How many people were here?

That's what Natche asked me--along with, did you have a party?--when he saw the number of dishes in the sink.

Um, just me. What do you expect me to do when I'm on bed rest except eat???

The side effect...

...of all of this bed rest? I. can't. sleep. AT ALL.

Either A) I wasn't active enough (well, duh) to tire myself out or B) I'm angry, shocked and saddened by the Patriots loss to the Colts. Probably a combo of both.

So here I sit (recline actually) watching Living with Ed on HGTV and surfing the 'net.

Please let Tuesday be the end of this bed rest hell.

Bed rest and me

We're not becoming the best of friends. In fact, this bed rest thing kinda sucks. Sure, everyone wants to be a couch potato once in a while. But when you're told that you absolutely, positively have to stay in bed, only to get up to go to the bathroom, well, the *fun* of being a couch potato goes right out the window.

Oh, and my right hip has started to hurt at the site of the Celestone (betamethasone) injection. Not that it didn't hurt yesterday...but it just seems to ache today in a this-is-really-uncomfortable-but-there's-nothing-I-can-do-to-relieve-the-pain way.

So here I sit. Thank goodness we have NFC/AFC Championship football games today. Should make for a good distraction.

Sigh. Whatever in the hell am I supposed to do tomorrow?????

My ass hurts!

Why you ask? Because yesterday, I got the mother-of-all corticosteroid injections. And I go back for another one today.

Yes, my friends, I am at risk for early preterm labor (and it's called early preterm before 34 weeks).

It's a REALLY long story, so I'll try and summarize:

Tuesday - in Jacksonville, FL for conference. Woke up with pain and pressure. Thought it was UTI. Called doctor who advised me to have it checked ASAP. Went to local hospital. Having minor contractions, which doctor stopped with terbutaline. Oddly enough, they didn't call them contractions actually ....but "uterine irritations". No flying for a couple of days just in case....which turned out well enough because my flight was scheduled for Thursday night.

Tuesday afternoon through Thursday afternoon - Rested at hotel. Attended a few conference sessions. Felt MUCH better. Flew home Thursday night, no issues.

Friday, 1:30 pm - Checked out by my doctor (even though they forgot to put the appt. in the system and couldn't find me. I was like, dudes, you can't turn me away! I had "irritations" on Tuesday...don't you want to check it out???). Uh oh! Cervix is effaced (short) and I am slightly dilated. Not. Good.

Friday, 2:00 pm - In doctor's office. On monitor. Nurse comes in with mammoth injection. Doctor looks grim. Um...can I call my husband now?

Friday, 3 pm - still on monitor but no contractions (1st good sign)

Friday, 4 pm - TVU (transvaginal ultrasound) to check length of cervix. It's definitely short (25mm), but not as dire as originally thought. (2nd good sign)

Friday, 8 pm - Result of fetal fibronectin test came back negative, which is a very good thing. It means that there is little to no likelihood that I'll go into labor in the next two weeks. (3rd good sign)

BUT, and a big BUTT...I am only 23 weeks 2 days at this point folks. So I still go back for the injection today at 2pm and I'm on bedrest through Tuesday at the earliest (when I'll go back to the doctor's office for another cervix check).

I'm in VERY good spirits considering...and some of the good news later in the day has made me feel better. Not to mention my cousin sending me miracle baby stories via email (can you believe, this baby was born at 22 weeks and turned out just fine!)

I did a bit of research and there's a very good chance that if my cervix doesn't efface or dilate any more that I could go well past 35 weeks, which is optimal, of course.

But keep Baby B in your thoughts, please. She's obviously got some issue with remaining in the womb.