Doctor's Orders: Bed Rest!*

I get to go home! I am on bed rest. But I get to be with my little boy! 

I woke up this morning to the pitter patter of him coming down the hallway to snuggle with me! We just took the drop gate off his crib so he can get in and out of his bed on his own. It's the first morning he has come down the hall on his own! It was so precious! Then he and my mom made me french toast! Ah priceless! He seems to be doing ok with bed rest. He doesn't quite understand why Mommy won't "get up" <--As he says. Or "Come on, Mama." We explain each time that I have to stay laying down to keep the baby healthy. I don't think he has fully grasped what "the baby" entails! There have been times when my mom comes in to take him to the bath and he gets very upset because he wants me to give him a bath.  My mom is heading home tomorrow and Jackie will be staying with us. Then Thursday B will be home! We are being very well taken care of!

We sat on the porch for a little bit to catch up!
It was so sweet.

I'm sure you are all wondering, "So what exactly does bed rest entail" . . . .
I am in bed all day. I can get up to go to the bathroom and shower but that is all.  I start contracting when I get up to  go to the bathroom or stretch. I went to sit on the porch today to watch J play outside but came in after about 10 minutes. Any pressure on my cervix make my stomach hard as a rock! Although, tomorrow I get to go for a car ride, because I need Bobby to give me my progesterone injection. So Jackie is taking me into Corona in the afternoon. Yay! A change of scenery!

I figured I should make a list of things I want to get done while I have all the time in the world and computer access:

1. Finish my Menu board here. I just need to get all my recipes on the computer and laminate them.
2. Write a letter to Bobby about how much I appreciate him.
3. Be diligent about having a daily devotion time with God! I have been really good the past few weeks with this! Yay! Currently I am going through Proverbs 31 with 5 other mommy/wife friends! Here is the link. 
4. Research organic items for our home. Mostly cleaning products. 
5. Make a 10 minute tidy list. I have been following this housekeeping schedule and love it! 
6. I want to put together some meals in the freezer that are ready for the crock pot when the baby is here. So I need to decide what to make and write a grocery list for B next week. 
7. Write to our sponsor kids in India and Uganda.
8. Maybe scrapbook. This is a huge task. I don't know if I will get to this!
9. Decide on Mother's Day crafts to do with J for his Grandmas. 
10. Father's Day crafts for his Daddy and Grandpas.
11. Research B's Father's Day gift.

Well, that's a lot for now! But if you have any ideas let me know! 

32 Weeks (17P Injections)*

The injection went well this week. Some soreness to the injection site but no other complications!

Baby Update

We have decided on the even weeks the baby will be a girl and odd weeks a boy. So this week you will be hearing about an update with Capri. She is 4lb 4oz, per our ultrasounds this week, about the size of a pineapple. They measured my cervix and made sure I wasn't dilated. Everything looks good so far! I will be gaining about a pound a week and half of that will go to plump the baby up for weight. She now has toenails, fingernails, and a full head of hair! How exciting!! 

Snuggles from my boy!

How far along? 32 Weeks

Total weight gain: A whopping . . . 16 pounds. I had gained 18 with J, at 34 weeks.
Maternity clothes? Mostly in ALL maternity clothes! So sad when the maternity clothes are getting tight! I ahve had to put a few shirts away and one pair of pants.
Stretch marks? Nope! Yay, thank you Cocoa Butter!
Miss Anything? Stomach is still tightening with activity. Mostly walking, sweeping, vacuuming. Can't wait to go for a hike with B!
Movement: Yup! Hiccups often, mostly at night!
Food cravings: How far along? 28 Weeks

Total weight gain: A whopping . . . 16 pounds. I had gained 18 with J, at 34 weeks.
Maternity clothes? Mostly in ALL maternity clothes! 
Stretch marks? Nope! Yay!
Miss Anything? I miss eating Brie & Feta cheese! Not worrying about an activity causing my stomach to tighten up. 
Movement: All the time! This baby is pretty much non-stop.
Food cravings: Not specifically, but I am still enjoying veggies over anything else. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope!
Gender: Still not finding out until birthday!
Labor Signs: I had some weird feeling deep, like cervix but that went away when I got my injection. We switched injection to the mornings.

Symptoms: Hips still. I have begun to waddle
Belly Button in or out? Still in but threatening me each day!
Wedding rings on or off? ON! Woo-Hoo
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!
Looking forward to: Nursing. I LOVE nursing. It's such a sweet time between mommy and baby. I stopped nursing J at 14mos because we wanted to get pregnant (didn't happen until 18mos). I think I will go longer this time. Why not? By that point it's only in the early mornings and before bed. Its the best nutrition for baby and has SO man antibodies! I will be writing a blog on why I am pro BFing soon! 

Differences from Jeremy's pregnancy: I am nervous this week! I don't have any stats from J left because I was in labor at this point. I wasn't nervous with Jeremy at all because  I didn't know what was in store.

And now for the Measurements:

                   Baby Duce          Since 6 week:

Tummy:          39"                          6.5"

Hips:             39.5"                         2.5"

Chest:           39"                             4"  

Weight:       155 lbs                        20lbs

Words of Comfort*

The support and prayers are so comforting! I am overwhelmed by all the love we are being shown. I wanted to share a few prayers friends have texted over the past few days. They each moved me to tears!

God,

 I lift this baby up to you. It's your creation, designed by you, knit together in Kierra's womb. 

We ask for protection over life tonight! 

Please sustain Kierra's body to carry this little one as long as possible for it's health. 

Please comfort Bobby and Kierra. Protect Jeremy while under other loved ones care. 

Amen.

Heavenly Father,

Please give Kierra the peace she so desperately craves in such a stressful time. 

Reveal to her your hand in all of this, show yourself to her in a mighty way so that she may find refuge in knowing you have had a plan before time began. 

We know that you love this family and this new life even more then we do. 

You have a perfect plan. We love you and praise you Father. 

Thank you for your plan with this family. 

Amen

God,

Please give Kierra an unsurpassing peace to accept and embrace whatever plan you have for her. I pray that she runs to you when she is discouraged and not give Satan the pleasure of fear and disappointment, because these things are not from you. 

Please have mercy on her body and the doctor's decisions. 

Help this baby stay healthy so that she can go home. 

Please help J and B with this transition time. 

Protect all 4 of their hearts.

Amen

I can't tell you how many times I have read these prayers over the past 2 days. And I am still typing with tears in streaming down my face. Each of these individual prayers are my heart and I didn't have the words to pray them. But isn't that the beauty of God's love? Even when we don't know the words He can hear our heart. Reminds me of this picture:

Preterm Labor again??*

  Philippians 4:6-7

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God, and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Jesus Christ."

I need to be repeating this verse over and over right now.  

I need the peace that we can only feel from God.

Let's start with an update:

        I am 32 weeks along. I started having contractions on Friday evening at my dad's house. I didn't think they were real contractions because they were not painful it was just tightening of my belly. My dad suggested we start timing them. By the time we got home they were every 5 minutes and lasting anywhere from 30 seconds to 1min 17 seconds, but only when I was up and moving. When I laid down they stopped. So I thought Braxton Hicks. We went to bed, I didn't feel anything throughout the night. 

     Bobby had a class the next day, he got up and went, only to realize he forgot to charge his phone last night!  I got up and moving and the contractions started again. I didn't time them because Jeremy was really wanting my attention. I called the nurse at Loma Linda. She said to rest with my feet up and drink water, if they continue to go in. They still stopped when I rested, which was so difficult when you have a cute little boy that wants to play catch, choo-choos, and bat the ball! I decided I should go in, just to be safe. I dropped Jeremy off with The O'Rafferty's and headed in.

12:30pm: Checked in and SO hungry! I didn't think to stop and get something to eat on the way! And 

                they wouldn't let me eat until the doctor saw me!

3:30pm: The doctor was finally able to see me. They were so busy! He did a cervical check. He also 

did a vaginal ultrasound to see if my cervix was short and thinning. Stats: I am in labor, 1.5 cm 

 dilated and 50% effaced. CRAP! This hit me hard. I wasn't contracting when I was laying 

down so I was still thinking, "False alarm, Braxton Hicks." There is something so scary about hearing, "You are in Labor" at 32 weeks. The same thing happened with Jeremy. Was I being too optimistic? Was I putting too much faith in the Progesterone shots and not enough in God to allow His will, no matter the outcome? I am all emotional at this point, as nurses and doctors are coming in and out, having me take meds and doing more tests. I call Danielle and lost it! (By the way, Bobby is still at his class with a dead cell phone). When I get of the phone he calls. He asks me the details and all I can blubber out is, "I'm scared." He says he is on his way, which makes me cry more! He is so sweet and takes care of me so well! I had calmed down by the time he got there and started crying again when he hugged me. It was so nice to have him there.

6:00pm: Contractions had subsided! Praise God! We have a HUGE prayer team out there praying for us! I am proof that Prayer works! 

9:30pm: Contractions are still not coming and they let me take the monitors off and sleep all night! They didn't even come in to check my vitals! Although I did not sleep very well, it was nice! And Bobby was here to snuggle with. 

4/15/12 - Tax day! Has everybody filed??

6:00am: Bobby gets up to go to his class. We figure he needs the credit and rather then sitting here all day waiting for a decision he can go have a little fun and I can update him as the day goes on. If he needs to he can leave early again.  Well I wake up with a sharp pain in my groin and contractions when I am up and moving around.  We get the monitors hooked up and I am contracting while laying down. NOT GOOD! There is talk about keeping me admitted for 4 weeks to keep the baby in and contractions at a minimum. If they stop, I can go home and "take it easy."

At this point, I am waiting on the Doctors to do their rounds and see what will happen. In the mean time, I have a few blogs I have started and not finished! Seems like a perfect time to get them posted! And I'm going to watch the church service right now! 

Join me? Sandals Church 9am, 11am, 5pm, 7pm PST

     

31 Weeks (17P Injections)*

The injection went well this week. I am having soreness. It seems as the weeks go on the injection site stays sore longer. On Wednesday I have an ache of sorts, deep inside. Maybe my cervix. It lingered all day. It was pretty strong and didn't seem to depend if I was walking or sitting. We did quite a bit of walking in the morning hours. See this post. It got stronger as the day moved on. At about 5pm we noticed my knees and calves were really swollen. I was worried and thought maybe I should go in. I decided on Thursday I would call the doctor. Bobby gave me my injections around 10pm and we went to bed. All night I tossed and turned from the ache. It was a pain and I wasn't bleeding, which is what kept me from going to the hospital. I woke up Thursday and the ache was significantly weaker. By Friday morning it was gone completely. The swelling went away when I elevated my feet. I am putting this under the injection side effects because I am thinking that I need to change the time of injections to the morning on the 7th day. We'll see what happens this week with getting them in the am. 

Baby Update:

Jeremy got ice cream from the ice cream man this week!
1st time for everything!

We have decided on odd number weeks the baby is a boy and even the baby is a girl! So I get to say he or she. Yay! I like this plan! So this past week Eli is just over 3 pounds and 17 inches long, approximately, that is. Compared to 4 naval oranges. I'm told he will be gaining half a pound per week until delivery! WHOA! He may have hair already too! Jeremy had a full head of dark brown hair when he was born. The doctor kept saying, "Push, Kierra I can see Noah's hair." Ha! Who knew that would not be his name! 

Sleep does not come easy lately. I toss and turn quite a bit. Night sweats are still hanging around. I have also has swelling in my legs, blah! Not attractive or comfortable. I finally took my wedding ring off this week. I kept prolonging it but I don't want it to be stuck on! Jackie had to have hers cut off, I definitely don't want that!  I hate not wearing it. Like it's disrespectful to God and Bobby. 

As we go into week 32 (Wednesday is the day I went to the hospital and was told I was in "active labor") please be praying for us. I am trying so hard to stay calm and allow my body to be relaxed. And also, be ok if it's God's plan for the baby to come early. He can use all things for good. I need prayer for peace. Bobby has it and I crave it! 

Gettin Crafty and Eating good too!

I've been trying to get these posts up for a few weeks! 

But haven't had time to write them. Then realized how 

peaceful the picture above is! I love our garden! I love working in it.

It's great to spend time with God and teach Jeremy lessons.

Like not walking on the plants or tripping over the drip system lines!

And how great God is that he provides food from the Earth for us! 

And we need to keep the weeds out or they will overtake all the hard work we have put into the garden and we will not see fruits of our labor. What an amazing metaphor to live our life. 

Ok, on to the projects I've done in the past few weeks!

All the pictures were going to be separate posts but

for the sake of time they are all on one!

Herb Box:

Garden Labels:

Does Basil smell THAT good to everybody
or
is it just my pregnancy sense of smell??
I've been eating it off the plant each day!

Wine Bottle Centerpieces:

LOVE these!
Empty wine bottle, Synthetic grapes and ivy, pretty bow
and a battery light pack!

And last but not least! 

A delicious salad I made this week when a friend came over for lunch!

Spinach, Basil, Mint, Cilantro, Cherry Tomatoes, Goat Cheese, Sunflower Seeds
Balsamic Vinger, Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper
In a Pita Pocket!
YUM!

He's a Big Boy Now. . . Well for One Day!*

Jeremy napped on my bed, not in his crib or play pen. 

I put him down in there because we were having stucco put on his window. 

Truth is: I didn't want to put the play pen up and was being lazy!

After 2 books and prayers, he had his blanket and I told him

not to get off Mommy's bed and to go to sleep.

I caught him trying to get off only once!

I happened to be walking by and peeked in and caught him!

After that he went to sleep peacefully.

I think we will be taking the drop gate off his crib soon!