Quick update – Sarah started having contractions at 2AM and woke me up to tell me it’s time to go to the hospital.  So far so good, the contractions are coming every 2-3 minutes, with varying intensity.  Glad we made it to the 36 week mark.

I’ll keep everyone updated as we move along.

I’m still supposed to be on light duty.  But things have gotten a little looser now that we are rounding out the 35th week of this pregnancy and on the home stretch.  I went back to work last week, and after 1 day of working while on terbutaline, I decided to quit the medicine.  It just wasn’t worth it.  I couldn’t safely operate…and I decided that if I was unable to operate, I might as well be at home with a BABY!  So I quit the meds and have been working fewer hours- and so far everything is holding out just fine.

My midwife joked with me this week that they probably have stopped my labor so severely that they will have to induce me at 41 weeks.  <nervous laughter> Wouldn’t that just be the most bitter of ironies.  I seriously doubt that will be the case, but I am appreciative that everything has stopped now so I can get a few more weeks of work in before the “blessed event”.

Needless to say, our 4th of July was on the “lite” side…mainly consisting of lounging at the pool and visiting with family.  We did head down to Decatur for the neighborhood children’s parade, where Bryson and his cousins decorated the wagon and walked the streets of the square.  Jayna and Dave were elected to walk alongside the children while I watched from the sidelines with the grandparents.  When the parade started, Bryson refused to ride in the wagon, and instead insisted on walking in the street and waving to everyone.  He really got in to it though, he took his role as the hand waver very seriously.

After the parade we sat on the square and had a picnic while enjoying a patriotic performance by the Callanwolde Concert Band.  The evening was concluded with a fireworks display.  I guess I am getting old or something, but it seemed like the worlds longest fireworks show ever.  While it was definitely a fun day, by the time the fireworks finished I was very tired and ready for it to all be over. 

I am not wallowing in self pity.  I know that things could be WAY worse.  But seriously, bedrest is so boring. 

And terbutaline is a medicine made by the devil!  I feel like I am fighting nature and therefore being punished.  Hand tremors, palpitations, drenching sweats…just to name a few of the fabulous side effects that hit me like a giant wave about an hour after I take each dreaded pill.  UGH. 

Tomorrow I am supposed to go back to work on “light duty” for a few hours each day.  While still taking the terbutaline.  Heh.  I am thrilled to be getting out of bed and back to the OR, but definitely amused by the thought of it all.  First off- it’s not like I can safely operate like this.  The tremor in my hands alone is prohibitive.  Secondly, if I stand up for more than 5 minutes I start having contractions.  I seriously doubt that will change over night.  So now I am stuck with somewhat of a conundrum.  Go back to work and be minimally helpful (and risk going in to labor before I hit the 36 week mark), or stay home and keep burning my precious 12 weeks off.  What to do, what to do… 

Bryson says- “If you could only be half as cool as me!”

Here is a funny picture of my boys “taking care of business”.  Sometimes when nature calls, you just can’t wait!

Thankfully, this time we were able to push the “pause button” on the nature call and temporarily stave off the arrival of belly bean #2. 

Ultimately, I had to spend 2 nights in the hospital flat on my back with continuous monitoring and getting tocolytics (meds to make the uterus chill out) and steroid injections to stop this little episode of pre-term labor.  That seems to have done the trick, and the contractions have calmed down a good bit.  Hopefully that will be the last bit of drama we will have until it is closer to the time for him/her to get here!

Now are are home, and even if I am “grounded” to my bedroom, at least it’s my home!  I am set up in jail, ahem bed, with my lap top, cell-phone and huge surgery textbook (for some light reading).  I should have no excuse for not being productive!  It’s a lot harder to stay in bed than I thought it would be though.  Bryson is just dying for my attention and wants me to come see everything that he is doing.  Plus there is so much to do around the house to get ready.  There is nothing like a bout of pre-term labor to kick you into high gear for the impending arrival.  Yep- I wasn’t just getting fat these past 8 months…we really are having a baby- soon!

Of course, the goal right now is NO BABY for another 2 weeks (until I am at least 36 weeks).  So the discharge rules were for bed-rest for a week, then “light duty” for a week…   <long pause>  yeah right, light duty for a surgery resident.  Talk about an oxymoron.  It will be interesting to see how my co-residents interpret this!  But I am going to do my best.  And really, everyone in the Department of Surgery has been phenomenal so far!

After these next two weeks, according to my midwife, I can go back to my “normal activities” and I can have the baby whenever I want to.  HA.  It’s funny.  I feel like we are back to square one where we were with Bryson (remember this post?).   Well, hopefully we will maintain control a little while longer, and there will be no baby news until after July 11, when I hit the magic 36 week mark! 

I am determined to not have this baby now.

But here we are, in the hospital, for the second night, because my body is ridiculous and decided to start having contractions last night.  Of course, I am not supposed to be having a baby right now…so I was somewhat in denial that this was actually happening now.  By the time  we made it to the hospital, I was having contractions every 2-3 minutes.  As in “the real deal” labor contractions.  You may remember that, Bryson came early (not quite 36 weeks), but in the world of babies, that is not the same thing as not quite 34 weeks. which is where we are right now with belly bean #2. 

Yesterday really wasn’t a stressful day or anything, so I am not sure what I did to start all of this.  But somehow, I landed myself in the hospital on the antepartum unit, for what seems like an indefinite period of time.  They started treating me with terbutaline to stop the contractions.  And that seems to be working- until about 30 minutes before my next dose is due.  Our midwife has said that if things are totally quiet overnight, maybe we will be released tomorrow, on the stipulation that I will be on bedrest until we get close the the magic 36 week mark. 

Give me strength.  I have been sitting here for less than 24 hours and I am already stir crazy.  I cannot imagine 2 weeks of this. 

More to come…

I am quite amused when people ask me how the “baby” is doing.  I assume they are talking about Bryson…although really, he has turned into a little boy, basically overnight.  Like most nearly- 3 year olds, he is incredibly opinionated about everything.  From his clothes/underwear of the day, to what he eats, to what washcloth he will use- everything has become a “discussion”.  I know that this is all part of being 2…but it is hard to slow down and chit-chat about which cup we are going to take when Dave and I are trying our best to rush out the door for activity X, Y, or Z. 

Most importantly, Bryson seems much happier since we pulled him out of “school”.  Our current arrangement is for Bryson to stay at home with a nanny. We hired my cousin, Emily, who is home from college for the summer and another college student to be his nanny for the summer…until I am off for maternity leave.  So far it is working pretty well.  It was a little confusing at first, since Dave works from home and Bryson really just wanted to play with his dad.  But the kinks are working out and now Bryson enjoys playing with his nanny and going on countless jaunts to the various museums/parks around Atlanta.  I think he is going to be really bored when the nanny stops and I take over.  But that won’t happen until the baby is born…so for now, he is just enjoying the summer.

Speaking of the baby…things are going well with the belly baby.  I am 33 weeks pregnant and feeling pretty good.  My feet are swollen by the end of the day, but that’s not that big of a deal.  I am a little nervous though, when I think about the fact that Bryson was born when I was 35 weeks.  Needless to say, we are not ready for the big debut!  We don’t even have the crib set up. The future baby room is still acting as our guest room right now, and while the attic renovation is coming along, we aren’t to the point where we can move that room upstairs yet.  Of course, the baby will stay in our bedroom for the first few weeks- but it’s slightly unsettling to not have things more “together”.

ANYWAY…Here are some of pictures of Bryson from our vacation a few weeks ago.  This took about 5 minutes from start to finish- with several re-starts along the way…but he made it and was very proud at the end.  Talk about persistence…

I Wanna Get Over There!

Mamma- I Stuck!!!

Just keep Trying

So close!

I Did It!!

I find it most amusing when phrases that I use frequently get adopted by Bryson and transformed into other cute versions.  His most recent “ism” has been the AM wake-up call that we have been getting.  And although it is no fun to wake up at 5:45-6AM every day while you are on vacation- there is nothing cuter than hearing Bryson exclaim- “Mama!  Its soooo Day! Time to get up!  Its so day!”  I think that the huge sky-lights in our room at the beach house played a role in his early wake up calls.  It’s hard to argue for sleeping-in when it is so clearly “day” outside.

I can only assume that he has taken to saying this after hearing me and Dave exclaim that it’s “so dark, and time to go to bed”.  Sure, why not.  It’s so day. 

Of course- if you wake up at 6AM every day, you are going to be tired.  Especially if you spend your waking hours swimming in the pool and running on the beach.  Here is a great photo of Bee-man when he feel asleep into his lunch plate.  I guess the banana and sun-butter crackers just weren’t exciting enough for him!

My dad tells a story of me falling asleep into my plate once, when we were on a family vacation to Disney World.  Funny.

I have nothing too out of the ordinary to report from our vacation…just lots of time hanging out at the pool and on the beach, searching for sea shells, and building sand castles.  Of course, no beach vacation is complete without fun bike rides around the plantation and a trip to play putt-putt!  Anyway- here are some cute photos from our family vacation to Amelia Island. 

Bryson is a putt putt master!  He is pouting here because he had to wait his turn. 

One of the highlights for me on the trip was when we took a boat ride to see Cumberland Island.  This is a National Park that has miles of unspoiled beaches.  The only way to get to the park is by boat.  There are wild horses inhabiting the island, which you can barely make out from the trees in the picture below. 

It’s funny, even though I have not written much about my pregnancy this time around, I am so much more acutely aware of it than I was with Bryson.  I think it’s because I really know what it means now to be pregnant and to be bringing another person into the world. 

I guess that sounds a little silly. 

Of course, I knew I was bringing someone into the world when I was pregnant with Bryson.  But I didn’t really grasp just what it would mean.  I had no idea that such a cool little person could emerge from my swelling belly.  And now, I know. Each time the baby gets the hiccups, I ponder what his or her voice will sound like.  With each little kick I think about how this baby will soon be running around the house singing for me to catch him or her.  Each nudge makes me think about how this little person will someday tap me on the arm and proudly hold up his/her Crayola inspired masterpiece for me to see.  

I feel much more in control of the pregnancy this time around also.  Maybe I should clarify right off by saying I feel in control because I given up my previous attempt at control.  Mainly because I know that I don’t have to schedule anything or stay on anyone else’s time table.  With Bryson, I was trying so hard to be in charge of everything.  As a 4th year med student, I only had 6 weeks that I was allowed for “maternity leave”, and I didn’t want to waste one minute of it waiting on him to be born.  We all know how well that worked out…HA!  Thankfully, this time around, we aren’t trying to have a scheduled C-section to accommodate any school or rotation schedule.  We have learned our lesson and this time will take all cues from mother nature alone!   I feel a great sense of relief also, knowing that no matter when I have the baby, I will have 12 weeks off from work to enjoy being home with the baby and Bryson.  What a blessing!

Despite being hyper-educated in the medical field, we have opted to have as low-medical a birth as possible.  For about five minutes I entertained the idea of a home birth, but we decided that might be too much for even me.  After a lot of reading, we have decided to go with a nurse mid-wife and will be delivering at what I believe to be one of the best hospital-based birthing centers in Atlanta.  I was very disappointed to learn that despite being a huge city, Atlanta does not have a single free-standing “birthing center”.  But I am trying not to dwell on that.  I like our mid-wife and I am really liking the low-medical approach.  They don’t make me “weigh in” at each appointment like some kind of cattle.  There is a scale in the bathroom, and if I want to check to see how things are going, it is up to me.  And while they do make me pee in a cup at each appointment, they aren’t pushing me to do any additional tests, unless I want them.  Since having Bryson, I have really felt that we (as a society) really over medicalize the birthing of babies.   So I appreciate their minimalistic approach.  At my last pre-natal appointment, our mid-wife sent me home with a lot of paperwork to go through for the delivery of #2.  I guess that since Bryson came so early (35 weeks) they want to be sure I have thought about everything early enough.  I guess they are right…we do need to sit down and think about our birth plan.  Yikes!

ANYWAY- here is a picture of my big pregnant belly-ness.  Can you believe we are already 30 weeks!?!

I think my butt has gotten just as big as my belly!!!

Every afternoon for the past 2 months Bryson has asked me to take him to the museum.  It has gotten to the point now that when I ask him if he wants to take a shower or a bath at night he responds “I know, let’s go to the museum”.  Hmmm.  At first I thought it was cute.  After all, who wouldn’t be thrilled that their 2 year old is spontaneously requesting to go to a museum.  Not that I am trying to make Bryson into some 2 year old intellectual freak-show…but I do like to encourage his natural curiosity.  But after listening to his pleas for 2 months, I am now just feeling guilty.  First off- museums close at 5PM.  And its not like I ever manage to get home for work before then.  And then, it seems like we are booked or I am on “home call” every weekend.  Really, compared to in-house call, home call is fine.  At least I am not confined to the hospital.  But I am toting around my pager- just waiting.  Waiting for that shrill, obnoxious sound of the pager interrupting me from pseudo-life.  And I would just hate to go off and take Bryson to the museum only to get yanked away for a call or consult. 

So ANYWAY, last weekend I was completely off from work for 48 hours- and we promised Bryson we would go to the museum.  This time- we had a planned jaunt to visit Dave’s parents in Aiken, SC and then we drove up to Columbia, South Carolina to the Edventure Children’s Museum.  The museum was really cool- especially the giant boy “Eddie”- who you could crawl inside and explore his different organ systems (ok, what can I say, I am in the medical field). 

Unfortunately, Bryson was really overwhelmed by that exhibit.  He immediately wanted to move on when he fell into the stomach foam pit and it started making tummy-rumble sounds.  And then he totally freaked out when we walked in to his brain and strobe lights and electrical zapping sounds started.  I think it was too loud for him.  Oh well.  Maybe next time.  What he did enjoy was dressing up in the fire-fighter costume and “driving” the full sized fire truck.

And of course, no trip to the museum is complete without a grocery shopping experience.  Bryson went through the first time and picked out healthy foods.  Then he discovered the pastry section.  He was so disappointed that he had wasted all his space on silly things like fruits and veggies that he had to get a second buggy worth of food for all of those goodies!

I think we are going to have to get a family membership to the Children’s Museum…he is already asking to go back.

Here are a few pictures from when we went strawberry picking a few weeks ago at Washington Farms.  Bryson really loved that he could eat the berries right off the plants!  They were so warm and sweet- nothing at all like what you get from the grocery store.  Thankfully, my mom hooked me up with some oxy-clean so I was able to get all of the red stains out of Bee’s clothes after the adventure.

Bryson loves his cousin, Juliana.