I am already tired of bed rest, and its been 2 and 1/2 days, and I've been able to sit up, fix my own food, and meet my parents for dinner to pick up my sweet boys. Trying to figure out how on earth I laid flat for well over 3 months, not sitting up, with a 10 step allowance for walking at a time, a 5 minute shower allowance that I fought for, and Matt fixing my food for me each day before leaving for work.
I have no idea how I did it, but I am so thankful that we were able to do the cerclage this go around, and praying it will keep me from strict bed rest!
I am feeling great. My lower back is still a little sore from the spinal, and my lower tummy is sore when I bend or move around a lot, but both of those should continue to gradually fade away. I wasn't sure what I expected to feel like afterwards, but I know I didn't expect to feel this good!
So today should be my last day of rest, then tomorrow I will be allowed to start slowly exploring the limits of what my body can handle. Still, there will be things I am not allowed to do, the hardest being not allowed to pick up Cavin. While I will be sure to find other ways to get my snuggles, it will be hard for him to understand why I can't pick him up.
Last but not least, I am also thankful to have the most giving husband in the world. Typically being pregnant requires a lot of sacrifice on the mom's part and little on the husband's. However, in our situation, it requires as much, if not more sacrifice for Matt. I am hoping this go around won't be as much as the last, but I know whatever it takes, Matt will do without complaining. He is already stepping up to help out with the things I am no longer able to do, and I am so thankful for his willing and giving spirit.
A prayer request outside of this pregnancy, Matt and I are really thinking about and praying about putting Rance in school. While he is excelling with home schooling, we feel he really, really needs to social aspect of school and being around kids his age. Matt is much more at ease with putting him in school, but his protective mom is having a hard time letting go! So we continue to pray and seek out what will be best for Rance.
We also are praying to close on our home at the end of October, and in the meantime that God leads us to the perfect home for us in Wentzville.
Lots going on in our family, but I will try to do better updating our blog in the midst of the craziness!
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
As Perfect as Can Be
I am writing this post from my hospital room, but I will be going home tonight!!
Our morning started early, 4am, giving me time to get showered and ready, drive the 45 minutes to the hospital and have time to stop and get Matt his morning Coke and breakfast!
We got here and the process got started right away. I got me some lovely green hospital gowns and the coolest booties! The only part I was really nervous about was that they had me down for going under general anesthesia, and I wasn't sure how I felt about going all the way under. I was praying that they would let me do a spinal with local anesthesia. All of the nurses with the beginning stuff commented on how much they too love my doc, which I completely agreed with!
After all of the preliminaries were taken care of we were taken back to another room where we met and talked with my doc about every detail of the procedure. I talked with him about not wanting to do general anesthesia, which he understood, and said I was lucky, because I had the best anesthesiologist there. He said if anyone would be willing to do the spinal, it would be him! I love answered prayer!
Right after we finished talking with Dr. T, the anesthesiologist, Dr. B, came in, who was super sweet with his accent, and after introductions, his first words were: "I would like to do a spinal rather than general, because I feel that is safest for the baby...." I didn't even have to ask! I love how God loves and takes care of us!
So once Dr. B got the iv started we were off to the operating room. A nurse was there from labor and delivery to listen to the baby's heartbeat. She really never found it, and the longer it went, the more nervous I got. She just wasn't used to finding heartbeats on baby's so small. I just continued to pray, and in walked Dr. T. He took one look at my face, gently took the dopplar, immediately found the baby's heartbeat, then looked at me and winked. I love how he knows and understands my fears, without even asking.
Next up was the spinal, which wasn't bad at all, Dr. B was awesome. The first time Dr. T asked me how I was doing, after I said good, he said, well, I'm already about half way done! It only took him about 15 minutes to put the stitches in. Got to hear the baby's heartbeat again, and then I was taken to recovery for an hour, and finally a room upstairs in the "nesting ward." One of the nurses looked at me and said you look familiar, have you been here before? I just laughed and said yes, several times with my last pregnancy.
It took a while for the numbness to wear off, and the dizziness finally went away once they let me eat! Since then I have been feeling great! Little to no cramping, absolutely no contractions, and little to no bleeding. We couldn't have asked for things to be going better! Now we are waiting for Dr. T to come after office hours to give me my do's and don'ts list before discharging me!
Thank you all for praying, and praise God for graciously answering!
Our morning started early, 4am, giving me time to get showered and ready, drive the 45 minutes to the hospital and have time to stop and get Matt his morning Coke and breakfast!
We got here and the process got started right away. I got me some lovely green hospital gowns and the coolest booties! The only part I was really nervous about was that they had me down for going under general anesthesia, and I wasn't sure how I felt about going all the way under. I was praying that they would let me do a spinal with local anesthesia. All of the nurses with the beginning stuff commented on how much they too love my doc, which I completely agreed with!
After all of the preliminaries were taken care of we were taken back to another room where we met and talked with my doc about every detail of the procedure. I talked with him about not wanting to do general anesthesia, which he understood, and said I was lucky, because I had the best anesthesiologist there. He said if anyone would be willing to do the spinal, it would be him! I love answered prayer!
Right after we finished talking with Dr. T, the anesthesiologist, Dr. B, came in, who was super sweet with his accent, and after introductions, his first words were: "I would like to do a spinal rather than general, because I feel that is safest for the baby...." I didn't even have to ask! I love how God loves and takes care of us!
So once Dr. B got the iv started we were off to the operating room. A nurse was there from labor and delivery to listen to the baby's heartbeat. She really never found it, and the longer it went, the more nervous I got. She just wasn't used to finding heartbeats on baby's so small. I just continued to pray, and in walked Dr. T. He took one look at my face, gently took the dopplar, immediately found the baby's heartbeat, then looked at me and winked. I love how he knows and understands my fears, without even asking.
Next up was the spinal, which wasn't bad at all, Dr. B was awesome. The first time Dr. T asked me how I was doing, after I said good, he said, well, I'm already about half way done! It only took him about 15 minutes to put the stitches in. Got to hear the baby's heartbeat again, and then I was taken to recovery for an hour, and finally a room upstairs in the "nesting ward." One of the nurses looked at me and said you look familiar, have you been here before? I just laughed and said yes, several times with my last pregnancy.
It took a while for the numbness to wear off, and the dizziness finally went away once they let me eat! Since then I have been feeling great! Little to no cramping, absolutely no contractions, and little to no bleeding. We couldn't have asked for things to be going better! Now we are waiting for Dr. T to come after office hours to give me my do's and don'ts list before discharging me!
Thank you all for praying, and praise God for graciously answering!
Sunday, September 25, 2011
So Begins...
A new, yet the same, journey for us. We are expecting Baby Richards number 6, due March 30th!! I took the home test while Matt was away at church camp at the end of July, and boy, was it hard to wait for him to get home and share the news Friday night!!
We are all very excited. Cavin loves babies, and loves to look at the ultrasound pictures of his baby! Rance's first questions were, 1: How does the baby come out of mommy's tummy" and 2: What does it eat? The joys of having a seven year old who has questions about everything!!
I am currently just over 13 weeks, and am still feeling exhausted, but thankful to be over the nausea for the most part. I began to show rather early, definitely was showing by 10 weeks. I expected it, with it being my third pregnancy, but it still caught me off guard when I looked down and discovered a hard baby bump!
Tomorrow is a big day for me, I will be having a cerclage, in which they will stitch my cervix shut. It is a rather easy procedure, but could stir up contractions and will cause bleeding so I will most likely be in the hospital until Tuesday to be monitored. I am a little nervous about the procedure, but trying to lay my nerves at His feet and rest in the peace of His good and perfect plan for this pregnancy, whatever that may be.
The goal of having the cerclage is to keep me off of bed rest and out of the hospital! Definitely goals I want to achieve having 2 active boys at home to keep up with! Not wanting to repeat the almost 4 months of bed rest, flat on my back, like I got to have with Cavin along with the multiple scares that he would come early.
I am so thankful for my doctor. I love that he does things just to reassure my nerves, that he realizes not only is it crucial to get my baby to full term, but to do so with a mommy who is not anxious and nervous the entire time. But most of all, I love that I can trust him completely. I love that I know he will tell me the truth, and not try to sugar coat it. I love that when I showed up to my first prenatal appointment he had already spent time coming up with a plan to give me the best possible pregnancy he could. I also love that he will most likely bring me donuts tomorrow because I made a joke about it being cruel not to let a pregnant woman eat for so long!
So, we would love your prayers tomorrow morning, for a completely safe surgery, and that my body will easily adjust to the stitches. I will update after the surgery while I am in the hospital, I am sure, as I will be stuck in bed and missing my boys, who will be busy helping Papa with the cows and not missing me at all!
We are all very excited. Cavin loves babies, and loves to look at the ultrasound pictures of his baby! Rance's first questions were, 1: How does the baby come out of mommy's tummy" and 2: What does it eat? The joys of having a seven year old who has questions about everything!!
I am currently just over 13 weeks, and am still feeling exhausted, but thankful to be over the nausea for the most part. I began to show rather early, definitely was showing by 10 weeks. I expected it, with it being my third pregnancy, but it still caught me off guard when I looked down and discovered a hard baby bump!
Tomorrow is a big day for me, I will be having a cerclage, in which they will stitch my cervix shut. It is a rather easy procedure, but could stir up contractions and will cause bleeding so I will most likely be in the hospital until Tuesday to be monitored. I am a little nervous about the procedure, but trying to lay my nerves at His feet and rest in the peace of His good and perfect plan for this pregnancy, whatever that may be.
The goal of having the cerclage is to keep me off of bed rest and out of the hospital! Definitely goals I want to achieve having 2 active boys at home to keep up with! Not wanting to repeat the almost 4 months of bed rest, flat on my back, like I got to have with Cavin along with the multiple scares that he would come early.
I am so thankful for my doctor. I love that he does things just to reassure my nerves, that he realizes not only is it crucial to get my baby to full term, but to do so with a mommy who is not anxious and nervous the entire time. But most of all, I love that I can trust him completely. I love that I know he will tell me the truth, and not try to sugar coat it. I love that when I showed up to my first prenatal appointment he had already spent time coming up with a plan to give me the best possible pregnancy he could. I also love that he will most likely bring me donuts tomorrow because I made a joke about it being cruel not to let a pregnant woman eat for so long!
So, we would love your prayers tomorrow morning, for a completely safe surgery, and that my body will easily adjust to the stitches. I will update after the surgery while I am in the hospital, I am sure, as I will be stuck in bed and missing my boys, who will be busy helping Papa with the cows and not missing me at all!
Thursday, September 22, 2011
3 Rules to Driving
According to Rance...
1. You have to drive where the cars are.
2. You have to drive to where you are going.
3. You have to drive where mom tells you to.
We about died laughing on the last one! Ha! We asked him why he said the third one and his answer was:
"Remember that one time we were going to a park and dad went the wrong way? Then mom told us the right way?"
A total laugh out loud moment for us!
1. You have to drive where the cars are.
2. You have to drive to where you are going.
3. You have to drive where mom tells you to.
We about died laughing on the last one! Ha! We asked him why he said the third one and his answer was:
"Remember that one time we were going to a park and dad went the wrong way? Then mom told us the right way?"
A total laugh out loud moment for us!
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