for that day. I went back to work the next day. I was also not allowed to bowl for this week. I now also have medication to help stop the contractions. They're the same medication I had t take with Nicholas after the hospital stay. I went back to the L&D on Thursday because I felt four contractions in an hour. By the time I got to the L&D, the contractions stopped. These contractions have been playing games with me. I feel them all the time, but whenever I have to go to L&D, they stop coming. It's like these contractions know that I'm going there and don't want to ask up. Kinda like a kid knowing that he's going to get in trouble if he acts up in front of the principal or teacher. Well, they told me on Thursday that I was not allowed to return to work and that I couldn't go back on Friday either. I did end up working from home, though. They told me that I need to limit my activities. Michael takes that as pretty much bed rest. So for the last two days, I've been either lying in bed or on the sofa. I have been able to work with the laptop so it's hasn't been as boring as I thought it would be. I have another appointment scheduled for this coming Monday. Michael wants to come with me on this appointment. Both him and I think that this appointment will determine if I have to go on bed rest of not. I am hoping that the medication that I am taking will help prevent the bed rest. One weekend of staying on bed is already bringing back bad memories. If I do go on bed rest, I'll look on the bright side. I'm 28 weeks pregnant right now so if I do go on bed rest, I will only have to stay in bed for another 8 weeks. It's not as bad as the first pregnancy, but still bad enough. This really makes me think hard about having a third child. I really would like to have a daughter, but the downside to pregnancy makes the decision much more difficult for me.
Well, onto a more enjoyable topic, Nicholas! He's growing too fast. He has learned a lot of new words. His new favorite new words/statement is "No want it." He says this every time he doesn't want something. Like when he doesn't want to wake up in the morning, he'll say, "no want it." He also now knows how to take his own bath. Gets in and comes out on his own. Lately, he also will use the restroom by himself after he finishes taking a bath. We want to potty train him, but we can't seem to get him to tell us in advance when he wants to use the restroom. He'll tell us after he does it, but not before. His birthday is coming up in two months or so, but with my pregnancy and my problems, we don't know if we will be doing anything big for his birthday. If I'm on bed rest, I won't be able to do anything. Even if I wasn't on bed rest, the doctor and Michael will still limit my activities. We're still deciding on what to do. Oh yeah, we have been having minor problems with him wanting to eat real food. I think he has had too much junk food lately. He's eating a lot of sweet and he doesn't want to eat real food. He use to eat rice every night with me, but lately, he won't eat the rice. Michael has been doing a lot of the grocery shopping so he's been buying a lot of different new stuff for Nicholas to try. He's been buying thing like fruit cocktails, small containers of corn, pop tarts, and other miscellaneous stuff. Nicholas has not been too responsive to most of this food, but we have been able to persuade him eat them, of course, with a little authority.
Now, onto another topic, Michael. Michael has been extremely supportive. Sometimes I really wish I could help him out a lot more. With my problems, he has to do all the housework, watching and caring for Nicholas, and of course, caring for me too. He has to cook for me or go out and get me food since my activities have been limited. I call tell that he's very tired most of the time because of all the extra responsibilities that he has to take on. I really wish that he wouldn't have to do so much. It makes me feel really bad and feel somewhat worthless. As a wife and mother, I have certain responsibilities expect right now, those responsibilities have been taken from me. It's really hard to stay in bed and just want Michael work every day to keep this family in one piece.
On a side note, my older sister gave birth to her fifth child, Ethan, two Saturdays ago (April 13, 2002). Both her and the baby are doing fine and are at home. My parents have their hands full with the other five kids, including Nicholas, during the day.