This Just In...

Heard just now from the upstairs bathroom: "Hey Lisa! We are having our first 'stop touching me!' moment".... 

Apparently Vince was trying to grab the train that Zoë had in the bathtub, Zoë cleverly waving her arms around to keep Vince from getting it, batting his hands away... pushed him, and he screams what I fear is probably the first of many times we'll hear that lovely phrase. 

Bring on Christmas

We didn't waste any time getting into the Christmas spirit after Thanksgiving.  Luckily we had some helpers, as Mike's sister came for a visit!  Vince and Zoë had fun decorating the house with their Auntie Lisa, Uncle Neal and Noelle and Andrew.

Everyone took a trip to the Enchanted Village and got to tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas.  Mike told me the whole way over in the car, Vince was reciting everything he wanted.... over and over.  But when he saw Santa, he went blank and just stared at him, while Zoë started wailing. 

left to right: Andrew, Vince, Noelle, and Zoë

This will make a good card!

 Bath time for everyone!

 And last but not least, Zoë got her first hair cut over the weekend too!  She did good and now has cute little bangs

Thanksgiving on the Couch: 2011

I must say I'm getting very used to the chaos and shenanigans going on around the house, and not being able to lift a finger to help out with any of it!  By the time I can actually get up and do anything to contribute to the daily routine of keeping the house going, I'll be totally fine with never keeping it organized again!  This crash course in letting go of my OCD is working, after about 2 weeks I think I'm cured.  That's better than medication!

I've enjoyed seeing a lot of this however

Yesterday we had 8 adults and 7 kids over for our pre-ordered Summer Shack Fried Thanksgiving Turkey meal.  Fried Turkey=yum!  Everyone contributed with extra goodies and tasty side dishes and it ended up being a really fun evening, and the kids had a ball playing with each other.  One of the favorites to play with was the box that the meal came in.  Forget spending exorbitant dollars on toys this year!  All you need is a cardboard box and the kitchen tupper ware.  

 Our Fried Turkey Dinner:

At first I had this completely irrational vision of how I wanted things to pan out.  The adults would all somehow be able to sit at the table at the same time to enjoy the meal, the kids would sit altogether at the kitchen table (and actually eat), and then we would all take turns saying what it is we are thankful for.  Yeah.... slap me upside the head quickly.... what was I thinking!!?  The reality was just as fun though.  I think my mom and I were the only ones that stayed in our seats for more than 5 minutes at a time, and I don't think the kids ever sat in the kitchen for any length of time until it was dessert time.  I ended up settling for everyone playing musical chairs between the kitchen and dining room, kids agreeing to eat a spec of broccoli only after being promised candy after wards, and Vince loudly declaring that he's thankful for trains.  

Our little girl looking like Cindy Lou from Whoville

Our best at getting the little ones together for a picture

Of course no Silvestro Holiday would be complete without our beloved neighbor Mary, who came over to entertain the kids in a little Ring Around the Rosie

Ring Around the Rosie:


And last but not least, let us introduce our Elf, Gordon (affectionately named by Vince, after one of his trains).  He was sent from Santa a few weeks ago to watch over Vince and Zoë, and to report back to Santa if they've been good or bad...  I told Vince about him ahead of time, and he immediately got spooked at the thought of someone watching over him.  He started looking around the house with wide eyes, crying and mumbling something about not wanting an Elf hiding around the house to watch him.  Oh don't worry, they are friends now.  Everything was made better after Gordon came back from visiting Santa one morning.... and had a ring pop to deliver to Vince as a small token of good wishes from Santa that Vince was being a good boy. 

Halloween and One More Farm Visit

But first, some random cute pictures from the park this weekend:

The kids wearing the hand knit sweaters my mom made

I really need to get the rest of October posted before Thanksgiving in 2 days!  

A few pictures from Smolak Farm, with our friends Marcus, Amy, Aaron and their new little one Maris! 

 Vince insisted on multiple rides in the tractor, while Zoë protested otherwise after one ride

Vince was a firefighter and Zoë was the dalmatian for Halloween this year.  Mike and I dressed up as Ketchup and Mustard but I'll spare you those pictures. 

Vince giving fist bumps to the grim reaper who gave out candy

I'm sneaking in a picture of Mike dressed as Mustard.... I escaped the camera! 

On the home front, I visited the specialist yesterday and he gave me the good news that he feels my cervix is still stable from last week.  I'm 26 weeks pregnant now, only 8 weeks to go before we are in the clear!      

Here's a cute one from my hospital stint, Vince helping the Nurse listen to baby brother's heart beat

Bed Rest: Chapter 2

Hopefully most of you know the good news already, I was able to come home on Tuesday to continue my bed rest!  My original Doctor came in to check on me on Tuesday morning, while our nanny had surprised me with a visit bringing the kids.  He did an exam and determined that he felt nothing had changed from my exam last week, so he felt I could continue my bed rest at home!  When our Nanny Linda heard that, she couldn't have moved faster!!  She had my whole room packed up and placed on a wheel chair faster than I could blink!!  It was perfect timing logistic wise... and after one more stint on the monitor for 20 minutes, and waiting for the Doctor to finish my paperwork, we were off on our way back home.  It was a big celebration!

So, I've planted myself on the living room couch since Tuesday, limited to only the bedroom and living room floors for now.  Needless to say, it's been significantly harder to keep myself from doing anything physical now that I'm home vs. when I was in the confines of my hospital room.  The last couple of days has been a strong lesson in letting go of my OCD nature of wanting everything done the same way I would do it, and the kids being taken care of the way I want.  At least I get to hug Vince and Zoë whenever they run by me, and get to sleep in my own bed.  It's truly an incentive to have the risk of re-admission to the hospital on my head if I don't keep resting.  It's also frustrating however, to know that there is a chance that all this bed rest may not help one bit in lowering my chances of pre-term delivery.  I just need to take comfort in knowing I'm doing everything I can to keep this baby cooking as long as possible.  Here's to vegging out on the couch!  I'll leave you with a small clip of what I captured tonight while on the couch: Zoë dancing to Neil Diamond, and Vince dancing naked with Mary... here's to my little peeps! 

Bad News

Well today didn't turn out the way I thought it would, and I'm still here in the hospital.  The doctor checked me this morning and he thinks my cervix is a bit dilated, and wants me to stick around until the original doctor can see me again Tuesday.  So, that bought me more time here.  It was so hard to take that news after getting mentally prepared that I would leave today, the rest of today has been a struggle. 

Mike brought the kids and my mom however, so we spent a good chunk of time hanging out in my little room together.  We've noticed that the kids definitely have a sort of expiration time of how long they can handle being here in my hospital room before they melt down and turn into pumpkins.  I've noticed so many new things about Zoë in the small amount of time that I've been away.  She now says 'please' when you prompt her to when she's pointing at something and clearly wants it.  It's so cute!  It sounds more like a 'leesh'...but I'll take it.  She has so many more teeth as well, and can take directions very well.  She's good at picking up things and giving them to the people we've directed her to give things too... she's still so very cuddly and puts her head on your legs or lap whenever you are sitting down.  Vince and her are interacting in positive ways a bit more often as well.  They liked playing in the closet together, and running up and down the hospital hallways together.  My mom had the job of trying to keep them from getting completely lost.... and more than a few times there was some random nurse that would be following Vince back to my room "making sure" he got back here ok... only to find out we've lost my mother. 

So, I'm still here for now... but tomorrow I'll be 25 weeks so that's reason to celebrate.  Each day is a goal...  we'll see what happens on Tuesday. 

The Final Countdown

Tomorrow I'm expected to be able to go home!  I can't count the minutes fast enough.  It will depend on my cervix and whether or not it's still closed of course.  So be sending good thoughts my way for a normal exam in the morning!  Every day the nurses ask me the same thing, and no.... I haven't felt any contractions, no bleeding or leaking. 

I've spent 10 days in the hospital and I can't say I have that much to show for it.  Instead of my plans to complete a blog post each day, finish up the kids baby albums, and write numerous overdue letters to friends across the globe, I've watched a total of 10 movies, finished all the episodes available for the PBS mini series Downton Abbey (highly recommended), read about the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, and then I got sucked into the show Mad Men.  It's all been downhill after I started Mad Men.  There's about 12 episodes per season, each about 50 min long.  I've just finished season 2. 

It's been a very long week, ending with an exciting day today of being able to see the kids and Mike, as well as my mom, who flew in on an overnight flight and landed this morning.  I'm so excited to see her and relieved she'll be able to help Mike out at home, who has sounded exhausted on the phone everyday and came in to my room this morning with some seriously blood shot eyes.  We certainly are blessed with good friends and neighbors that have helped in the evenings however, which made a huge difference.

Mainly, I can't wait to just be able to hug Vince and Zoë whenever I want to, and feel the sheets on my own bed. 

One Week Down

I've made it a week without going completely bonkers here in the hospital, although it's been so hard to be away from Mike and the kids.  I've passed the time by reading good books that friends have brought, watching tons of netflix videos, and just sitting in bed resting.  As a result I am now addicted to several tv mini series type shows, and my bum is getting pretty numb!  I've had several fun visits with friends I haven't seen in so long, and gotten to talk on the phone and shower without interruption...  wait, why do I want to get out of here? 

I had some good news yesterday, they checked my cervix again and say that it still feels very closed up tight (although still very short).  At this point they aren't even worrying about measuring it anymore because it's so short.... they figure they need to just make sure no dilation takes place.  I also had a fetal fibronectin test done, which, if positive, is a possible indicator that I would go into labor within the next two weeks.  My test came out negative which was a huge relief.  So..... they said I could go home on Sunday(yay!) provided I can do the same thing I've been doing here in the hospital, a large amount of nothing.  I'm SO ecstatic that I'll be able to be at home again, and at least be able to cuddle and read books to the kids, and be home in my own bed.  But part of me is worried about what it will be like trying to keep myself on the couch doing nothing when I see all the chaos around me that I know I'll want control of.  It'll be a good lesson in letting go that's for sure!!  Either way, I'll get through it... and would much rather get through it on my couch than in the hospital. 

Vince took over my bed during his visits over the weekend

Our Nanny Linda brought the kids to visit yesterday (thank you Linda!) they played in the closet the whole time

 me with all my of kids (and what will be!)

Welcome to Stoneman 6

For those of you that don't yet know, that's the name of the hospital floor I am currently on at the Beth Israel Hospital.  I was admitted on Wednesday for bed rest and observation because my pregnancy isn't going so well.  The baby is doing just fine,  it's going to be another boy!  The problem is my cervix.  It's too short, and it's getting shorter... which is something that's only supposed to happen during labor/delivery.

If you think of the uterus as a blown up balloon holding the baby inside, then the cervix is the bottom opening of the balloon (too bad I can't tie mine up like the end of a balloon!).  So at 18 weeks they perform a normal ultrasound where they measure the baby, look for any abnormalities, and also measure the cervix.  With Zoë my cervix was marginally short at 2.4cm (the cut off for short is 2.5cm I've been told).  They just watched it more closely when I was pregnant with her, it never got any shorter.... and nothing ever came of it.  I delivered Zoë normally and she was a week late.  With this pregnancy my cervix was 1.5cm at 18 weeks, prompting my providers to worry a little bit more, start me on progesterone gel, and refer me to a high risk specialist to be followed.  They told me to just take it a little more easy, don't lift up the kids, don't do housework.  I went to the specialist 2 weeks later and my cervix measured at 1.17cm... so it got a bit shorter.  At least it didn't appear to be dilating, so it was getting shorter but staying closed.  The specialist told me the same precautions, and said he'd see me again in 2 weeks.  That was Wednesday Nov 2, when I went back and my cervix measured at 0.6cm.  Still getting shorter, and on the ultrasound it appeared that it might be dilating.  So that bought me ticket over to the BI hospital for his team of high risk specialists to check me out, and eventually I was admitted here for bed rest with shower privileges (thanks goodness for that privilege!).  They did do a manual exam and the provider feels my cervix is still closed tight and the baby doesn't feel like it's pushing out... so that's very good news.  So I'm being monitored to see if total bed rest stops the shortening any further.

It's only been since Wednesday, and it's already driving me sort of bananas being trapped here in the room, but I'm thankful I have good friends coming to visit, and they've brought me good books and activities to keep my busy.  Plus now I can keep updated on my blog!  The hardest part is being away from Mike and the kids (and organizing what to do with childcare in my absence).  They came to visit today and it was so wonderful to see them and spend time with them, the difficult part was when they left.  That was so very hard, watching them leave the floor, I started crying at this whole situation.

But I am going to keep a positive attitude, and every day that goes by that I can keep this baby inside me cooking, is a blessing.  My current goal is to just get to Monday, when I'll be 24 weeks pregnant.  24 weeks gestation is when they consider the fetus 'viable'... meaning it would have a chance to live if it happened to be born that early.  After Monday my next goal will jump to getting all the way to 28 weeks... I'm praying and visualizing my cervix staying put and keeping this baby in!  They haven't told me how long I might have to be here, it could be a week or two... up to months.  There are moms on this floor that have been here for several months!  I can't even imagine that right now.  There is one procedure they sometimes do, called a cerclage, where they actually stitch up the cervix, but they still think that is too risky vs. the benefit at this point, and there's no guarantee that it would stop the shortening.  I guess it's better at stopping dilation.  They also say the best predictor of what will likely happen is my previous history of labor/delivery.  Thankfully mine is good! 

So without any further adieu, let me give you a tour of my lovely abode (for the time being)

my lovely view of the city sky line

my ever growing library

my garden (thanks Naomi and Nonna!)

my kitchen/entertainment center

I call this my family room/work area

my bedroom

my guest room complete with sink

So come on down for a visit!  I'd love to have you!